In our fun round with the Rev. David Latimer of First Derry Presbyterian Church, we ask him a series of likes and dislikes and David also reveals his favorite spot on the island of Ireland.
We sat down with First Derry Presbyterian Church minister Rev. David Latimer to discuss his book, ‘A Leap of Faith‘, his friendship with the late Martin McGuinness as they sought to bridge the divide, what politicians need to do, and David addresses his comments regarding the War in Afghanistan. Join us after in the discussion at https://twitter.com/SharedIreland
You can find the bonus podcast here.
Rev. David Latimer was born in Dromore, Co Down, 68 years ago. His father, Cyril, was a coachbuilder with the Belfast Corporation Transport Department. They introduced him to the Christian faith and encouraged him to take school seriously. His mother’s constant advice was. “A little science is easily carried.”
he attended Dromore Primary School and Banbridge Technical College and, after O-levels, and worked for the Northern Ireland Electricity Board. Later, he graduated with an economics degree from Queen’s University Belfast and, in 1983, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. “My first charge was in Glascar and Donaghmore in Co Down, before moving to Derry in 1988.”
Soon after ordination, he became part-time chaplain with 204 (North Irish) Field Hospital RAMC and served until 2015. In the second half of 2008, he served with the unit in Afghanistan, where he was also a hospital chaplain in Camp Bastion.
In our bonus round with Shared Ireland Podcast, Rose Conway Walsh tells us who she admires, who she would invite to dinner, the most famous person in her phone book, what makes her happy and sad, and more.
We are joined this week by Leader of Sinn Fein in the Senate Rose Conway-Walsh who discusses her Gaelic football days, the diaspora, farming, mercusor, and what is required to create a truly Shared Ireland.
You can follow Rose on Twitter here.
She has a website you can visit here.
You can listen to the bonus part of this podcast here.
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh was elected to the Seanad in April 2016 after serving on Mayo County Council since 2009 and the EU Committee of the Regions since 2014. She is a member of Sinn Féin’s Ard Chomhairle and Leader of the Sinn Féin team in the Seanad.
Serving with her Sinn Féin colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, Rose is on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and the Taoiseach. She holds a BA in Public Management and a Masters in Local Government. Rose has a special interest in Economics and represents Sinn Féin at national and International Events as well as chairing the Party’s ‘Stand Up for the West’ campaign.
Rose has almost twenty years of experience in leading Community Projects in Mayo. She works towards an alternative vision to address social and economic exclusion and health inequality.
Passionate about Rural Ireland, Rose Conway-Walsh strives to put issues affecting the West front and centre of the Oireachtas. After spending over a decade in London before returning to Ireland, Rose prioritises the equalisation of rights for Irish Citizens regardless of where they live. In particular she is to the forefront in the fight to secure presidential voting rights for Irish Citizens in the North and abroad as well as advocating for the undocumented Irish in the US.
Quotes from the podcast:
We have a responsibility toward a wider people whether it’s Loyalists, Presbyterian, Unionists, it really doesn’t matter to me, it’s the individual human being is what matters to me and what part they want to play.
It would be lazy for me to say I can’t stand all loyalists or unionist because they’re different. I learn more from them. I have a lot of unionist friends.
If people believe in the Union or the British Empire, then that’s fine. I don’t, but I am quite comfortable with all that.
The disparity between the regions is one of the biggest concerns I have. Dublin is bursting at the seams with homelessness and housing. The way to address that is sustained investment in the regions, including roads, rail and infrastructure and prioritizing agriculture.
It symptomatic to what has happened. If you have no investment and enterprise you have forced emigration.
There is no change coming. People vote for FF and FG without looking at the policies. In a hundred years have FG or FF delivered for rural Ireland? No they haven’t.
The policies of privatization and centralization work against rural Ireland in all of its parts.
We need more thinkers. People need to examine parties and their policies and ask is their policies going to serve me well, will they serve my children and grandchildren well.
The diaspora keep in touch with politics at home and they need to be provided with an opportunity to have their say.
Do the mainstream parties know what a Republic is, do they know what a republican means? I’m not so sure. Let’s see their vision.
As a Republican there would be no joy in a United Ireland if it meant that Loyalists or Unionists or any other people would be left behind. If I am more equal than someone from East Belfast, then none of this would be worth it.
A United Ireland must be based on human rights across the board. It’s not just Irish language rights, it’s rights to your identity, Unionist, Republican or otherwise.
We can create a wonderful health service here and we can exchange with the North, practices. We can health care free to the point of access.
Two education systems, police forces and health services on one island doesn’t make sense.
There’s huge problems in farming. The beef industry is worth €2.5Bn, yet farmers are getting such low prices. Where’s the money going to? What’s in operation that prevents farming from being viable.
Ireland is the backbone of Ireland. If you were to take farming out of rural Ireland, what are you left with?
In terms of climate change we need to look at the public good of farming. How we make it pay for farmers.
Mercosur in the deal that has been done, the government has sold us down the swanee.
In our bonus round John Connors reveals to us what makes him happy, what makes him sad, be anyone for one day, water or alcohol, best film, favourite food, and more.