September 29, 2014
First Minister Peter Robinson
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
GD36 Stormont Castle
Stormont Estate
Belfast, BT4 3TT
Northern Ireland
Dear First Minister and Deputy First Minister,
Last week, the Reverend Ian Paisley Sr. passed away at 88. This milestone event was cause for reflection on the Irish Peace Process—how far it has come, how much remains undone and at risk. Paisley cast a huge shadow over Northern Ireland for most of his adult life. For 40 years he was known for his oft-bellowed response to pleas for compromise and cross-community accommodating—“No, Never.” Then came 2007, the time Paisley said “yes” to a Stormont Executive with himself as First Minister for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Martin McGuiness as Deputy First Minister for Sinn Fein.
Nine years after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 created the framework for the end of “The Troubles” that had plagued Northern Ireland for 30 years the man who said “no” then was now making a cross-community devolved government possible. But now seven years later as The Reverend Paisley passes permanently from the scene the hard-earned Peace Process appears stalled again. Is Northern Ireland to slip back to the days of “never” or move forward with compromise and accommodation?
As Americans, we have taken pride in our significant role leading up to Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and our support for the challenging steps of implementation thereafter. Democratic and Republican White Houses appointed skilled envoys to support the process and House and Senate members of both parties presented a united front hosting in political leaders here, on neutral ground, and huddling with them in the Republic of Ireland, England and Northern Ireland, always speaking with one voice. It was one of America’s most significant foreign policy successes in recent times. The Irish American Diaspora helped to lay the foundations for peace and justice.
We are now twenty years on since the historic IRA and Loyalist cease fires paved the way for the four years of negotiating and compromise which led to the peace agreement. Policing and the administration of justice have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. Sectarian violence is now the exception and crime statistics overall are lower than anywhere in the UK. Many communities at the local level are building bridges and last year Derry/Londonderry was Europe’s City of Culture, embracing all of its traditions and art forms.
However, a stalemate without violence is still a stalemate. And children growing up without a vision of a shared cross-community future can too easily learn the ways of conflict again. Last March, the annual Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report noted with concern that a “culture of endless negotiations has become embedded and, without a vision of a shared society to sustain it, the peace process has lost its power to inspire.” Today 93 percent of the children in Northern Ireland still attend religiously segregated schools. So called Peace Walls still divide Loyalist and Republican neighborhoods. While the annual “Marching Season” has benefitted from the process and order wrought by the Parades Commission, there continues to be tension and sectarian strife around parades, flags, and access to benefits from the State.
Twenty months ago the Belfast City Council, now with a Nationalist majority, voted to limit the days that the Union Jack would fly over Belfast City Hall, based on practices elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Loyalists rioted in the streets and all of the old wounds seemed to open for all to see. The tension was reflected at Stormont where progress on legislation bogged down, and the regular business of government slowed to a crawl. Compromise, the foundation of the agreement, became almost impossible as the smallest issues went unresolved.
Recognizing the significant logjam they were facing, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness invited former U.S. Special Envoy Richard Haass and former State Department official Megan O’Sullivan to review the flash point issues of identity (flags, symbols, parades and the processes to resolve grievances from the Troubles.) After six months of work, over 100 meetings and testimony from hundreds of aggrieved family members, community leaders, police and public officials, a thorough and thoughtful report was provided to the political leaders for discussion and implementation.
Agreement could not be reached. The Nationalist parties Sinn Fein and SDLP accepted the report in full; the Alliance party accepted it in part; while the Unionist parties—DUP and UUP–would not agree. Attempts were made to continue the dialogue, but each time the talks fell apart with finger pointing and rancor. Haass was quoted as saying “Our experience in Northern Ireland suggests that those who believe that they can ensure that each and every element of this agreement is to their liking– and still secure five party consensuses– are unrealistic in the extreme”.
As Americans who have invested much time, energy and passion into this process, we urge the leadership of Northern Ireland to go back to the table and hammer out agreement compromise. The Peace Process began with small confidence building measures. Opposing political leaders actually found ways to help their rivals deliver their constituents though cooperative action, both private and public. This shared enterprise of building cross-community confidence is needed again.
Creating a vision of an integrated and pluralist society that lets go of historic wrongs is no easy task, but it is a goal that must be pursued now. Nelson Mandela, the great South African statesman, had a seemingly boundless capacity for reconciliation. His desire to see the people of South Africa, all of them, create their own future trumped everything else. This capacity for reconciliation is at the root of creating the future that Northern Ireland deserves.
During the Peace Process, even at its darkest hour Unionists and Nationalists alike recognized and appreciated the American role. They thanked us for shining a bright light on the process and keeping the outside world focused on the developments. The light is back on and we pledge our help going forward.
Sincerely,
Hon. James T. Walsh
Former Member of Congress
Former Chairman of Congressional Friends of Ireland.
Hon. Bruce A. Morrison
Former Member of Congress
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