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N. Ireland votes for peace, economic prosperity
The word “historic” is often overused and its currency devalued accordingly. But what happened last week in Northern Ireland more than justifies its use.
Because when the overwhelming majority of the Northern Ireland power-sharing Assembly voted to complete devolution with the transfer of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast, it was the successful culmination of a huge political project, started over 12 years ago, and in which successive
It was a project in which the British government has been engaged literally on a daily basis over those 12 years and a project that saw relationships transformed within Northern Ireland, between Belfast and Dublin and between the British and Irish governments.
This really was a defining moment, bringing the final end to decades of strife.
It was a vote of confidence in the peace process and the political process.
It was a vote for the aspirations and hopes of future generations who do not want to relive the horrors of the past.
It was also a vote for optimism for conflicts around the world. Because the scale of the achievement in Northern Ireland is staggering when put in the context of not just decades of conflict but centuries of suspicion, fear and hate.
The people who sat round the table in 1998 and signed the Good Friday Agreement were not simply political opponents; they were in some cases sworn enemies.
But over the next 12 years they and the communities they represent have shown that they could overcome divisions that seemed to the world to be well nigh unbridgeable.
It was a process that was often frustrating, sometimes moving at glacial pace, sometimes in “warm storage,” sometimes in a kind of political cryogenics.
And yet there were also acts of huge political courage from all sides that took the process on.
That I think is the great inspiration of Northern Ireland, a kind of “worked example” of conflict resolution.
And it could not have been done without the engagement of those in the United States whose support went well beyond sympathy and warm words, important as those are especially in the dark times and there were plenty of those.
In a nation in which 42 million people have Irish descent it isn’t surprising that there is an interest in developments in the sometimes tragic story of Northern Ireland, but what is extraordinary is the level of commitment and constancy from the very top of the U.S. administration.
Northern Ireland has a population of 1.7 million and yet the appearance of Air Force One at Belfast’s international airport became almost an annual event.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken personal responsibility for overseeing the administration’s policy on Northern Ireland, building on the foundations laid by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and Special Envoys George Mitchell, Richard Haass, Mitchell Reiss and Paula Dobriansky.
In appointing Declan Kelly, Secretary Clinton gave Northern Ireland access to an economic envoy of immense energy who is working tirelessly to bring investment and jobs.
Richie Neal, Peter King and the other members of the Friends of Ireland bipartisan group of the Congress and Senate have been untiring in their support of the peace process even if they did not see eye to eye with the British government at all times.
And on St Patrick’s Day it is appropriate to acknowledge the contribution of the Irish government to the peace and political process.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern forged not just a political relationship built on a common cause to end the conflict and bring long-term stability to Northern Ireland; they also had a personal bond that was central to their work.
Today, Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen have led our respective governments to complete the task and the energy and commitment to that was exemplified in the exhaustive — and exhausting — talks that resulted in the Hillsborough Castle Agreement.
This was an agreement of a different nature to those which had gone before. The Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrews Agreement were made between the two governments. The Hillsborough Agreement was between the two largest democratically elected parties — the DUP and Sinn Fein-to move forward together.
It was “Made in Northern Ireland” and is all the stronger for that.
But the true heroes of this story are the people of Northern Ireland whose indefatigable spirit and courage are exemplified in the words of Kate Carroll, whose husband Stephen was a police constable murdered by dissident republicans exactly a year to the day before the vote last Tuesday.
Kate told a radio phone-in program: “It is time to move on. We are not in the past anymore. We want to speak for ourselves, we want to rule ourselves. Just get up and get on with it.”
The message that is being sent from Northern Ireland will not be lost on those around the world who have watched the transformation of Northern Ireland with compassion and hope.
That hope is fulfilled.
Shaun Woodward is the British secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
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