A chara, – Many of the recent international decisions and happenings all appear to have one common denominator – they are all made by, or involve, national leaders who have no actual personal memory, or immediate experience, of the second World War and its aftermath. Worryingly it appears now totally to be forgotten that a widely accepted primary goal of what is commonly regarded as the European project and many other international trade agreements was to obviate or reduce international disputes and the risk of war between nations.
Somewhere along the line this apparently has been forgotten and many national leaders believe, or seem to believe, that the sole purpose of the same is the short-term apparent enrichment of their own countries.
Even more alarmingly they are stoking narrow atavistic nationalistic feelings among their populations for short-term electoral gain.
This process is perhaps inevitable and understandable with the passage of time.
This is where institutional memory and the teaching of history comes into play – or ought so to do. Where the same exists, in theory, one would hope that nations and their leaders would avoid making the same mistakes as previous generations. Yet instead we have Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Brexit and recent developments in several European countries, including Hungary, Poland and now Italy.
The decisions to downgrade the teaching of history in Ireland may appear of minor relevance on this wider context but it all feeds into a common pattern.
We might not be able to do anything in this small country to influence or affect the wider political world but we can easily – and should – do something about the teaching of history at Junior Certificate level. It all starts at home. – Is mise,
E DILLON,
Farranshone,
Limerick.