Common sense needed for continued peace progress
Northern Ireland politicians can change society for the better if they apply common sense in the wake of recent moves in the peace process, Sinn Fein minister Martin McGuinness has said.
With two days to go before Ulster Unionists consider a proposal for them to pull out of the Stormont power sharing government if IRA disarmament is not completed by next February, Mr McGuinness urged people not to lose sight of the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement.
‘‘I think things are getting better and I think if we can continue to move forward along the road of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, we can undoubtedly change this country forever,’’ the Stormont education minister said.
‘‘One of the most remarkable things that has happened on this island was the referendum into the Good Friday Agreement. Over 90% of all the people of Ireland voted for that agreement.
‘‘More importantly in the North (of Ireland), over 72% endorsed that agreement. Who were the 72%? They were loyalists. They were unionists. They were nationalists and they were republicans.
‘‘And that’s where the hope lies. The hope lies with the people and the people have democratically endorsed that decision and I think from here on in, and we have had a good couple of weeks in terms of stability of the institutions in recent times, if we apply wisdom with common sense to the way forward I have no doubt whatsoever that we can change things for the better.’’
Mr McGuinness was speaking on the BBC1 Question Time programme last night as UUP hardliners prepared to challenge Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble at a meeting of his party’s 860-member ruling council in Belfast on Saturday.
The hardliners want Mr Trimble to commit himself to an exit strategy from Stormont next February if the IRA did not follow up last month’s disarmament move by completing decommissioning.
Mr McGuinness condemned the recent loyalist picket of Holy Cross Primary schoolchildren in north Belfast as ‘‘intolerable’’.
But he denied claims that the dispute illustrated the need to end Catholic and Protestant schooling.
‘‘I get my hackles up when people talk about the issue of schools because you would almost think it was our teachers, the board of governors, our education and library boards, the Catholic maintained sector who were responsible for the political conflict that existed here.
‘‘The people who were responsible for the political conflict that existed here were the politicians - not the people, not the schoolchildren and it certainly wasn’t the teachers.
‘‘Now from my point of view in terms of the whole issue of integrated education, I think I have probably done more for integrated education in the north of Ireland than any other minister in the history of this island.
‘‘But I want parental choice. If people want to be taught in Catholic maintained schools or state controlled schools or integrated schools or Irish language schools, I will support them 100%.’’
