HISTORY, HERITAGE AND RECONCILIATION

History and heritage have always been important to Irish people, from whatever tradition they come, but they also have an important part to play in the work of reconciliation - in the promotion of understanding, mutual respect, and healing. Learning about and discussing each other’s history will assist us as we attempt to deal with and address the legacies of the past, and hopefully help in the building of a more inclusive society respectful of difference and appreciative of the rich diversity that lies within us all. And this study of the past should not be confined to the events of the last 100, 400 or even 800 years or even to events on this island alone. For the history of this island – and its peoples - is a complex one, stretching back over the millennia, a story of change and continuity, of enterprise, creativity, diversity and conflict. We are fortunate to have in Meath and Louth particularly a rich archaeological heritage covering over 5,000 years of human settlement and ritual activity, including some of the most important prehistoric and historic centres on the island, much of it in the Boyne Valley. This is a heritage in which people from all traditions can share (as well as new peoples coming in). Over the years the Meath Peace Group and the Louth-based cross-border group the Guild of Uriel have regularly hosted visits to heritage sites, preceding an evening dialogue session. Groups from across the traditional divides in Northern Ireland and the Republic – including victims’ groups, political groups, inter-church groups, community groups from interface areas of Belfast, ex-prisoners and members of the loyal orders - have accompanied us on study visits to sites such as Tara, Bru na Boinne, Trim, Slane and the Battle of the Boyne, and together we have developed a keener knowledge and appreciation of our common past, of the various peoples who came and settled on this island from earliest times, and also a deeper understanding of historical events that have shaped the lives of so many. This shared study of our heritage has regularly included members of local historical societies such as the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society and the Louth Historical Society, and has extended to neighbouring counties and across the border into Armagh, Fermanagh, Antrim, Down and Tyrone"



THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT - WHERE TO?

Conference in the Europa Hotel, Drogheda, 25 September 2004, organised by the Drogheda Cross-border Focus

Address of Julitta Clancy Spokesperson and founder member of the Meath Peace Group (since 1993), and Co-Chair (with Roy Garland) of the cross-community heritage and dialogue group, the Guild of Uriel (founded in 1995)

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First of all, may I thank the organisers for inviting me here to speak today and may I congratulate them on the work they have done over the years and for their efforts in bringing about this important conference.

I speak today, not as a political activist, or as a politician, but from my experiences as a member of two unique and highly dedicated grass-roots groups in Meath and Louth, who, since early 1993, have been actively involved in the promotion of understanding and the building of mutual respect and trust between peoples of opposing traditions and differing backgrounds on this island.

I am mindful that the last time I addressed a public meeting in Drogheda was on the 16th August 1998 - the day following the Omagh atrocity when 29 people and 2 unborn children were killed and hundreds were injured - and this only 3 months after the ratification of the Good Friday Agreement by the people North and South.

A New Beginning:

"The Good Friday Agreement - Where To?" is the question posed by this conference. However, given the realities of the present situation, another question must also be put: "The New Beginning - Where has it gone to?"

For the Good Friday Agreement was supposed to be a "truly historic opportunity for a new beginning", a "fresh start" in which the governments and political parties - North and South - firmly dedicated themselves to:

� "the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust",

� "the protection and vindication of the human rights of all",

� "partnership, equality and mutual respect as the basis of relationships within Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between these islands",

and in which, while acknowledging the "continuing, and equally legitimate, political aspirations", they nevertheless committed themselves to -

� "strive in every practical way towards reconciliation and rapprochement within the framework of democratic and agreed arrangements".

� "the promotion of a "culture of tolerance at every level of society",

� the fostering of "mutual respect for the identity and ethos of both communities",

� "parity of esteem", and the

� building of "mutual understanding and respect within and between communities and traditions, in Northern Ireland and between North and South".

It was with these fine words, and in a "spirit of concord", that the parties and the two governments commended the Agreement to the people, North and South, in May of 1998.

It was this spirit, these key principles and aspirations, these hopes of a better and fairer future, which, I believe, motivated many people to put their trust in that Agreement and to take a risk for peace, and it is very much in the working out of these principles that the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement will be felt, so that it can one day take its place in the history books as a milestone in the troubled and fractured story of this island.

1998 - Year of the Agreement

Let us remember the situation in May 1998, a year that started with a succession of sectarian killings in Belfast and yet - only 9 months into a new IRA ceasefire - an Agreement was successfully negotiated between the two governments and between most of the political parties in NI (with the notable exception of the DUP), an agreement that was put to the people only one month afterwards and was ratified in both parts of this island.

None of the people who voted in May 1998 had ever had such an opportunity presented to them before, many of those who voted for it came from communities who had been alienated and disenfranchised for years and many had been deeply hurt in the conflict of the previous 30 years. Many who voted for it were sceptical but were persuaded to give it a try, and there were many who voted for it whose experiences and upbringing would have steered them away from embracing the incredible compromises involved and from ratifying such a complex and at times deeply flawed and ambiguous document.

Those who voted for it - especially in Northern Ireland - must have recognised that the achievement of the ideals set out in the Agreement would involve long-term work and commitment at all levels of society. But they knew that this was necessary if the crippling legacy of the past was finally to be laid to rest and a brighter and warmer future could be handed on to their children.

Where are we today?

Where are we now in that great journey embarked on six years ago?

1. Northern Ireland
In addressing the questions, we, as southerners, could focus - as we usually do - entirely on Northern Ireland, on them "up there".
We would acknowledge, yes, the great improvements made in the last 6 years - most markedly and most importantly the huge reduction in violence, the growing, albeit tentative, improvement in relations between some of the political groupings, the increased awareness of human rights and the equality dimension, the growing recognition of the need to understand and to address the legacies of the conflict as a necessary part in the building for the future, the healthier relations between North and South, particularly at official level, the reforms in criminal justice and policing, and the greater sense of confidence amongst at least that part of the community which heretofore had felt severely alienated.
But primarily we would highlight the numerous problems that still remain, both the difficulties in the political process that have bedevilled and delayed the full implementation of the core elements of the Agreement, and also the wider societal problems which feed into and are aggravated by the continued political stalemate.
And we would have ample evidence of these - the bitter inter-communal disputes that have risen to the surface over the past few years, the sectarian and racist attacks, the increased interface tensions, the continuing paramilitary presence, the intimidation of communities and individuals, the increasingly segregated housing arrangements, the disillusionment within many working-class communities, the growing alienation from the Agreement within the unionist community (slightly only half of whom actually voted for the Agreement in 1998). And through all this the lingering legacies of the conflict, the unresolved questions of truth and justice, and the continuing pain of the victims of violence.
As I said in a letter to the papers last year, enormous efforts and resources have been put into delivering - and attempting to sustain - the political and institutional aspects of the Agreement. But the imbalanced implementation, the cherry-picking and foot-dragging practised by some parties, the failure of the power-sharing executive to endure and work effectively, the relatively low priority given to promoting and sustaining the reconciliation and healing process (only 2.1% of the EU Peace Programme has actually gone into community relations work), and the failure to make a real difference to the everyday lives of people in disadvantaged communities, have put severe strains on the peace-building process and hampered the work of promoting more harmonious relationships between communities in Northern Ireland.
So, in relation to Northern Ireland the answer to the question - "The Good Friday Agreement - Where To? - and the future stability of that society - depends very much on what happens in the current political negotiations and, if and when the institutions are restored and sustained, how the politicians and the power-sharing executive can finally begin to address the glaring needs of that society and contribute to the realisation of the key principles of that Agreement.
As Mark Durkan said recently:"We need to get the institutions back, not just for politicians to share power but so we can address how people can share the streets and the playgrounds and the sports fields" [INCORE conference, 9 Sept. 2004]
In time, this process will inevitably require improvements and developments involving reform of some of the arrangements under the Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement is not a document set in stone for all time. It is, rather, a very important stepping stone. Its principles must endure but its practical arrangements, if found wanting, must surely be open to reform by agreement between all the parties.

2. Republic of Ireland:
But what about us in the South? The Good Friday Agreement set out challenges for us also - for we are part of the problem as well as the solution - and the full realisation of the principles and vision enshrined in that Agreement depend on how they are progressed in both parts of this island.
We are often accused of having done very little to help resolve the conflict of the past 30 years, we have often been accused of turning our backs over the past 80 years, of paying lip-service but avoiding real engagement, and we have always had our excuses to hand.
Did we deliberately remain blind to the injustices and to the appalling violence?
Did the silence we adopted after our own bitter Civil War, our failure to face up to and expose the wounds of that conflict, contribute to the ambivalence we at times have shown towards the violence of the last 30 years?
In May 1998 an historic opportunity was given to us - an opportunity to play a positive and constructive part in healing the divisions and the wounds of history - and we should have had no excuses. Yes, we voted to amend our Constitution - that was a hugely positive measure - but what else effectively have we done since then?
We have not suffered in this part of the island in any way as much as our neighbours in the North, we have not had the problems of a deeply divided society which they have had to live with - we should have been freer to develop new initiatives, to better educate ourselves, to open our minds and our hearts, to facilitate, encourage and engage in the difficult dialogue and self-examination required.
We constantly expect the people in Northern Ireland to deliver and to compromise in ways we ourselves could not, we pressurise them to go the extra mile, and, when they fail, we throw up our hands in despair.
In answering the question "The Good Friday Agreement - Where To?" we in the Republic - individuals, politicians (national and local), churches, business organisations, trade unions, sporting, community and youth organisations, media, educators and civil society generally - should ask ourselves a series of questions first:

� Have we grasped the opportunity given to us by that Agreement?

� Have we contributed to the achievement of the aims and the spirit of the Agreement?

� Have we worked effectively to ratify and affirm that "new beginning"?

� How much are we still a part of the problem?

� What have we done to genuinely acknowledge the suffering and the needs of our own victims of the conflict, let alone the many victims in Northern Ireland and the neighbouring island?

� Have we addressed the specific commitments we made as well as the general principles set out in that Agreement which we so wholeheartedly signed up to?

� What have we done in response to the commitment we made to "continue to take further active steps to demonstrate [our] respect for the different traditions in the island of Ireland" ?

� What have we done to help build better relations between ordinary people North and South, and within Northern Ireland, between people from both sides of the historic divide?

� What have we done to build genuine understanding, mutual respect and tolerance, as we promised in that Agreement? How much has been only lip-service?

� What have we done to educate and empower our young people to find ways to help heal the wounds and positively contribute to a better future?

� What have we done to allay the fears and address the misperceptions which are so prevalent and which have contributed to the divisions?

� What lessons have we learned from the conflict?

� What are we doing to ensure that our society is an inclusive one, one that values and respects its minorities?

The building of a just, peaceful, stable, tolerant, fair, inclusive, caring, respectful and enriching society is what I believe is envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement. It should be the aim of all of us, especially those who would call themselves republican.
We must continually work to reform and improve our society, for our own benefit, as well as for the benefit of our existing minorities and the new communities coming to live and work here.

United Ireland:
There is another aspect which we must be mindful of in this process.
The Good Friday Agreement makes provision for a border poll, whereby a united Ireland could be brought about by a majority vote in NI. Now the achievement of a united Ireland is a legitimate aspiration and that is acknowledged in the Good Friday Agreement. If brought about peacefully and by consent, it would be welcomed by many people on this island, but there are many who would fear it. History cautions us to be careful and experience warns us not to rush this process. Given the tragic suffering of the past, given the historic divisions on this island, we must be open also to other ideas and arrangements that might not necessarily reflect traditional thinking as to what would be involved in a united Ireland, arrangements which could ensure genuine peace on this island.
So, for those who genuinely long for a united Ireland, I would urge you not to put undue pressure on a still fragile peace process, not to hamper the healing and trust-building process, but to work for your aspirations in a truly peaceful, positive, non-threatening and inclusive manner. I would urge you to cooperate in the improvement of stability and the building of better relations between the communities in Northern Ireland, to enter into an open and honest debate as to what would be envisaged in a united Ireland. Above all, I would urge you to work to ensure that this Republic is a warm place, a place where "all the children of the nation are cherished equally", and where the symbolism of the tricolour - Green, White and Orange - is truly and genuinely realised.
The test of a true Republic is how it treats its minorities - there is much work to be done.