TUESDAY'S NEWS

Archbishop Eames’ address to Synod
(report courtesy of Rev Gregg Ryan of the Church Times)

The failure of the two governments to resolve the impasse on the Good Friday Agreement has created a dangerous vacuum in Northern Ireland, the Church of Ireland Primate Dr. Eames said in his address to Synod in Dublin on Tuesday.

“Despite strenuous efforts it has proved impossible to restore devolved government to the Province. Those efforts continue but we are told that insufficient trust and clarity exist to re-establish power-sharing institutions. This failure is undoubtedly a set-back to the political element of the long road to peace and stability. It has produced a dangerous vacuum. But it is and must be only a set-back. There is no doubt that the vast majority of people want to see and deserve genuine stability.”

Political progress and structures of government are but only part of the peace process, he said. The real power, the real strength and the real ability to build a just and peaceful society rests with people.

“It rests with people in their lives, in their homes, in their work, in their relationships and in their attitudes. That is where the real power lies. They may have their political and religious expressions but they have the power to change and influence a community.”

However, political failure in Northern Ireland has the consequences of years of social deprivation and neglect in working-class areas.

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“In both nationalist and unionist areas a failure by political power to address social need has produced an environment of alienation, community need and the atmosphere in which paramilitary organisations have flourished. That heritage of political neglect is tragic and has contributed largely to the despair and desperation clergy encounter in working-class areas today. We are now seeing the alienation from traditional political structures on the part of many who feel a lack of relevance for their lives in high-level political dialogue.”

This alienation is reflected in the distrust which manifests itself in sectarianism which continues to produce levels of distrust across Northern Ireland.

Referring to the report on sectarianism to be debated at the Synod, Dr. Eames said ‘The Hard Gospel’ is one of the most significant documents in the long history of the Church of Ireland.

“As a Church we have begun a profound and extensive examination of sectarianism within our structures and within our attitudes. We will find a great deal to make us all feel uncomfortable as a Church. We must recognise failure, we must address attitudes and we must recognise that this is not a problem which only causes riots or murders or which is confined to concerns for our Church in the north only. It speaks to our Church in the Republic. Too often comments on northern issues from the Republic and comments from the north on issues in the south have themselves disclosed sectarian mind-sets. The comfortable pew, the pulpit, the sanctuary, the youth club, the Select Vestry, the training of clergy, the relationships with other Churches – every aspect of the Church of Ireland must be a part of the process we have begun. Eighty per cent of parishes have responded to the work which has produced this Report. That figure in itself is remarkable. We have begun a process.”

(report courtesy of Rev Gregg Ryan of the Church Times)

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