Profile: John Dunlop '89, Ireland and N. Ireland
January 2001
For 20 years, Reverend John Dunlop has served as minister of the Rosemary Presbyterian Church in North Belfast. In addition to his preaching and pastoral work, Dunlop is a strong advocate of tolerance among Irish religious and ethnic groups. "We’ve lived through thirty years of very considerable violence in Northern Ireland," he says. "Now our work is much the same—to continue to build relationships across different parts of society."
The Belfast Agreement was brokered about two years ago in the Irish Republic, bringing what Dunlop refers to as "political accommodation" but leaving individuals and groups "a long way short of reconciliation." Dunlop’s efforts to promote reconciliation take many forms. He facilitates inter-church activities in North Belfast, including joint services. He is currently co-convener of the Presbyterian Church’s Church and Government Committee, which was drafting a response to a proposed bill of rights for Northern Ireland when he spoke with Eisenhower Fellowships in December 2000. He delivers lectures, serves as a religious advisor and creates programs for Ulster Television (Northern Ireland’s public station), contributes articles to journals, speaks on panels, and is currently writing a six-part radio program. And in 1995, his book A Precarious Belonging: Presbyterians and the Conflict in Ireland was published by Blackstaff Press.
Dunlop wrote this book "to fill in a gap," he says. At the time, the Presbyterian perspective was virtually unknown among those concerned with Northern Ireland, including many of the Irish Americans Dunlop has met on inter-church speaking tours in the United States. He explains, "I wrote this book simply to say, I ask you to get into my shoes and see what it’s like to walk as a Presbyterian in Ireland."
But Dunlop knows that his community offers just one of many perspectives that must be understood. In a world full of ethnic and religious disputes, he says, "the question is, How do we overcome these sorts of divisions, these conflicts within nations? These are big, complex, enduring problems that affect the quality of life. Because they’re local, they’re felt all the more intensely, and they’re more difficult to resolve." Dunlop sees the answer in honest dialogue, which can create understanding and empathy.
Dunlop’s wife, Rosemary Dunlop, has also formed her life around those values. She is a marriage counselor and a founding member of the Corrymeela Community, an inter-church, cross-community group that has promoted tolerance since 1966. The couple shares the conviction that one must stand "with one foot inside one’s community and one foot outside," says Dunlop. "Some people do look at me and say I lack solidarity with my own community. But in Ireland, there’s too much solidarity with one’s own community. We need to have leaders with . . . a deep degree of sympathy for the wider community."
The 1989 Single Area Program for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland gave Fellows from north and south the opportunity to foster that sympathy. As a result, says Dunlop, "All the Irish Fellows are active. We meet every nine months. We have brought American Fellows to Ireland." He describes his Eisenhower experience as "fundamental [and] incredibly enriching."
Tom Frawley, recently appointed to the important new post of Parliamentary Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, was also a Fellow in that program. Frawley describes Dunlop as "a man of integrity and honesty, of strong religious beliefs, but also a man of great compassion and humanity, a man of deep Christian values." He continues, "It’s often said [that] in Northern Ireland there are too many Catholics and too many Protestants and not enough Christians. Through his courage, leadership, and concern for others, it can be safely said John is one who really does make a difference."