LET 1999 BE THE YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENT
Let 1999 be the year of achievement
A MEMORABLE, perhaps the most memorable of years, ends today. We will remember 1998 as the Year of Agreement in Northern Ireland, and the hope for 1999 is that it will become the Year of Achievement.
The Good Friday Agreement, endorsed in May by 71 per cent of people in Northern Ireland and 94 per cent in the Republic, was a defining moment in our tormented history. Almost at the close of the year, it was followed by another very good Friday.
When agreement was reached on the shape of the new Northern Ireland Executive and cross-border bodies in the early hours of December 18, another major hurdle in the race for peace was cleared.
Later that day the bloodthirsty LVF moved the process forward by decommissioning some of its weapons, a small but significant step in our efforts to build a new society in which violence, and the threat of it, are consigned to the bitter past.
There have, of course, been bad days, too.
This will be a painful time for those who have lost loved ones to violence in the year of making peace.
At the time, as we buried Protestants and Catholics on both sides of the border, and sent young Spanish visitors home in coffins, it was difficult to appreciate the authenticity of the progress that had been made.
Omagh was an evil and bloody reminder that the peace will be forever vulnerable to those prepared to sacrifice innocent lives in pursuit of a political goal.
But if that dreadful Saturday afternoon on August 15 was the blackest day, then the people of Omagh have typified the new spirit of Ulster by re-lighting the beacon of hope.
Their courage and resilience in putting their personal anguish behind them and looking to a brighter future has been an inspiration to all who feared that the peace had been blown apart, as suddenly and as violently as the explosion that ripped the heart from their town.
In so many ways, they have become the embodiment of the spirit of reconciliation that permeates the Good Friday Agreement.
Progress has been slower than some would have liked, faster in certain respects than many feel comfortable with, but it has been relentless, and will continue to be. The vast majority of people who have shared in a troubled history and a bitter past wish it to be so.
That is why, in the year ahead, politicians entrusted with building on the framework of the Agreement will be renege on their responsibilities if they fail to deliver what has already been promised. All have a duty, and a role to play.
Unionists must work hard to break down the old barrier of animosity and suspicion which crosses borders as well as traditions, and be seen to do so in deeds as well as words.
Militant republicans, too, have it within their capacity to make an enormous contribution to peace by underlining their absolute commitment to a democratic resolution.
There would be no better way than by unambiguously declaring that the war is over and by reducing the enormous stockpile of deadly weaponry which has been used in the past to such dreadful effect.
There will, of course, be more good days and bad days in 1999. But today we stand on the brink of a year ahead which is filled with more optimism and potential than seemed possible just 12 short months ago.
Northern Ireland has been dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a new era. Now it must learn to stand on its own two feet, and walk confidently towards a new beginning.
A MEMORABLE, perhaps the most memorable of years, ends today. We will remember 1998 as the Year of Agreement in Northern Ireland, and the hope for 1999 is that it will become the Year of Achievement.
The Good Friday Agreement, endorsed in May by 71 per cent of people in Northern Ireland and 94 per cent in the Republic, was a defining moment in our tormented history. Almost at the close of the year, it was followed by another very good Friday.
When agreement was reached on the shape of the new Northern Ireland Executive and cross-border bodies in the early hours of December 18, another major hurdle in the race for peace was cleared.
Later that day the bloodthirsty LVF moved the process forward by decommissioning some of its weapons, a small but significant step in our efforts to build a new society in which violence, and the threat of it, are consigned to the bitter past.
There have, of course, been bad days, too.
This will be a painful time for those who have lost loved ones to violence in the year of making peace.
At the time, as we buried Protestants and Catholics on both sides of the border, and sent young Spanish visitors home in coffins, it was difficult to appreciate the authenticity of the progress that had been made.
Omagh was an evil and bloody reminder that the peace will be forever vulnerable to those prepared to sacrifice innocent lives in pursuit of a political goal.
But if that dreadful Saturday afternoon on August 15 was the blackest day, then the people of Omagh have typified the new spirit of Ulster by re-lighting the beacon of hope.
Their courage and resilience in putting their personal anguish behind them and looking to a brighter future has been an inspiration to all who feared that the peace had been blown apart, as suddenly and as violently as the explosion that ripped the heart from their town.
In so many ways, they have become the embodiment of the spirit of reconciliation that permeates the Good Friday Agreement.
Progress has been slower than some would have liked, faster in certain respects than many feel comfortable with, but it has been relentless, and will continue to be. The vast majority of people who have shared in a troubled history and a bitter past wish it to be so.
That is why, in the year ahead, politicians entrusted with building on the framework of the Agreement will be renege on their responsibilities if they fail to deliver what has already been promised. All have a duty, and a role to play.
Unionists must work hard to break down the old barrier of animosity and suspicion which crosses borders as well as traditions, and be seen to do so in deeds as well as words.
Militant republicans, too, have it within their capacity to make an enormous contribution to peace by underlining their absolute commitment to a democratic resolution.
There would be no better way than by unambiguously declaring that the war is over and by reducing the enormous stockpile of deadly weaponry which has been used in the past to such dreadful effect.
There will, of course, be more good days and bad days in 1999. But today we stand on the brink of a year ahead which is filled with more optimism and potential than seemed possible just 12 short months ago.
Northern Ireland has been dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a new era. Now it must learn to stand on its own two feet, and walk confidently towards a new beginning.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/162
Published Date: 31-Dec-98
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