VIOLENT MINDSET OF THE OMAGH BOMBERS NOT CONFINED TO DISSIDENTS
Violent mindset of the Omagh bombers not confined to dissidents
NIO MINISTER DES BROWNE WAS well exposed to a wide variety of opinions this week, what with meeting representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries, maintaining contact with republican elements and participating in a peace conference in Londonderry yesterday.
What he gleaned from the dialogue with the various groups obviously influenced the interesting comments he made at the North West conference, appropriately dubbed Peace is Tough.
As a backdrop, he will also have borne in mind the suffering that is still evident four years on from the Omagh bombing atrocity. Acknowledging that, since the 1998 Belfast Agreement, compromises have been made at every level of society which have been difficult and painful, Mr Browne warned: "No peace process can survive if there is an unwillingness to make such compromises -if one side or the other wants everything to be on its own terms."
Those constitutional parties which do not have, and never had an armed wing, may take some heart from him saying: "We must not allow the process to become a hostage to the few, loyalist and republican, who are still committed to violence".
How the Government will deal with those who still persist with their campaigns of violence, no matter what the overwhelming majority of people democratically decide, the Minister was less precise.
The fuzziness that surrounds what should be a core aspect of Government policy has caused much frustration and irritation to democrats who keep asking why is there such a delay in the movement of the peace train which Prime Minister Tony Blair referred to when the Agreement was being signed.
For many people, the time has long passed when the train should have left the station and there is more than a little discomfort and nervousness that some of the political passengers are still wedded to groups which have a militant agenda and show absolutely no signs of declaring totally for peace.
Tragically, there are still people around with the violent mindset of the Real IRA bombers, who unmercilessly killed 29 innocent people in Omagh on August 15,1998, and, worryingly, they are not all confined to the ranks of the dissident terrorists.
Some can still be found among the mainstream republican and loyalist paramilitary organisations who gave their support to the Belfast Agreement.
Until this paradox is confronted, certain "adherents" of the peace process will remain a contradiction and an obstacle to real progress.
NIO MINISTER DES BROWNE WAS well exposed to a wide variety of opinions this week, what with meeting representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries, maintaining contact with republican elements and participating in a peace conference in Londonderry yesterday.
What he gleaned from the dialogue with the various groups obviously influenced the interesting comments he made at the North West conference, appropriately dubbed Peace is Tough.
As a backdrop, he will also have borne in mind the suffering that is still evident four years on from the Omagh bombing atrocity. Acknowledging that, since the 1998 Belfast Agreement, compromises have been made at every level of society which have been difficult and painful, Mr Browne warned: "No peace process can survive if there is an unwillingness to make such compromises -if one side or the other wants everything to be on its own terms."
Those constitutional parties which do not have, and never had an armed wing, may take some heart from him saying: "We must not allow the process to become a hostage to the few, loyalist and republican, who are still committed to violence".
How the Government will deal with those who still persist with their campaigns of violence, no matter what the overwhelming majority of people democratically decide, the Minister was less precise.
The fuzziness that surrounds what should be a core aspect of Government policy has caused much frustration and irritation to democrats who keep asking why is there such a delay in the movement of the peace train which Prime Minister Tony Blair referred to when the Agreement was being signed.
For many people, the time has long passed when the train should have left the station and there is more than a little discomfort and nervousness that some of the political passengers are still wedded to groups which have a militant agenda and show absolutely no signs of declaring totally for peace.
Tragically, there are still people around with the violent mindset of the Real IRA bombers, who unmercilessly killed 29 innocent people in Omagh on August 15,1998, and, worryingly, they are not all confined to the ranks of the dissident terrorists.
Some can still be found among the mainstream republican and loyalist paramilitary organisations who gave their support to the Belfast Agreement.
Until this paradox is confronted, certain "adherents" of the peace process will remain a contradiction and an obstacle to real progress.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/441
Published Date: 16-Aug-02
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