| |
The Troubles
The Troubles, as they are referred to in Ulster have cast a dark shadow over the people there for over 30 years. Thousands of lives have been lost, lives of grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends; the loss of these lives has brought with it thousands of broken hearts.
Remembering the Lost Lives
Remembering and how we remember is a personal thing, but we also have a collective responsiblty as a community to remember and to acknowledge that every one of those deaths brought with it a torrent of pain, the worst kind of pain that only comes with the the death of a loved one, and suffering that still continues to this day. I think when we acknowledge this as a community it is a scource of strength to the families and friends of the people who have lost thier lives during the Troubles.
Sharing the Loss
The loss of a loved one as a result of the Troubles has had a truamatising effect on many many people. The loss of a loved one is a very heavy load to bear. The phrase, 'moving on' is used quite a lot now in terms of where we are as a community but moving on will be a gradual process and if we are to move on we must be very careful not to leave behind the people who have endured the most; we must as a community share their loss in whatever way we can.We hope to do that in lightaflame.com.
Healing
When we talk about healing I think we firstly think of healing the pain of loss. Can we ever truly heal that pain, I am not sure?
I think that that pain can be eased though through a combination of things like acceptance, sharing, prayer; prayer itself being a form of sharing forgiveness and of course time itself. Then there is the wider healing, the healing of families to finally the healing of communities. Hopefully this is the road we are all on now, the healing road. I am sure this road will be longer for some than for others. As an individual I would like to express my personal sorrow and regret for the loss of loved ones during the Troubles and sincerely hope that we are entering a new era for our sake and the sake of our children.
|
|
I was born and brought up in Ulster and lived through all of the dark days of the the Troubles and witnessed some of them at first hand. In the past ten years there has been the promise of a new and shared future for all of us on a number of occasions only for that promise to slip away. I hope and believe that May the 8th 2007 will see the beginnings of this promise.
The idea for the website came to me as I was thinking about this new beginning and in particular how the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones during the Troubles might be feeling at this time. Would they be happy that things appear to be moving forward or would they perhaps be feeling more isolated as our communities now take the first steps in moving on, with the danger that they, the families and friends who still grieve are left behind. I was looking for a way to remember them, a way we could all remember them and so lightaflame.com was born. 
There are two sections of the website...
In this section you will be guided through a simple method of lighting your own personal flame to a loved one, be it a family member or a friend. The section will allow you to put in information about the person, his or her name, upload a photograph of him or her, but more importantly it will also allow you to tell that loved one's story, for in the telling there is healing. When this is done then you can light your flame and once the flame is lit it will never be put out. You can return again and again to your flame if you feel you have something more to write and when you do return the flame will always be lit.
When you go to bed at night the flame will always be lit, when you
take your dog for a walk in the morning the flame will always be
lit and in your darkest moments the flame will always be lit. As
well as telling your loved one's story this section will also allow
you to read other people's stories. These stories will be similar
to your own and again I feel there is healing in the reading of
these stories because hear we have the true meaning of sharing,
sharing your pain, sharing your grief. People if they wish, who
would like to light a flame for all the people who were lost during
the Troubles are also welcome to do so. Here we will have a shared
space for all the loved ones lost in the Troubles and here they
will never be forgotten.
This is a section of the website were people not just from Ireland but from all over the world can visit and leave a message of support for Northern Ireland and for its people as it enters a new peaceful era. The ending of the Troubles should act as a source of inspiration for any region of the world where conflict exists. So may I encourage as many people as possible to sign the Guest Book during this historic time and add to the tide of goodwill that exists. Special Thanks
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Seamus Breslin and all at PrintItForMe and David Hynes at FED202. When I went to Seamus with the idea for the lLght A Flame website I was not quite sure how I was going to pay for it but I need not have worried because after the first five miniutes of the meeting Seamus turned around and said to me, 'I think it is a great idea, so good that I will design the website free of charge and ask David, our programmer to do the same. Thank you Seamus and David, thank you PrintItForMe and FED202.
|
|
