Sir, - Despite the obvious failure of the Belfast Agreement, no one is prepared to admit it, as Alan James Greer of the East Antrim Conservative Association pointed out in a recent letter. Not only are the politicians unwilling to admit failure, but they are preparing a new plan in the form of a "review" which John Hume, in particular, is confident will be successful. Hume, of course, can be credited as one of the architects of many past failures, from Sunningdale, to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, to last year's Belfast Agreement.
Why is this? Why do schemes sponsored by two governments and supported, if not entirely devised by the "constitutional" nationalists, regularly come to grief in Northern Ireland when they are about to be implemented? The reason is, as Mr Greer pointed out, that they are inherently undemocratic, so the majority (and I don't simply mean the Protestants) instinctively react against them when it comes to the crunch. Large numbers of people, for example, who voted for the Belfast Agreement are now strongly opposed to it.
Nevertheless, the official spokesmen keep telling us that there is no alternative, ignoring the reality of the impasse. There are of course, many alternatives, but the most obvious one is that which the British Labour Party always shies away from, and that is the introduction of national democratic politics by organising the party in Northern Ireland as the Conservatives have done. This would restore full democracy by allowing people to vote for the national party of their choice, while effectively eroding sectarianism and weakening support for parties with a sectarian base. Politicians and churchmen may wring their hands in despair at our "deeply divided society", but it is they who helped create the divisions.
It is time we faced up to the fact that because of our recent experiences during 30 years of violence, we are unlikely to be able to live together in any natural, integrated way, for the foreseeable future, let alone share power in government. Certainly, democrats can never share power with armed men, and this is at the root of the farce that is misnamed the "Agreement". That being the case, devolution should be postponed, and Orange and Green should be encouraged to work together at local level, showing good example to the public at large, as they do at times on the councils of Derry, Belfast and elsewhere.
Good co-operation in local government could lead to a more integrated society in the long term and this, coupled with stable national government, backed by Labour and Conservative organisations throughout the province, could eventually make us fit for devolution and self-government. At present we torture ourselves in the mistaken belief that devolution is the only option, when the real goal should be a province socially and economically rejuvenated, offering a lifestyle on a level with anywhere else in Europe, which can only lead to reconciliation and integration in the long term. Too many short-term "solutions" have failed to deliver in the past. - Yours, etc.,
Sean Kearney, Glantane Drive, Belfast 15.