Northern Ireland Peace Process: Discussion

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/FDMr. George Newell: I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to address such a prestigious body.

My perspective is that of a loyalist. I have listened to Mr. Murray and may pose more questions rather than giving answers. I come from the Shankill Road which is the other side of west Belfast. My area suffers from problems which need to be addressed. To many, the Belfast Agreement was about peace and reconciliation. This raises the question of how one can reconcile people who have never been on conciliatory terms. We have had diversity in our communities for hundreds of years. We now have a peace process with which we are coming to terms.

The analogy I would give to show where we are as regards the Belfast Agreement is that we were in a storm for 30 years of violent conflict and are now in the eye of the storm in which we have peaceful conflict. We still have massive conflict on the streets, depending on the time of the year and whether something kicks off at one of the various interfaces. We had guns on the streets of Belfast again not so long ago. The interfaces are an example of the problems we suffer. A debate has started about creating a new interface, not in an inner city area of Belfast or between the Falls Road and the Shankill Road but in Monkstown which is probably more rural than urban, situated as it is closer to Glengormley than to Belfast. There is a major problem between local communities in the area. This is a sign that even in rural areas on the outskirts of Belfast high levels of diversity continue

We have problems with the Belfast Agreement. In 30 years of conflict what happened, more than anything, was that there was a hardening of Unionism and the establishment in my community of a sense of anti-Irishness. As Mr. Murray correctly noted, young people of nine, ten, 11 and 12 years who do not have any experience of what the conflict was about now espouse a pro-British and anti-Irish position. One of the reasons for this is simply that we put things in little boxes saying: “This is ours and that is theirs; we will keep this and you can keep that.” This is a problem with our young people which must be addressed by educating them about cultural diversity, not only between Protestants and Catholics but in a way that includes the ethnic minorities who live in Belfast.

Thirty years of conflict have hardened attitudes. What used to be the Unionist community has been divided into a community with three elements, namely, Protestantism with both a large P and small p, Unionism which covers a range of shades of opinion, and loyalism, a label mainly attached to working class people in Protestant areas of Northern Ireland. Loyalism suffers from problems because the media have attached certain labels to it. Most people regard loyalist paramilitaries as the representatives of loyalism. When one considers the position of loyalist paramilitaries coming out of the conflict, it is only through them that the peace process is still in place. They have put in hard work to ensure young people do not become involve in the same activities as we did in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Loyalist paramilitaries have been labelled by the media as sectarian bigots and murdering scum, whereas republicans are referred to as patriots and freedom fighters. Loyalists find it very hard to cast off the labels attached to them and in some cases, the attitude is one of “If the label sticks, one might as well wear it.”

We are going through an education process, especially with our young people. Those who are old enough to remember the conflict do not want to return to it. A number of years ago Hugh Orde, the then Chief Constable of the PSNI, told Mr. Tony Blair, the then Prime Minister, that he would deal with the loyalists if the Prime Minister dealt with the republicans. That attitude is being played out on the streets of Belfast and Northern Ireland. We are seeing an iron fist in a velvet glove. The historical enquiries team, HET, has investigated 72 cases involving loyalists compared to two cases involving republicans. We have a supergrass trial taking place in Belfast involving only loyalist paramilitaries. This is a major problem which must be addressed and we must be given assistance to do so. How will we be able to educate our young people in cultural diversity when they are being hit in the face every day?

I am aware of the time constraints and will make a few brief additional comments. As Mr. Murray spoke about the Belfast Agreement, I will not recite a litany of problems. Where we come from, especially in west Belfast, people want to talk about working class issues such as social and economic problems, low educational achievement, drug abuse, alcoholism, poor housing conditions and the lack of job opportunities. We need people to articulate these issues on our behalf and the place to do this – I am issuing a challenge to Sinn Féin in this regard – is at Westminster. Sinn Féin should take its seats there and give the people of west Belfast, including the loyalist community, a voice by articulating these problems. If it cannot do that, it should step aside and let someone who can articulate for us step in because we do have major problems. We believe that our own Unionist politicians simply want to keep us in that little box as well, so there is a major problem.

Perhaps I can give the committee a thought on which to ponder. A very famous peace activist, Mahatma Ghandi, once said that it is very hard to shake hands with your enemy if they are still holding a clenched fist. That is a problem that we also confront today.

To be continued