KEY POINTS:
The Northern Ireland town of Limavady has two claims to fame in this part of the world. It is the place where the haunting Irish tune Danny Boy was first written down and put to words. And it is the birthplace of William Massey, New Zealand's second longest serving Prime Minister who is commemorated with a bronze statue outside the council offices.
No one seems unhappy with the former, but some Sinn Fein councillors have suddenly discovered that Massey was a member of the Loyal Orange Order and want to be rid of him.
By all accounts, this discovery was made after a bout of petty infighting on the council which resulted in calls for the removal of a mug commemorating the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Until this point, Massey had always been regarded as a famous son. He left Limavady in 1870 at the age of 14 to migrate to New Zealand where he was Prime Minister through the difficult times of 1912-1925. But when the fighting councillors of Limavady checked him out on the internet and discovered his Loyal Orange background, they demanded his statue if not his head.
In one sense they are right, of course. He was a member of the Loyal Orange Order although historian Michael Bassett suggests his commitment was not all that great. More importantly, though, Massey's career provides a valuable lesson for those trying to heal the wounds of decades of sectarian strife.
He knew there were all kinds of divisions in all societies and the job of politicians is to understand them and work with them, not to make them worse. When accused of being a sectarian, he once famously replied: "I am Prime Minister, and my duties as Prime Minister come first." That's not a bad lesson for the councillors of Limavady to learn and a good reason for them to keep the Massey statue as a reminder.
