BRUGGELING HONORIS CAUSA

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I became aware, a while ago, that the College of Europe in Brugge (Bruges) live-streamed the opening and closing of the academic year.

It was while watching one of these that I heard the then Mayor of Brugge, Renaat Landuyt (above), say that students of the College were now made Bruggeling honoris causa which I took to mean honorary Brugge citizens.

Now there was nothing like that in my day (1967/8) and I thought it sounded nice.

So I wrote to the current Mayor, Dirk De fauw (above) and applied, in the hope that this honour might be applied in retrospect, particularly as I have recently returned from Brugge after celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of my class's graduation.

Imagine my embarrassment when I got a very courteous reply from the city's Head of Protocol telling me that what I had in fact applied for, honorary Brugge citizenship, was the equivalent of what we in Dublin know as the Freedom of the City and that, so far, only 6 people have been made honorary citizens of Brugge.

These included General Foster, who liberated the city at the end of WWII and both philosopher and statesman Salvador de Madariaga and rector Hendrik Brugmans who were intimately involved in founding the College and bringing it to Brugge.

He gently pointed out that having studied at the College of Europe for one year did not compare with the contributions made by the aforementioned honorary citizens

It appears that what had been offered, ie Bruggeling honoris causa, was a certificate given to students at the end of the academic year, intended to be regarded as a symbolic gift from the city of Brugge, more specifically from the sitting Burgomaster.

Did I get a shock. Big OUCH!

So I went back under my rock and wrote a grovelling letter to Marc.

I guess I'll just have to return to waiting for my Légion d'Honneur to arrive in the post.

You can see the full correspondence below. Read from the top down.

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My original letter of 12 May 2019 to the Mayor of Brugge

Lieve Burgemeester

My name is Pól Ó Duibhir / Paul O'Dwyer and I am Irish.

I graduated from the College of Europe in 1968 (Promotion Comenius) and have more recently returned to Brugge for the 40th (2008) and 50th (2018) anniversary of my class's graduation.

I have been following the opening and closing ceremonies of the College Year online and from these I understand that current students are awarded honorary citizenship of the City of Brugge. I wondered if this might apply retrospectively in my case.

My connection with Flanders started, unbeknown to me, in the 1950s when I had Albert Folens as my first French language teacher in school in Dublin. These days I consider the late Albert a Flemish patriot and have been attempting to defend his name against the calumny of some of the Irish media. I know that mentioning Albert may not get me any brownie points but one must follow one's conscience in these matters.

I became more aware of Flemish history and oppression during my period in Brugge. This was during the period of what I am not supposed to refer to as the language wars.

Following my return from the 50th anniversary in Brugge last June I set up a blog recounting my stay there in 1967/8 and also a separate blog on my short sojourn there for the anniversary.

My year in the College: https://bezoeken67.blogspot.com/
My stay for the 50th anniversary: https://bezoeken.blogspot.com/

I am now retired, having spent my working life in the Irish Finance Ministry.

In brief, I would be honoured if, in the company of today's students of the College, I might be awarded honorary citizenship of the city.

Met vriendelijke groeten

Pól Ó Duibhir

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Reply from Marc Mosar, Head of Protocol, City of Brugge, on 24 September 2019
[I did get an acknowledgement of my original letter but this is the substantive reply.]

Dear Mr. Ó Duibhir,

First of all we want to apologize that it took so long to send you a reply on your e-mail about the ‘Bruggeling honoris causa’ certificate. Due to many other urgent assignments we had to postpone less urgent tasks.

We would like to point out that the certificate given to students at the College of Europe at the end of the academic year in Bruges in the past 20 years is not to be confused with the honorary citizenship of the city. It is in fact just a souvenir of their time in Bruges. It was one of the previous burgomasters who started this initiative, and his successors have kept the tradition going. The certificate should be considered a symbolic gift from the city of Bruges, more specifically from the sitting Burgomaster.

So far, only 6 people have been made honorary citizens of Bruges. In each case, the honorary citizenship was awarded by unanimous vote of the city council in recognition of a courageous act or an initiative taken by the honorary citizen or by his or her organization, that has a lasting effect on the city of Bruges and its inhabitants. Allow us to demonstrate with a few examples: after Bruges had been liberated by Canadian troops, the city offered honorary citizenship to general Foster, who led the troops, and to his men. Philosopher and statesman Salvador de Madariaga and rector Hendrik Brugmans became honorary citizens of Bruges in recognition of the role they played in the establishment of the College of Europe in Bruges. To this day, this renowned institution continues to give added value to the city. You will understand that having studied at the College of Europe for one year does not compare with the contributions made by the aforementioned honorary citizens.

We have received similar requests from ex-students at the College of Europe before, but we have never granted any of them. Every year since 1950, 200 students (in the last 20 years even more than 300) have graduated from the College of Europe in Bruges. It would not be feasible for us to give a symbolic certificate to all former students at the College of Europe who did not receive it when they graduated, all the more the tradition started only about 20 years ago.

We hope you understand our point of view.

Yours sincerely.

Marc Mosar
public relations | chief of protocol

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My reply to Marc Mosar, on 24 September 2019

Hi Marc

First let me apologise for picking up the mayor wrongly at the streamed opening of the College of Europe Simone Weil Promotion on 15/09/2017 (video attached).

I had understood the term he used to mean "honorary citizens of Brugge" when he was referring to the honour being bestowed on the students. I would never have suggested myself for honorary citizenship had I realised that this is the equivalent of our "freedom of the city" awarded for great acts of merit or to people of distinction.

God forbid that I would consider my year at the College ranking me on a par with Brugmans or de Madariaga in the history of the city of Brugge.

Now that I understand the situation, it appears that my request should really have been for the certificate you refer to in your first and last paragraphs and I understand completely if you do not deem it appropriate to make such awards to students graduating before the scheme was introduced.

May I just say that I enjoyed my time in Brugge some fifty years ago and my few visits since. I have only fond memories of the city and wish it well in the future.

I do appreciate your full and gracious reply to my misdirected request. I hope it has not caused the city too much trouble.

With best wishes,

Pól

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