Archbishop in plea to IRA
The head of the Church of Ireland today made a strong plea for the IRA to decommission its weapons.
Archbishop Robin Eames said if they did, he believed it would unlock an entire process and he hoped other paramilitary groups would do likewise.
Addressing his Diocesan Synod in Armagh he said the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11 in the United States had changed the world forever and impacted on Northern Ireland.
"One consequence so far as Northern Ireland is concerned must be that world opinion now says there is no justification, excuse or warped reason for any paramilitary arms to be kept available for use," he said.
The Archbishop said he believed definite and verifiable destruction of paramilitary arms would have "a conclusive and lasting effect on not just political life here, but on the whole of our lives".
"If the IRA can match this demand I believe it will unlock an entire process. I would hope that all other paramilitary groupings would do likewise."
There were grounds for hope that action from the IRA was imminent, he said, and if it happened there was a need for responses.
Decommissioning itself would not solve all the problems of the province, but it would be a major step forward.
What was then needed was a movement of minds, and a resolve that the road ahead "can never again involve the warfare which has provided so much tragedy in the past".
He stressed: "Responses to decommissioning will be as important as decommissioning itself."
Turning to the wider problems of Northern Ireland, he said the "local difficulties" paled into insignificance when compared to developments on the world stage.
But he said they remained and were not going to disappear and were ignored as people’s peril.
North Belfast and the violence of recent months was a current example of the problems, he said.
"No one can possibly justify the abuse both physical and verbal of children going to school. The scenes of violence against children portrayed across the world have branded religious as well as political Protestantism as un-Christian bigots," said Dr Eames.
But equally he said no one could possibly justify a summer of attacks on Protestant homes, intimidation of Protestant pensioners or young people.
"There are serious faults on both sides. There are two stories to be told," he said.
The truth was that not just in north Belfast but right across the province there was a very long way to go before the hatred and divisions were put in the past.
"Perhaps we all need to see again that basic Christianity should be above and beyond the narrowness of what passes in our community as religious," he added.
