To Be A Peace-Maker

TO BE A PEACE-MAKER

In the 1920s there was a serious conflicts between England and Ireland. Ireland wanted to be an independent nation. They did not mind being part of the United Kingdom, they wanted to govern themselves.

That organization that was there as a resistance against the British government, is still there today: IRA, the Irish Republican Army. There are still some terrorists acts carried out against the British government, because those seven counties in the northern part of Ireland wanted to be free.

Winston Churchill was sent to solve this problem, and it was considered to be an unsolvable problem. He met with the head of the resistance, and before that he had taken out a bounty against them. There were posters posted in Ireland, ten thousand pounds for this man – dead or alive. And it was actually Churchill, who had that secretly done. He had also established the Black & Tans. They had the authority to shoot on sight if a member of the resistance was found.

There was tremendous hostility between Churchill and Michael Collins, the IRA. Nevertheless, they met in 1921, and began peace talk. They both were bull doggish men! Stout, harsh and rough. They went back and forth on how posters were made - The Boars had put out a poster against Churchill for a bounty of just 10 pounds. Anyway, this was the beginning of the peace talks. Over the course, they made the decision that the 7 northern counties remained a part of Britain, and the rest of Ireland a free state, as part of the Empire.

The Agreement was signed, Dec. 6, 1921. As they were signing, Churchill and the others said "this may be our political death warrant." Collins said "This is my death warrant." Within two months he was killed by his own people, IRA gunmen.

There is a price to be paid for peace-making, and if you are going to be a peace-maker, you probably will have to sacrifice your own life to do it. You have to lay down your own ego, your own desires to make peace.