Sir, - I wish to congratulated John Bruton for offering to meet the PUP and UDP in response to their fears over the loyalist ceasefire. He may well be wondering he can do to reassure loyalist without further reducing prospects of a new IRA ceasefire. But it doesn't have to be a zero sum game.
At a packed question and answer session during the West Belfast Festival, I was greatly encouraged by the amount of agreement between the loyalist conduit, the Rev Roy Magee, and Sinn Fein's Pat Doherty over a wide range of issues which Mr Bruton could usefully address to get the peace process back on the rails. Both panellists agreed that a key factor causing frustration in working class communities was the harsh and unequal treatment of politically motivated prisoners since the ceasefires.
Many republican and loyalist prisoners are now in their 21st year of imprisonment, even though they were not convicted of any killings. In stark contrast, British soldiers convicted of murdering unarmed Irish teenagers have been released (and promoted!) after serving only two years.
Another issue on which loyalists and republicans are united is the illogicality of making the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons (but not state weapons) a precondition for progress in talks. Only such people as Trimble and Paisley, fresh from their second victory at Drumcree, and the British Government, after the killing of Dermot McShane by its forces in Derry, are still insisting on decommissioning. Most sensible people realise that had the nationalist people been left defenceless as in 1969, then a repeat of the mass pogroms and killings of that fateful year would have been repeated in 1996.
The failure of any real peace dividend to materialise in loyalist and republican working class areas is a further common problem which Mr Bruton could tackle, to the benefit of both communities. Up to now, the meagre peace funds have been directed mainly to well off businesses, including a bank which made over £500 million in profits last year.
In contrast, funding for community development groups like the West Belfast Economic Forum has been drastically cut. Already, disadvantaged communities are also being hard hit by Tory cutbacks in health and education.
On these issues, the Irish Government could work along with progressive groups such as the Women's Coalition and vibrant community groups. It could also harness the support of the US Government, in this election year, to put international pressure on the British Government (as was successfully done with the South African Apartheid Government) to encourage it to stop obstructing and undermining the Irish peace process. - Yours, etc.,
Willow Park Road,
Dublin 11.
