Sir, On July 21st, Cardinal Daly spoke at a special Mass in Armagh about the events surrounding Drumcree. His concerns about the way in which the RUC had handled the whole episode were entirely reasonable and he was absolutely right to emphasise the responsibility of the organisers of contentious parades for the consequences of their actions.
I was particularly interested, however, in a passage which stated: "The saddest revelation has been that mutual understanding between our two traditions, so much talked about over recent years, has hardly even begun to be a reality."
The truth is that while we have had a relative peace for the last two years, the fundamental divisions which caused the violence in the first place have not been addressed. The violence was only a particularly malign symptom of a deeply divided society. To bring about a permanent peace, we must build robust political structures which can gain the active allegiance of people right across the community.
However, this task will be a difficult one for politicians as long as the people themselves remain bitterly divided. It is, after all, the people who elect the politicians.
The reality is that today, Northern Ireland is probably a more segregated society than it has ever been before. Our schooling, our housing, the morning newspapers we read, the sports we play and our social activities all too often reflect a clear identification with one religious/political background or another. Despite the political rhetoric which emphasises concepts such as "peace" and "civil and religious liberties", the brutal fact is that beneath the courtesies there is little mutual understanding, and almost no trust, between the nationalists and unionists.
There is a great danger that this polarisation will be aggravated by the ever increasing tendency among certain commentators and community and political leaders to see everything in terms of the two communities. It is as if every Protestant supported the behaviour of the Orangemen, and every Catholic felt an emotional attachment to the IRA. This is manifestly not the case!
Many people in Northern Ireland actually do see beyond the traditional and sterile conflict over territory, and identify with others on the basis of concepts which have inherent value such as liberalism, socialism/social democracy and internationalism. Cardinal Daly is quite correct to remind us that, even in the absence of violence, we are a society and a people deeply sundered.
A clear choice now faces the people of Northern Ireland. We could go down the road of retreat into two sectarian redoubts of narrow nationalism and blinkered unionism. The consequences of this would be grim. Or we could dedicate ourselves to coming together, rather than moving apart, by creating a community which accepts and values a range of different traditions on the basis of mutual respect and democratic methods.
Let us hope that the choice which is made is the right one for our future and for future generations. - Yours, etc.,
(Councillor)
Alliance Party,
16 Dorchester Park,
Belfast BT9 6R 11.