Diocese of Down & Dromore

Bishop Harold was recently asked to comment on the St Andrews Agreement by the Church of England Newspaper.  This is his response published by the newspaper on Friday 20 October:

 'As someone who encouraged the political parties towards agreement in 1998, I will never forget the euphoria when the Belfast Agreement was announced on Good Friday - 10 April 1998. Along with others, I found myself in the local television studios being interviewed about politics, when I should properly have been at the Three Hours meditation! We believed we had made major progress and laid a foundation for future peace, stability and justice in Northern Ireland. What we did not reckon on is the length of time it would take for the community in Northern Ireland to adjust, and embrace the new future.

In those days, of course, the main political heavyweights were the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP. The DUP said ‘No', and over the ensuing years, the protestant part of the community in particular found it harder and harder to rally behind the Agreement - even though it assured them that there would be no political change without the approval of the majority in Northern Ireland. Those eight years between the ‘Good Friday' agreement and the St Andrews agreement have been very difficult indeed. They have been years of paramilitaries coming to terms with how they will need to be transformed to fit into a new future, and they have been years of deep uncertainty in loyalist communities as they adjusted to being no longer in a dominant role, but part of a wider community in which they have a valued place.

Last Friday was, of course, a surprise for many people. In the world where the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein are now the major political parties, most did not expect the rather sudden and encouraging outcome, which, of course, can change in Northern Ireland at any moment.  Even as I write, we are becoming aware of hiccups! It seemed that the parties concerned knew that they had the support of their constituencies - though they are now in the process of consultation with their parties and, as always, playing some hardball to ensure that they get the maximum benefit.

If the truth be told there is something in the quip by Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionists, that the St Andrews agreement is the ‘Belfast agreement for slow learners'!

To put it more kindly, there is now a real sense of consensus across the communities, and not least at the political extremes. It is this: we have no choice if there is to be a peaceful, economic and new future in Northern Ireland other than finding a way to work together. If we cannot work together, we will not have an Assembly in place, and my strong impression is that the vast majority want the restoration of the Northern Ireland political institutions.

If we continue as we are, with Direct Rule ministers, we will find ourselves with imposed legislation which is often not nuanced to fit the situation in Ulster, and over which we have very little control. In respect of some recent significant legislation, the government did not give adequate time for response to draft documents.

So, in my own view, God was at work, as is so often the case, through hard decisions, and to bring about an agreement which had eluded us in the past, and which I trust will now be widely owned. The Churches have been praying for a way forward for a very long time, and will now, please God, be ministering in a world where we are increasingly working together.

But there are challenges to be met. Let me suggest a few:

• There is a challenge for the loyalist paramilitary groups, to see that there is no sense in standing outside this shared future. The Independent Monitoring Commission reports have recently been positive about the moves made by the IRA towards a peaceful future, and the community in Northern Ireland now needs to be convinced that the loyalist paramilitaries will do likewise.

• There is a challenge for Sinn Fein, to totally embrace the new Police Service of Northern Ireland. An agreed police force with the consent of all the community is vital for the welfare of the state, and Sinn Fein needs to be unequivocal about their support.

• There is a challenge to the DUP in particular to prove that it can engage in positive government in a normalized society, and step out of the oppositional role which is very much its DNA, and to which, in my view, it is inclined to retreat.

• There is a challenge to the Churches. Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, has spoken of the importance of the Government delivering services through the Churches, which provide important social capital and stability, especially in needy communities. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, also emphasised the role of the Churches on a number of occasions.  However, government-funded support for the Churches in providing for community needs has often been slow. There is also the need for more church communities to become outwardly-focussed, and to embrace the new future and be part of creating it, in what is still largely a religious province. What role, I wonder, will faith groups be given in and around a new Assembly and at the level of local institutions?

• There is the need to support vibrant economic development in Northern Ireland, and to establish its relationship to an economically upbeat Republic. Interestingly, the first human right mentioned in the St Andrews Agreement relates to an Anti-Poverty and Social Exclusion strategy to tackle social deprivation in both rural and urban communities. Such deprived communities must be given priority and not left behind. The people living in these communities need to know that this agreement, in a spirit of justice, benefits them. The economic life of the province must be put on a firm foundation, not least in terms of infrastructure, investment and taxation. We need to be a place where young people can contribute their skills and have a future.

• In the light of all of this, we, the people of Northern Ireland, need to be prepared to take our place in the world. Northern Ireland has, since the early days of its Christian heritage, sent people out to many countries of the world, not least with the Gospel. We are now welcoming others in.  At the same time we are conscious of an appalling degree of racism in attitudes and behaviour towards these newcomers.  A new confidence needs to be engendered to enable us to welcome other people, whom we actually need for the development of our province, with open arms, particularly in and through our churches.

So, as I write, conscious of the difficulties already appearing, I pray that the St Andrews Agreement will once more afford us a great and God-given opportunity for new hope, after a long period of waiting. It is an opportunity which must not be missed, and one which promises to bring all of us together in taking responsibility for our shared future.'

Harold Miller - Bishop of Down & Dromore

To see the full text of the St Andrews Agreement click here