PEACE GOAL ACHIEVED SAYS PRIEST
Peace goal achieved, says priest
By William Allen
A CATHOLIC parish priest in bomb-blitzed Omagh said today he believes permanent peace has finally been achieved in Northern Ireland.
Fr Michael Keaveny welcomed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to John Hume and David Trimble and said the prize would "underpin the whole peace process."
The parish priest, who taught at St Columb's College in Londonderry when the SDLP leader was a pupil, said Mr Hume was always opposed to conflict as a means of achieving nationalist aims.
Fr Keaveny said: "I have a notion that peace has been achieved and that Omagh brought home the absolute madness of violence and showed that if people go down that path, anything can happen.
"This award is not premature, I believe, and I hope this prize recognises his part in the peace process and underpins the whole thing.
"I believe the Good Friday Agreement is the key to peace and John Hume worked very hard for that. It was a great achievement. I know there are mindsets that are difficult to change, but please God it can now be done."
Fr Keaveny remembers John Hume as a pupil at St Columb's and said the Nobel winner later joined him as a member of staff, teaching French.
He added: "One thing I can tell you is that the staff used to have debates at lunchtime and there were some people who said the gun was the only answer to the situation in the north.
"But John Hume insisted that nationalist aims could be achieved by purely constitutional methods. He has always been very much against the gun."
By William Allen
A CATHOLIC parish priest in bomb-blitzed Omagh said today he believes permanent peace has finally been achieved in Northern Ireland.
Fr Michael Keaveny welcomed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to John Hume and David Trimble and said the prize would "underpin the whole peace process."
The parish priest, who taught at St Columb's College in Londonderry when the SDLP leader was a pupil, said Mr Hume was always opposed to conflict as a means of achieving nationalist aims.
Fr Keaveny said: "I have a notion that peace has been achieved and that Omagh brought home the absolute madness of violence and showed that if people go down that path, anything can happen.
"This award is not premature, I believe, and I hope this prize recognises his part in the peace process and underpins the whole thing.
"I believe the Good Friday Agreement is the key to peace and John Hume worked very hard for that. It was a great achievement. I know there are mindsets that are difficult to change, but please God it can now be done."
Fr Keaveny remembers John Hume as a pupil at St Columb's and said the Nobel winner later joined him as a member of staff, teaching French.
He added: "One thing I can tell you is that the staff used to have debates at lunchtime and there were some people who said the gun was the only answer to the situation in the north.
"But John Hume insisted that nationalist aims could be achieved by purely constitutional methods. He has always been very much against the gun."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0673
Published Date: 16-Oct-98
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