NI church leader calls for new vision of hope
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh Dr Robin Eames has said that Northern Ireland needs an urgent new vision of hope because of disenchantment among people who feel increasingly removed from the political process.
With the British and Irish Governments preparing to call a fresh round of talks next month in an effort to restore the power-sharing executive in Belfast, Dr Eames claimed everybody needs to feel involved.
"While much has been attempted to heal the wounds of society, and many have built their own bridges across barriers of a divided community, the political process requires a new impetus of hope," he said in his Christmas Day sermon at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh.
"For many people there is a sense of disenchantment with what they see and hear of that process. There is a growing feeling that the process is being removed from their actual experience of life."
Dublin and Downing Street are hoping that some sort of formula can be hammered out before the end of February to get the Northern Ireland institutions up and running again in advance of the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May.
But with the IRA still resisting demands to empty its secret arms dumps and disband, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are under heightening pressure from Ulster Unionists, who have made it clear there will be no going back to Stormont unless the republican leadership acts.
All sides believe the Provisionals may be prepared to move in some way to meet the demands on weapons, but there is no sign at this stage the organisation will disband.
