New book on Fermanagh Border lives launched in Clones

‘Our Shared Way of Life: Listening to Border People’ is authored by a former editor of the The Impartial Reporter, Denzil McDaniel, the book shares the experiences of 40 people who live along the Border, particularly those from Fermanagh and the counties that border it.

Denzil McDaniel with his book “Our Shared Way of Life.”

The project is an initiative of the Clones Family Resource Centre and 40 participants were interviewed under the condition of anonymity in hope that they would be frank about their experience, and that was the case as the book shares some interesting testimony from a range of people from across the political spectrum as well as perspectives from a range of ages and life experiences.

The evening began with music from the Different Keys choir who included a range of pieces including the popular song, ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ which emphasised some of the themes explored at the launch by the speakers.

Speaking at the launch, Denzil McDaniel said: “People were very articulate and spoke with great meaning about their home place, they spoke about a great range of issues which affect all of our daily lives from identity to our memories of a violent past.”

Mary Wallace from Belturbet and Hazel Hicks from Teemore at the book launch in Clones.

He took the time to thank participants in the book and share some of the findings from the book.

“Please read this book, but read it with an open mind, listen to the point of view of others that you might not necessarily have heard before or agree with.

Denzil then encouraged those present to “disagree well”.

Susan McKay, acclaimed author outling the book with the panel of Jim Flanagan, Chairman, Angela Graham, FRC, Ann Marie Fryers Development worker and Denzil McDaniel, author of the book.

Award-winning writer and journalist, Susan McKay also spoke at the launch, re-emphasising her preface for the book, she said: “Having edited The Impartial Reporter for many years, Denzil McDaniel has the wisdom to let people speak, and to listen.”

Describing the book she said: “The people in this book are so disparate and they’re so different in many ways in what they are saying, in what they are saying are things that are clashing. Denzil wrote toward the of the book that virtually everyone interviewed expressed optimism even though some were slightly tempered by concern and that’s actually quite a surprising finding and something to be very happy about.

“The people have spoken about things that people in this area can be cagey about, what I found really hilarious was that Denzil mentioned that the Border dwellers shared a pride in the ‘common bond created by a resentment of being aligned by outsiders’, the definition of negative solidarity.”

Julian Fowler, Ken Ramsey and Reggie Ferguson looking forward to the book launch.

Attendees included many from the Fermanagh area and the surrounding Border area as well as former colleagues of the author; Trevor Birney and Rodney Edwards.

Also in attendance was Ferrmanagh South Tyrone MLA Jemma Dolan and Fermanagh South Tyrone MP, Michelle Gildernew, who praised the work of the Clones Family Resource Centre in this publication.

Friends Frank Hurson and Florence Creighton meet up at the book launch in Clones.

Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the book can collect one at the following locations:

- Impartial Reporter office, Enniskillen.

- Fermanagh County Library, Enniskillen.

- Fermanagh County Museum, Enniskillen.

- Fermanagh Trust office, Fermanagh House, Enniskillen

- Monaghan County Library, Clones.

- Clones Family Resource Centre.