Thursday, 13 October 2011 Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Debate ..Dail Eireann. Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiu Aoine an Cheasta…Chairman/Cathaoirleach Dominic Hannigan,TD/FD
Mr. Sean Murray: I thank the joint committee for affording us an opportunity to come here to address some of the issues of vital importance to our community. The lived experience of us all is to have come through the conflict of the past 40 years and entered into the peace process. It is interesting that we are addressing the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement because the Good Friday Agreement gave us governance arrangements that, for the first time ever, all communities could sign up to and have confidence in. The Agreement created an enhanced environment to facilitate discussions like those we are having and have been having for a few years and to address what are termed “sensitive issues” which are of vital importance to us.
I would like to set the context for this discussion before speaking about the issue of historical anniversaries. The peace process and the Good Friday Agreement have totally transformed the situation in the North. It is not an understatement to say it has had a positive impact on the quality of life of our communities. One can contrast or juxtapose what life was like during the conflict in the communities from which Mr. McDonald, Mr. Newell, Dr. Phoenix and I come with the total transformation that has been made. That is not a bland statement. We have lived through that experience. The Agreement has facilitated a better future for our children. We are getting to the age at which we have grandchildren also.
Unfortunately, some people from the younger generation do not appreciate the scenario out of which we have come. It is history for them – something they can read about in the history book. That brings challenges with it also. The peace process has not delivered for many of them. They were not part of the situation into which we had to face, or part of the conflict. Many of them feel left behind. There has been no development or no peace dividend in some of our communities, especially in interface areas.
I will give an example. I live in the Springfield Road area of east Belfast. We were promised a university and some £10 million was spent on research by an English firm. However, that was the end of the project, as the university pulled out. The only result from it was that developers saw an opportunity to buy up housing stock as accommodation for students. It was a negative result and we are suffering the consequences. We used to have a homogenous community, but there is now a private or transient community attached to it. This is having a negative impact on the community.
The same has happened on the loyalist side of the peace line. We live next to and along the peace line in west Belfast and those communities feel left behind. They have not seen the dividend, apart from the end of the conflict. There is still ongoing conflict in a minor form and much of it is not political. We are dealing with frustrated kids who are engaging in certain actions right across the peace line on a weekly basis. It is not reported on in the news, but it is still happening under the surface. There is a danger that at times of high tension, for example, during the parading season, something that is minor in nature can develop into something more serious.
The good management of sensitive issues by both communities is necessary to deal with such scenarios. Only for this, it could become very dangerous. It is important for everyone in this room to understand the peace process cannot be taken for granted. The last couple of nights have given us a prime example. There was a bomb in Derry last night. There have been sectarian attacks in east Belfast and Antrim in the past couple of nights. It is still bubbling along under the surface. One of the key challenges we face is the scourge of sectarianism which is rampant. It is widespread throughout the community, especially among young people.
I would like to refer back to the peace process, the success of which was based on certain key principles. It is important to apply these principles to the challenges ahead and the issue of historic anniversaries. The first principle I would like to mention is inclusivity. Exclusion is very dangerous. If one tries to exclude any community, or any section of the community, one is sowing the seeds of conflict. The next principle I would like to mention is transparency. We need to enable people to see and understand exactly what is going on in any agreement. The final principle I would like to mention – equality – should also be a bedrock of any attempt to reach agreement and consensus.
We have a focus on consolidating the process which we cannot take for granted. Negative voices in both communities want to take us back 40 years. I have given some examples. Some young people do not see the positive outflow from the peace process. There is a lack of opportunities for many of them, which I understand is not exclusive to Belfast or the North. The context in which they are living is creating one of the dangers we have to deal with.
We have come a long way in having an acceptable civic policing service. Communities and the police are in transition and major lessons were learned from both perspectives. It is an ongoing job of work. I will give an illustration to show where we are at in terms of the policing interaction between the communities. Mr. McDonald and I will speak at a policing conference in four weeks time to mark the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the PSNI. Police interests have stated they want to hear from representatives of the community, rather than just from a policing perspective. There has to be constant interaction between the police and local communities in terms of what is going on at local level and the enhancement of the policing service. Every society, irrespective of its ideological bent, needs a policing service which serves the needs and requirements of each community.
I mentioned sectarianism. I know Mr. McDonald and Mr. Newell share my concern about the level of sectarianism, especially among younger people and at times of high tension. It was brought home to me a number of years ago when I stood at an interface area during a contentious parade in Ardoyne, one of the major flashpoint areas for parades, particularly in July. Young people between the ages of ten and 14 years who were never part of the conflict were expounding sectarian viewpoints. They really wanted to get at each other, for want of a better term. If we do not deal with the scourge of sectarianism, we will sow the seeds of future conflict. One of the key challenges we face is how we deal with sectarianism which is pervasive among young people. It is not just a working class phenomenon; it is to be found in all classes. It might be more hidden in others, but it is still to be found and needs to be challenged. We need to come up with strategies to enable us to deal with such issues. It is obvious that one such strategy should involve economic regeneration. The areas from which we come have never had productive industrial bases. There has always been a lack of employment opportunities.
I am concerned about the employability of some young people. I have constant interaction with some of those who try to provide some training for young people in schools. They tell me that the education system has failed some young people. They have to concentrate on basic numeracy and literacy before they can adapt training processes for them. At the end of these processes, there are no meaningful jobs for young people. This can be soul-destroying for them.
One of the issues we are dealing with is trying to develop a mechanism to deal with the past. Every time we move forward, the issue of the past comes up again. We have to devise mechanisms that will allow us all to deal with that important issue. One of the aims of the dialogue in which we are involved is to develop a broad consensus about a shared future for the whole island. How do we move forward? How can we build that consensus? We still have our political allegiances and differences, but it is important that we have a constant dialogue and various processes to deal with the contentious issues outstanding. No one should fear any of these processes.
On the issue of rights, we are trying to develop a Bill of Rights in the North but have not yet achieved that objective. The development of a charter of rights for the whole island is another outstanding issue which needs to be addressed. That is the backdrop and these are the challenges ahead.
Dr. Adamson referred to one of the key challenges facing us, namely, the issue of anniversaries. The manner in which we celebrate or mark anniversaries can be highly contentious. Part of the dialogue we are having is to identify whether we can take a joint approach to these issues because the celebration or marking of anniversaries can be very divisive. If one side celebrates an anniversary in a way that is in the face of others, it can antagonise those who hold other perspectives. The question is whether we can, without diluting our individual perspectives, sit down and have a discussion about how we mark and celebrate anniversaries. Can we create a greater understanding? Mr. McDonald and Mr. Newell will view these issues from a loyalist perspective, whereas I take a Nationalist-republican perspective. If one mentions the 1916 Rising, it has different meanings for me and Mr. McDonald and Mr. Newell.
The question, however, is whether we can share our perspectives on 1916 and look in a shared way at what it means to try to understand the dynamics of what made the Rising take place. What led people to take to the streets of Dublin in 1916? What led people to join the First World War effort and go over the top of trenches? What dynamics were at work? All of those involved were Irish people. What were the individual, political, social and cultural dynamics at work at the time and can we understand them without necessarily having to agree with their outcomes? It is vital that we attempt to understand these issues. That is where much of our work is centred.
How can we develop joint approaches to marking and celebrating some of the historical anniversaries? Rather than this becoming a fresh challenge, can we turn it into an opportunity to promote reconciliation, not only on a Six Counties basis but on a national basis, given that the conflict has not been exclusive to the Six Counties? We all know the history from which we have come. Can we truly develop a national perspective and national reconciliation to deal with some of the hurts of the past? This would involve having difficult conversations, as we have been doing for many years. Twenty years ago, for example, if anyone had said we would sit down in 20 years and have these conversations, he or she would have been asked if there was something wrong with his or her head. That is the position we are in.
We are not alone in society. There are negative voices which do not like the prospect of us sitting down and having joint discussions and the people in question will do everything possible to undermine these discussions. That is their problem and one with which they must come to terms. They will not stop us having discussions.
I am honoured to be part of the committee. We are trying to bring others in and focus on how we deal with the whole issue of historical anniversaries. We are seeking to develop a joint approach and a shared understanding of the dynamics at work in the past on this island of ours, although I accept this will not be possible in the case of every historical anniversary.
To be continued