Non Gamstop CasinoNon Gamstop CasinoNon Gamstop CasinoNon Gamstop CasinosNon Gamstop CasinosNon Gamstop Casinos
Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
  Orange Standard

'Peace and Reconciliation' Forum Fears

Article 2 ~ July 2003

Claims that a 'Peace and Reconciliation' forum on the lines of that in South Africa will help victims of the 30-year Northern Ireland Troubles continue to swirl around.

Most of the support for such a forum comes from the nationalist or republican side of the community, and that doesn't really come as a surprise. Past experience shows that when it comes to forums or inquiries into the terrible events in Northern Ireland that the republican side of the house tends to dominate the proceedings.

There is never a shortage of 'witnesses' to come forward to say they witnessed police or army 'brutality' and to put the maximum spotlight on atrocities carried out by loyalist paramilitaries.

On the other-hand, people from the Unionist population have tended to be reluctant to come forward and give evidence in such matters. There has been a tendency for Protestants and Unionists to grieve in private for their loved ones murdered by the IRA and other republican groups.

That may be due in large measure to past experience, in that it has been perceived to be much more difficult for Protestants to focus attention on the wrongs inflicted on their community than on the Roman Catholic and nationalist population.

Republicans have been highly successful in spotlighting the 'wrongs' and 'injustices' inflicted on their people. The Sinn Fein propaganda machine has been expert in manipulating the media and in demonising the unionist majority.

Unionists have found it much more difficult to gain a sympathetic response from the media to the terrorist campaign waged against them. It so often tends to be overlooked that two-thirds of all the 3,000-plus deaths during the Troubles were due to IRA and other republican groups violence.

The game of 'what aboutery' is a traditional one in Northern Ireland and it doesn't really solve anything, but by winning this battle in the past, the republicans and nationalists have been able to extract international sympathy for their support.

If the campaign to produce a 'Peace and Reconciliation' forum is successful, then the Unionist political parties, and indeed the Orange Order, will need to get their act together and ensure that the many victims of IRA volence are remembered and receive justice when it comes to spotlighting the crimes committed against them.

But the question has to be put - will a 'Peace and Reconciliation' project help in bringing about a better Northern Ireland? Is it the best means of ending the great hurt and anguish casued for so many families in Northern Ireland?

People, especially those on the Unionist side, are still hurting over the fact that the Belfast Agreement resulted in the release of so many terrorists, including convicted murderers, long before their prison sentences had been completed.

Whatever findings a 'Peace and Reconciliation' forum might produce, it will not mean the murderers having to serve another day behind bars for their crimes.

Going by the example of the 'Bloody Sunday' inquiry which began three years ago and which has so far cost an estimated £100 million, it will take an awful long time for the 3,000-plus murders to be dealt with at a peace and reconciliation forum. Such a forum could go on for decades, and with so much media spotlight and publicity, what sort of chance would that give for things to calm down and for post-Troubles healing to come about?

And if such a forum does come about, then all 3,000-plus killings would have to be investigated in order to ensure total fairness. It would have to be case of every single case being spotlighted, including those murders of soldiers and policemen.

Every single family bereaved through the violence of the Troubles continues to hurt badly and to feel a dreadful loss. Nothing must be created in the way of a public forum or inquiry into the killings unless it includes every single murder and deals with the suffering of all families - that must be uppermost in the thinking of all politicians and people of influence as they consider the constant calls for a South Africa-style peace and reconciliation forum to be created in Northern Ireland.

 

Back to Back ~ Orange Standard Home ~ Issue Index ~ Previous Article~ Next Article

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
Schomberg House, 368 Cregagh Road, Belfast, BT6 9YE
T: +44 (0) 28 9070 1122 ~ F: +44 (0)28 9040 3700
Buy Online - the best way to buy

© Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland 2002-2006

Site Map

Web Design by www.truska.com