Prof. Desmond Rea of the
Police Authority once proposed a Commission to explore ways
of dealing with the suffering of the Troubles, and to bring
closure to that chapter in our history. In outlining his
idea (made in a private capacity) he referred to the Bloody
Sunday Enquiry and to possible future enquiries. Without
prejudice to these he expressed concern at the cost and
time factors involved, and wondered about the acceptability
of their findings. He asked whether there might be a better
way.
Some are again asking that
question. Few can be happy with our enquiry mechanisms in
Northern Ireland, where truth can quickly attenuate into
ghosts and shadows when touched by spin or secrecy, or when
shrouded by sinister undercover activities or paramilitary
codes of honour. Then there are the problems of our sectarianism,
our tribalism, and the entrenched attitudes of politicians.
We needn't wonder that public cynicism and further division
should be the outcome of these commissions of enquiry.
Obviously there are compelling
reasons for such enquiries, even despite the fact that their
findings may prove to be less than satisfactory. While these
must be thorough, they should be expedited quickly to enable
us draw a line in the sand and address the larger task of
reconciliation within our society - a task that no number
of enquiries can of themselves achieve. This therefore brings
us back to the proposal to seek a better and agreed way
that might help us find truth and reconciliation.
Finding agreed ways and means
of achieving this worthy end could prove more controversial
and, in a sense, more elusive than the end itself. That
end is at least an ideal to which most of us profess to
aspire, whereas the implementation of almost any means of
achieving it would be likely to bring into further play
all the conflicting politics, cultures and self-righteous
prejudices already alluded to. In Northern Ireland almost
any such idea can quickly be distorted and become adversarial
and divisive.
Is a Commission really the
best and only way to go? Perhaps our problem requires a
new approach. If this involves a mixture of historical,
religio-political and moral factors, then the solution might
not lie in enquiries, nor even in their (disputed) findings,
but as Cassius said "in ourselves". It all boils
down to you and me - to all of us. Simple but honest self-examination
on all sides is required. There is no monopoly of righteousness
or wrongdoing here. Truth requires that we bring an end
to the blame game. Reconciliation requires that all of us
face up to our own responsibilities.
If the British government
had followed the example of a former Prime Minister and
acknowledged the obvious truth about Bloody Sunday, we all
might have been spared that tortuous and ludicrously costly
Enquiry. Compensation and closure could have been made long
ago. Similarly, if all our political parties, all the paramilitaries,
all of us not even excluding the churches, were each to
acknowledge our own measure of failure that led up to and
perpetuated the Troubles, then truth and reconciliation
could at once become readily achievable.
In The Elusive Quest,
Norman Porter contends that, "Reconciliation matters.
And if it mattered enough to enough of us then we would
have it". But if we continue to prioritise our own
partisan politics and prefer to blame others, then we will
never achieve it. (Reconciliation is for "them"
and not for "us"; we are the sole victims). And
so it is that prejudiced and competing sectarian attitudes
and beliefs can stand in the way of achieving a reconciled
society. But reconciliation can happen, and will happen
quite easily, when it matters more to us than our foolish
prejudices.
Ian Paisley's recent about-turn
exemplifies the beginning of this. This was, and please
God will continue to be, achieved by a simple act of will.
No longer demanding the use of sackcloth and ashes by our
enemies, in effect we reach out to them in a spirit of partnership
and forgiveness. Are we Christians? We acknowledge our responsibility
for the wrong. As in the Lord's Prayer, we seek forgiveness
and we forgive. We wish to be reconciled to "them"
and they to "us" - and when enough of us do it
we will discover that we really can build on the ground
of mutual interest and belonging.
In the book quoted above,
Norman Porter says that political reconciliation can be
like the Nike slogan - Just do it! It can be a simple
but profound and ongoing experience - if only each and every
one of us can find the courage and honesty to reach out
and engage with it. Gradually recognising and seeking to
jettison our cloying sectarianism, a whole new burgeoning
attitude could begin to be reflected institutionally, building
on and developing what already is being achieved politically.
When it is felt that we are
ready for it as a community, a public Day of Reconciliation
could be set aside. This could be the occasion of a great
convocation involving representatives of the churches, political
parties, trade unions, religio-political orders and all
the major interest groups concerned. Leaders and representatives
might sign a resolution reflecting the simple but profoundly
great reconciliatory principles to which we all at least
pay lip service. Just do it! could make for a great
new beginning in the history of Northern Ireland.
William Brown
