Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract The conclusion (‘Truth-Seeking’) discusses Northern Ireland’s immediate post-conflict milieu and the lingering effects of the Troubles through a close examination of David Park’s novel The Truth Commissioner (2008). The novel employs five distinct points of view and a limited third-person narration to emphasize the difference perspective makes to any individual’s experience and assessment of Northern Ireland’s late-twentieth-century history. During the decade following the approval of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, there was considerable public speculation about the possibility of Northern Ireland implementing a comprehensive truth-recovery process along the lines of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Truth Commissioner presents Park’s ambivalent vision of how such a body might function in practice. The conclusion suggests that a novel may be more effective than a truth commission in reaching certain kinds of truth and promoting social understanding. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement accomplished the remarkable feat of establishing peace in Northern Ireland, but it should be seen as the beginning rather than the end of the challenging task of imagining a shared Northern Irish identity. Getting to Good Friday argues that, in this endeavour, the contributions of artists will be at least as important as initiatives by politicians.