Religious leaders give deal their blessing

CHURCH REACTION:CHURCH LEADERS have welcomed the agreement on the devolution of policing and justice powers and have called for a new focus on economic recovery.

The people were yearning for a settlement and had found the impasse “deeply frustrating”, Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Alan Harper said.

The commitment of the parties to bring the talks to a fruitful conclusion was to be praised, he said, but the Assembly must now make rapid progress on other challenges, particularly the jobs crisis.

“First on the agenda must be the economic situation. Unemployment continues to rise, even though in the rest of the United Kingdom the trend has now reversed,” he said. He welcomed the inclusion of parades and the Irish language in the deal as it offered “additional confidence” to both traditions, he said.

The Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady said local politicians were best placed to deal effectively with the issues that most affect daily life.

“We need an urgent and united effort to stimulate economic recovery, address social need, to ensure the best possible education provision for children and to build on the vast improvement in community relations which has taken place in recent years.”

Dr Brady said it was his particular hope that the issue of parades would be dealt with in a spirit of generosity and sensitivity, and that there would be “a willingness to go beyond old ways of approaching each other on all sides”.

A respectful dialogue and a willingness to treat each other with dignity were the only way forward and “the most effective way of refuting those who would wish to bring us back to the futility of violence and division,” he said.

Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Dr Stafford Carson said the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church had been supportive of locally elected representatives having responsibility and accountability for policing and justice.

“I have been encouraged that our politicians have shown maturity and leadership in coming to an agreement over these difficult and complex matters,” he said.

“Continued maturity and leadership are vital if we are to see the progress we all want in areas like education, creating new job opportunities and healthcare provision in order that we build a society where we all feel at home and everyone is valued.”

The President of the Methodist Church the Rev Donald Kerr said there were still considerable challenges to be faced, not least the economy, but also “in the areas of education, health and public administration”.