One thing I’ve always loved about Northern Ireland is the rich, colourful and interesting polarised cultures that exist here.
As a child I was integrated into my own family culture but sent to an integrated primary school by parents who, although had their own personal beliefs and values, were passionate about ensuring their seven children found and paved our own path in life.
As a teenager and young woman what that meant for me was that I completely abandoned the cultural background I was brought up in, I began to despise everything about it because of a small minority of people who made it distasteful to me.
I’ve always had friends and partners of the opposite religious background, I sometimes wonder was it a subconscious thing? Was it my own personal rebellion? Regardless, it allowed me to experience and appreciate the “other side” of Northern Ireland’s cultural heritage which of course, over time, brought with it its own problems.
As I got older, and more importantly after I became a mother, I became increasingly angry, frustrated and annoyed that I didn’t have a “culture” I felt proud of. I feel an affinity to both sides of our heritages that seem tainted by polarised politics, however, even more interestingly I felt lost between them.
I’m in a mixed relationship, I live in a relatively mixed area, my child goes to an integrated school and neither myself nor my partner feel an affinity to any element of Christianity – we are neither Protestant nor Catholic despite coming from both communities.
Since having my son I’ve realised that I do want to be proud of my culture. I don’t consider myself Irish or British, I feel a very strong patriotism to Northern Ireland, to County Antrim, to this place I call home.
So the question has to be asked, is there room in Northern Ireland for a third option? People like me and my partner who accept that we are a diverse place full of rich cultural pickings and heritage. People who want to retain the importance of all aspects of our cultural history without having to decide if one is right or wrong.
Can we accept that history has left us a legacy of diversity? As we move forward to the future and our children grow up can we really accept, celebrate and respect all aspects of our local heritage without having to descend into sectarian chaos and bigoted bedlam?
Only time will tell.
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