Presbyterian assembly says deal could be a way out of darkness

The Belfast Agreement does not represent defeat or assimilation, but is a political accommodation "which could be a way out of…

The Belfast Agreement does not represent defeat or assimilation, but is a political accommodation "which could be a way out of the darkness of the last 30 years into a better future," the Presbyterian Church has said.

Some 20 per cent of the population in the North - or 300,000 people - are Presbyterians, making it the largest Protestant denomination.

A detailed response to the agreement issued by the Presbyterian General Assembly yesterday did not call specifically for a Yes or No vote.

The Moderator of the assembly, Dr Sam Hutchinson, said the response was designed to help people make up their minds, and copies of it are being circulated.

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He said that because the assembly had encouraged politicians to enter the talks process, it would be "inappropriate to remain silent when our country faces one of the most crucial decisions of this century."

Dr John Dunlop, co-convenor of the Church and Government Committee which drew up the response, said it was not for the Church to say definitively Yes or No to the agreement. Instead, it was setting out the difficulties and the good things within the Good Friday document, and people should judge it for themselves.

People, he said, would have to choose from all the available options, "knowing that no change is not something which is possible". The only way to reach a political accommodation between different groups of people was to engage in a political negotiating process to try to accommodate the concerns and the rights of the different groups.

"This is a document that has attempted to do that. We say to people, you have got to try to judge it in the light of the necessity of that happening. If you are going to start it all over again, are you going to come up with an agreement which is substantially different from this?" Dr Dunlop asked.

The response commends those who were involved in the talks process, and points out that under the agreement any change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland would have to be agreed by a majority of the people.

It says the Presbyterian Church had long asked for Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution to be addressed and these would be amended to recognise the principle of consent. "This significantly modifies the nationalist ideal of the right to self-determination of the people of Ireland as a single whole," the document states.

The Assembly would offer all the people of Northern Ireland greater control over their future as it would return power to locally-elected representatives.

It describes prisoner releases as a "most difficult" issue, and says they "can only be contemplated as part of a search for a greater good."

Those who signed the Mitchell Principles, it says, are under a moral obligation to pursue actively the decommissioning of weapons, and paramilitary groups owe it to the community to act quickly.

While accepting that the composition, culture, and style of policing should be reflective and supportive of the diverse traditions and peoples of the North, it says it would be concerned at any dismantling of the RUC.

Dr Hutchinson said he had recently returned from a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. He had come to the conclusion that the history of that region was one of missed opportunities.

"I hope the same will not be true of our land," he added.