The government needs to come clean on proposals for uniting the divided society, the incoming Presbyterian moderator said today.
It will take decades to heal the fractures produced by years of violence, the Rev Norman Hamilton said, adding all official bodies need to start working together to promote reconciliation.
The minister at Ballysillan Presbyterian Church in north Belfast played a key role in mediating an end to the Holy Cross school dispute in 2001 when Catholic children on their way to class were subjected to sectarian abuse.
Mr Hamilton said: “Government needs to come clean and spell out what its understanding is of sharing and integration because unless that is clear it is really difficult for local community leaders to get a handle on what is trying to be achieved.” Last month the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister announced that it had agreed a programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration (CSI). It is due to go for consultation and further discussion within and outside government.
Mr Hamilton said: “The work of community activists and community leaders must be actively supported from wider society in developing policy, measuring any new CSI strategy by for example putting real meaning on the terms sharing and integration.” He added human relationships need to be supported by substantial public investment.
“We are probably heading towards 10, 20 or 30 years of society peacemaking because you can’t fix broken relationships overnight or even in a matter of months,” he warned.
The Lurgan-born cleric was nominated by 11 out of the 19 Presbyteries who met throughout Ireland on Tuesday. The new moderator will take up the post on June 7th.
Rev Hamilton, minister of Ballysillan for 22 years after studying at Portadown College and Trinity College Dublin, became a significant public figure because of his mediation work in the Holy Cross dispute.
“My abiding memory is one of intense distress, I remember many times walking those 400 yards and being close to tears,” he recalled.
“I was relieved in the sense that the protest was ended, the violence was stopped, but it left a legacy within the community that has still not healed and in that sense I feel it is a microcosm of what is going on in wider society . . . we are in a very long-term process here.” He said parades remained a difficult issue to resolve.
Rev Hamilton is a well-known evangelical, considered by some to be on the progressive wing of evangelicalism. He said he wanted to reach out to the wider community and added he would have no problem engaging with other denominations. He is married with one daughter.
PA