In recent years, Irish politics have leaked from the pages of U.S. newspapers into mainstream American mass media via a host of new films. Jim Sheridan's latest movie, The Boxer, brings to a mass audience the issues surrounding political violence in one of the world's longest-running and bitterly fought conflicts.

In The Boxer, Irish film-maker Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot) has made a movie that is neither a "feel-good" sports story nor a sentimental love tale (although it does contain elements of both). Rather, the movie represents a further episode in Sheridan's attempts to come to grips with his Irish identity and to portray that struggle on screen. It's an exploration of the psychology of oppression and violence.Irish identity and ethnicity can be understood only within the context of the centuries-old English invasion and systematic pillage of the Irish countryside, which continues today. For example, attempted genocide--and not the "Potato Famine"--underlie the mass migrations of Irish people to the Americas in the nineteenth century. Only recently has British prime minister Tony Blair felt compelled to issue a half-hearted apology for this crime.

Irish identity is further complicated by class divisions, religious faith, and ancestry (i.e., those with "native" Irish ancestors vs. those with colonial, British ancestors). Furthermore, to be "Irish" is to continually live next to a 20-ton, psychopathic giant: if you're Protestant, you do what you can to stay in the good graces of England; if you're Catholic, you pray to God. Denial and shame--and defiance-- are the product of the subjugation of an entire people. For many, violence has become the expression of deep, hidden emotions and truths that can't be talked about.

Sheridan knows this well. When the boxer (Daniel Day-Lewis)-- a former IRA terrorist--fights, time slows down long enough for him to realize that knee-jerk violence and random, sectarian killings are destroying any chance of a unified Ireland. So long as Irish Catholics target Irish Protestants (and vice versa), Ireland will remain on an endless cycle of bloodshed, with no end in sight. "Terrorism is a visionless act," in Sheridan's words.

Fortunately, now's the time for new visions in Ireland. Current peace talks have survived recent attempts from Protestant paramilitaries to derail them. For the first time, all parties (who hold to the cease-fire) are present at the same table--an unthinkable situation just a year ago. Protestant Unionists, perhaps realizing for the first time that they're no longer welcome at the giant's economic table, are recognizing the need for an "Irish dimension" to their Orange statehood (under British sovereign rule), and they're displaying a willingness to share power. Catholic Nationalists, in growing numbers, are realizing that a people as stubborn as the Ulster Presbyterians cannot be cajoled involuntarily into a United Ireland.

Fresh approaches to the problems of nationality and sovereignty are coming to the fore. In fact, a solution that goes beyond such petty and divisive issues as nationalism (whether, British or Irish) is now feasible. Local communities now have the opportunity to form a true federation, and voluntarily associate with their neighbors, outside of the nation-state model of centralized power, which is the dysfunctional "norm" in the rest of the world.

While the U.S. press covers only the latest round of violence in Ireland, it's possible, with the aid of a computer and access to the Internet, to find good information about the peace process. Two Web sites worth checking are: The Irish Times (www.irish-times.com) for daily news and commentary, or the Irish Green Party's papers on Northern Ireland (www.iol.ie/resource/green).

Locally, Irish Northern Aid (which supports peace in Ireland and provides humanitarian aid to political prisoners) is presenting two videos about human rights violations in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, February 3 at Seattle Central Community College. Check out our activist calendar for more details.