Bishop urges politicians to ‘push forward’ in pursuit of pact

The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, one of just two Catholic dioceses wholly in Northern Ireland, has urged people there "to encourage our politicians to push forward" following the collapse of the Haass negotiations on New Year's Eve.

Bishop Noel Treanor said "we owe it to ourselves as Christians and as fellow citizens to encourage our politicians to push forward and . . . not to be manipulated by negative forces of fear, tribal power-play or short-sighted protectionism of party political turf."

He continued that “only by building and shaping trust will we create agreed space for all, a space that will emerge one day in this society. And why not in our time and by our common civic, Christian and political will?”

Responding to Pope Francis’s World Day of Peace message for New Year’s Day he said, “here in the diocese of Down and Connor we hear this message through the burden of our history and the challenges of our history-laden present. Much has been done to consolidate justice and peace here in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement. And as the 2013 Haass negotiations have shown, much remains to be done.”

He said “we owe it to ourselves to consolidate peace with justice in our time. We owe it to our children so that we can build a society where they can grow and flourish as persons with opportunities to live with all peoples as appreciated and respected neighbours and with opportunities for literacy, numeracy, work and employment.”

Speaking in Belfast’s church of the Holy Family he said “ . . . enmity can be overcome and definitively replaced by agreed ways of living together in respect, peace and reciprocal support”.