An Phoblacht/Republican News   ·   Thursday October 26 1995

Forum hears unionists

BY LIAM O COILEAIN

AN Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) member, the delegate body of David Trimble's Official Unionist Party, came to Dublin last week to tell the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation of his desire to see unionists engage in all-party talks.

"I passionately believe that politics is a sham in the absence of dialogue," said Dr Norman Porter. He thought that it was "daft" for unionists not to be involved "in a forum concerned with bringing peace and reconciliation to Northern Ireland".

In expressing these views he felt that some unionists would think that he was "advocating slippery slopism", and he admitted that there are "genuine political and personal differences between mine and other types of unionism". Emotions ran high in the Six Counties in which it was difficult for arguments to be treated on their merits, he felt, but "both governments and all nationalist parties have to play an active role in trying to assuage such opinions".

He claimed that there was "insufficient recognition by a lot of nationalists that unionists are the British presence in Northern Ireland and they have to be engaged as such". "Reconciliation is not helped by the nationalist predilection to ask the governments to force the unionists' hand." Porter also complained about the "nationalist culture of exclusive grievance".

Responding for Sinn Féin, Tom Hartley said that he was "intrigued" by Porter's presentation. He acknowledged that both communities had "deeply held and rooted political attitudes that we have to deal with". Hartley felt that behind the certainty of unionism he had detected an uncertainty about the future, suspicion of the British government, a feeling that the sands of time were being pulled out from under their feet, their range of bogeymen increasing - basically, a community in crisis.

He said that in terms of a political settlement the only way forward was through a process of dialogue and "beginning to see the integrity of the other".

Forum Chairperson Judge Catherine McGuinness, responding to Porter's expression of the unionist fear that not all the cards would be on the table if they engaged in talks and that they might be trumped, wondered if he was advocating a form of "political strip-searching" before talks.

POLITICALLY EXOTIC

Another brand of unionism had been heard during the morning session, when unionist and writer Sam McAughtry and two colleagues shared their ideas with the forum. McAughtry had a dual function, also representing the Peace Train Organisation, along with Chris Hudson.

McAughtry and his colleagues suggested that nationality could be achieved without altering the two political jurisdictions. Their proposals were described by Seán Farren of the SDLP as "in the realm of the politically exotic".

Chris Hudson of the Peace Train Organisation seemed surprised at last week's AP/RN editorial (22/10/95) which, he said, had "almost wished good riddance" to the Peace Train. They had run their final train the previous weekend and, he informed the forum, the organisation would be wound down over the following few months.

Jim Gibney for Sinn Féin told Hudson that he should not be surprised that AP/RN ran the editorial that it did "as this is how your organisation is viewed by republicans".

"You gave republicans that view of you by the manner in which you dealt with violence and who was responsible. You treated republicans as if they were solely responsible.''

Caoimhghín O Caoláin said that he could not recall any instance when the Peace Train Organisation had highlighted violence instigated by state forces, such as shoot-to-kill and the arming of loyalist death squads. He said that their protests had been "selective and politically biased and directed".

Séamus McKendry, of the Families of the Disappeared group, accompanied Chris Hudson. He appealed for the bodies of their relatives to be handed over for burial, claiming that "Provos" had told him that the time was not yet right.

Caoimhghín O Caoláin responded that this claim was "at variance with what I know to be the truth". He said that republicans approached the problem in "a compassionate and serious way" and he repeated Sinn Féin's appeal to those with information to contact the families concerned.

The forum was also addressed by the Meath Peace Group and the Interaction Group from the Six Counties.