TRIMBLE WELCOMES PEACE PLEDGES
Trimble welcomes peace pledges
ULSTER Unionist leader David Trimble yesterday gave the clearest signal yet of his commitment to the political process and his own faith in the future it is charged to produce.
Addressing a packed Waterfront Hall with Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Seamus Mallon beside him, he promised to create a "pluralist Parliament for a pluralist people".
"I say this to those who are crossing the bridge from terror to democracy. Every move you make towards peace, I welcome.
"Every pledge you make to peace, I will hold you to it.
"I will be frank and I will be firm," he stated, "but if you take the road of peace and do so in genuine good faith, you will find me a willing leader in that journey."
Mr Trimble moved swiftly to a straightforward demand for decommissioning, warning that progress could be difficult without it.
"There have been welcome developments this week. I hope these mark the beginning of the reconstruction of those who have in the past been involved in the type of terrible violence we have witnessed in Omagh.
"There is no justification for violence. There never has been and, if the so-called war is really over, then there is no justification for holding on to illegal weapons."
Another shot was also aimed at a Government apparently willing to proceed with an executive body of ministers within the Assembly without decommissioning.
"As First Minister, I cannot reconcile seeking positions in Government with a failure to discharge responsibilities under the Agreement to dismantle their terrorist organisations.
"Words alone cannot heal the mistrust but deeds will. People want not just to hear of peace, they want to see it and they deserve it."
Minutes before, the same sentiments were expressed in a more emotional and moving speech by Seamus Mallon, SDLP Deputy First Minister. His calm but passionately put thoughts lit the hall as he reflected on the suffering he hoped was at an end.
At the outset, he remarked on the President's birthplace of Hope, Arkansas, and said it was apt that he should come to "a place where hope lives again as a result of your interest, encouragement and help."
Mr Clinton, he said, had helped the people of Northern Ireland to "break free, against all the odds, from a violent and bitter past to set forth on the awesome, yet exciting road on our new journey to hope."
In return, he said those people would carry on despite and because of the suffering endured in Omagh and during the last 30 years.
It was impossible not to remember the "terrible price" paid by the Province, the pain of which Mr Clinton could see in the faces of ordinary people.
"But you will also see a readiness to face history with a courage which will touch you.
"Mr President, by your presence here again, you have shown that your solidarity spans the longest day and the darkest night. We firmly believe that a bright tomorrow dawns for us."
ULSTER Unionist leader David Trimble yesterday gave the clearest signal yet of his commitment to the political process and his own faith in the future it is charged to produce.
Addressing a packed Waterfront Hall with Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Seamus Mallon beside him, he promised to create a "pluralist Parliament for a pluralist people".
"I say this to those who are crossing the bridge from terror to democracy. Every move you make towards peace, I welcome.
"Every pledge you make to peace, I will hold you to it.
"I will be frank and I will be firm," he stated, "but if you take the road of peace and do so in genuine good faith, you will find me a willing leader in that journey."
Mr Trimble moved swiftly to a straightforward demand for decommissioning, warning that progress could be difficult without it.
"There have been welcome developments this week. I hope these mark the beginning of the reconstruction of those who have in the past been involved in the type of terrible violence we have witnessed in Omagh.
"There is no justification for violence. There never has been and, if the so-called war is really over, then there is no justification for holding on to illegal weapons."
Another shot was also aimed at a Government apparently willing to proceed with an executive body of ministers within the Assembly without decommissioning.
"As First Minister, I cannot reconcile seeking positions in Government with a failure to discharge responsibilities under the Agreement to dismantle their terrorist organisations.
"Words alone cannot heal the mistrust but deeds will. People want not just to hear of peace, they want to see it and they deserve it."
Minutes before, the same sentiments were expressed in a more emotional and moving speech by Seamus Mallon, SDLP Deputy First Minister. His calm but passionately put thoughts lit the hall as he reflected on the suffering he hoped was at an end.
At the outset, he remarked on the President's birthplace of Hope, Arkansas, and said it was apt that he should come to "a place where hope lives again as a result of your interest, encouragement and help."
Mr Clinton, he said, had helped the people of Northern Ireland to "break free, against all the odds, from a violent and bitter past to set forth on the awesome, yet exciting road on our new journey to hope."
In return, he said those people would carry on despite and because of the suffering endured in Omagh and during the last 30 years.
It was impossible not to remember the "terrible price" paid by the Province, the pain of which Mr Clinton could see in the faces of ordinary people.
"But you will also see a readiness to face history with a courage which will touch you.
"Mr President, by your presence here again, you have shown that your solidarity spans the longest day and the darkest night. We firmly believe that a bright tomorrow dawns for us."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/268
Published Date: 04-Sep-98
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