Northern Ireland Archive
Bishops 2004
The tape is shot from the right hand side with Bishop Daly closest and Bishop Mehaffey on a seat five feet further away. There is no table in front of them. Light is coming from a window behind them but the camera is not directed at the window so they are not darkened. Bishop Mehaffey is well lit by natural light coming over his left should. There also appears to be room light coming from in front of them (it seems to have a yellow color). Bishop Daly's image is a little dark although you can see him clearly. Although their speech is clear, at the beginning of the tape there is quite a bit of room noise in the form of student giggles and noises, coughing, and the clank of coffee cups against plates. This is not really annoying but it happens enough to be noticable. That seems to be less common as they get going in their presentations. Although sound is clear it was not as loud as I would have liked so it was hard to pick up exact words.
Description
The two retired bishops of the Catholic and Anglican churches of Derry/Londonderry visit the Bucknell in Northern Ireland class. The beginning gives personal histories of each man. They give an important account of the Inner City Trust, a project they jointly worked on with local business leaders, especially Paddy Doherty. The project used youth apprenticeships to re-build the walled city in central Derry. The project also created space and support for nonprofit organizations to work/ Those organizations helped to develop a climate for peace in the city. After this section, the tape contains a variety of personal reflections they have playing their roles as religious leaders. One of the vivid aspects of the presentation is Bishop Daly talking about administering last rites to combatants who were shot. The two Bishops also give meaningful reflections on the role young people played in the conflict, the similarity of the conflict in Northern Ireland to wars elsewhere, and they give thoughtful statements about the meaninglessness of this kind of conflict and the importance of peace.