MAYNOOTH - 19 November 2008 - 1,010 words
Cardinal
Sean Brady writes on the Northern Ireland peace process
Earlier this year I visited a small Catholic parish in the middle
of Gaza City. It was one of the most memorable experiences of
my life. In the midst of desolation brought about by years
of conflict I was inspired by young and old alike who spoke of
hope for the future. What moved me most was the number of
people who looked to Northern Ireland as a reason for their hope.
The same experience has been repeated many times over as I meet
people from across the world. They look to Northern Ireland
as a sign that when people are determined to search for peace
it can be achieved.
Here at home it is easier to lose sight
of how much has been achieved in recent years. Despite the obstacles
and detours along the way, we really do enjoy a better present
and a more hopeful future than was imaginable just a few years
ago. As a society we have made enormous steps on the journey
to a brighter, more peaceful future. This is something to
celebrate, something I believe everyone with the good of society
at heart will want to build on and secure.
The challenge today is to remain committed to that journey.
The Bible speaks of peace as a 'way', something we strive towards
and work for step by step. Each step on that journey is
a challenge. It is seldom easy. It can even demand
some personal or political cost. As we have discovered in
Northern Ireland, it is not always easy to choose compromise over
stalemate, to choose generosity over self-interest, or forgiveness
over revenge, the common good over party-political good.
Yet these are profoundly Christian values. They are the
steps which when taken with courage have allowed all of us to
move to a more stable future. The challenge now, I believe,
is to continue that momentum, to continue to show the generosity,
mutual understanding and commitment to a future based on fairness
and co-operation which has brought us to the better present we
now enjoy.
Let's be clear absolutely clear about one thing. The current
political impasse, with the failure of the Executive to meet in
recent months, is damaging this hope. It is undermining
those who believe Northern Ireland has a brighter future, especially
the young who want to stay and build their lives here. It
also encourages those who want to promote the failed ideologies
of the past. It gives space to those who promote the lie
that violence has something to offer our future. The current
impasse encourages those who believe the future can be based on
something other than power-sharing and institutions which give
due recognition to the two main political aspirations which have
been at the heart of the conflict here for centuries.
One of the most important steps on the journey we have made so
far has been the creation of a representative police service for
Northern Ireland, a police service with independent oversight
and the prospect of direct accountability to a locally elected
administration. Everyone in our society, irrespective of
their political or religious affiliation, has benefited immensely
from a Police Service which is now more representative, accepted
and supported. Policing is an essential part of any society.
When provided with integrity and impartiality it is a service
to the common good. It is part of a Christian vision of
society. Those who have taken up the vocation of policing,
from whichever section of the community they come, deserve our
complete encouragement and support. They deserve our support
in ensuring their actions and attitudes meet the high ideals and
standards which all traditions in our society rightly expect of
them. Those who actively target members of the PSNI in an
attempt to destroy the progress made in recent years, challenge
the very principles of a just and a free society. When the
people of Ireland, north and south, voted in such overwhelming
numbers to support the Good Friday Agreement ten years ago, they
repudiated once and for all any resort to violence for political
ends. Those who have the interests of a just and peaceful
future for all the people of this island at heart must reject
these evil and deliberate attacks on members of the PSNI.
They are immoral and a direct challenge to the overwhelming and
freely expressed will of the people of Ireland. Anyone with information
about those involved in such attacks has a clear moral duty to
give that information to An Garda Síochána or the
PSNI.
There is a real danger that as the years go on in Northern Ireland,
we will forget the futility, destruction and misery wrought by
the violence of the past. This is especially true for the young.
It is critical that we never allow the violence of the past to
be glamorised. It brought nothing but despair. It
set back the prospects of justice, peace and freedom with every
violent word and action. This means that the issue of state-sponsored
violence and the continued presence of armed loyalist paramilitaries
also have to be addressed. The seeming patience of those
with political responsibility and influence on loyalist paramilitaries
in terms of decommissioning stands in stark contrast to their
approach to other paramilitary groups. Continued suspicions within
the Catholic community about the relationship between certain
sections of the security services and loyalist paramilitaries
also undermine the efforts of all to build a more just and stable
future. Both these issues need to be addressed urgently
and comprehensively.
Two Sundays from now Christians around the world will celebrate
the First Sunday of Advent, the period of preparation for the
feast of Christmas. On that Sunday they will hear the Prophet
Isaiah tell of a time when people will beat their swords into
ploughshares, their weapons of war into instruments of a great
harvest of peace for all the people. My prayer as Christmas
approaches is that all those with an interest in the greater good
of our society, will find the way and have the courage to take
the next step on the road to peace. It may be the one that
matters most. It will certainly give people in Gaza, the
Holy Land and other places around the world another reason to
hope.
Source: Irish Catholic Media Office
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