The inability to agree on flags and parades – fear-mongering emblems of a militarist past – highlights the impossibility of the US negotiator's task
Last night the American negotiator Richard Haass seemed close to throwing up his hands in despair over yet another bid to bring peace to the parties in Northern Ireland. He has been struggling since July to clear up lingering aspects of the ever hesitant peace process. These include flags, parades and how to treat the legacies and suspicions of past conflicts. The parties meet again this morning to seek a deal but hopes are not high.
For most Britons the words Northern Ireland induce a sinking heart. They would like to see it sail off into the sunset with its grim ancestral feuds. It beggars belief that the United Kingdom, which delights in telling the world how to behave, still contains a province as divided as Northern Ireland. Its religious tribes remain separated socially, geographically and culturally. It has separate schools and even walls to keep each other apart, a humiliation shared in Europe only with Cypriots.
There are signs of a willingness to lay some of the past to rest, as in offering immunity from prosecution. This would be delicate as it involves a suspension of normal justice. More bizarre is the inability to agree on flags and parades, emblems of a militarist past blatantly intended to induce fear in an enemy. Why should anyone need such antics in 21st century Europe? Any sensible person would simply ban them, totally and without partiality. Yet parades and flags are so embedded in the psychology of this divided society that no one can conceive of living without them.
It is easy to blame the Irish people for their inability to set the past behind them and forge a united province. Yet similar divisions in Liverpool and Glasgow have been overcome with determined leadership, including from the churches. The reality in Northern Ireland is that this leadership was lacking. As a result, for almost half a century the province was ruled from London – with British and even American negotiators summoned to help. This has been one of the starkest failures in the long history of "English intervention". It would surely be better if the Irish were left to sort it all out themselves. Reported by guardian.co.uk 11 hours ago.
Last night the American negotiator Richard Haass seemed close to throwing up his hands in despair over yet another bid to bring peace to the parties in Northern Ireland. He has been struggling since July to clear up lingering aspects of the ever hesitant peace process. These include flags, parades and how to treat the legacies and suspicions of past conflicts. The parties meet again this morning to seek a deal but hopes are not high.
For most Britons the words Northern Ireland induce a sinking heart. They would like to see it sail off into the sunset with its grim ancestral feuds. It beggars belief that the United Kingdom, which delights in telling the world how to behave, still contains a province as divided as Northern Ireland. Its religious tribes remain separated socially, geographically and culturally. It has separate schools and even walls to keep each other apart, a humiliation shared in Europe only with Cypriots.
There are signs of a willingness to lay some of the past to rest, as in offering immunity from prosecution. This would be delicate as it involves a suspension of normal justice. More bizarre is the inability to agree on flags and parades, emblems of a militarist past blatantly intended to induce fear in an enemy. Why should anyone need such antics in 21st century Europe? Any sensible person would simply ban them, totally and without partiality. Yet parades and flags are so embedded in the psychology of this divided society that no one can conceive of living without them.
It is easy to blame the Irish people for their inability to set the past behind them and forge a united province. Yet similar divisions in Liverpool and Glasgow have been overcome with determined leadership, including from the churches. The reality in Northern Ireland is that this leadership was lacking. As a result, for almost half a century the province was ruled from London – with British and even American negotiators summoned to help. This has been one of the starkest failures in the long history of "English intervention". It would surely be better if the Irish were left to sort it all out themselves. Reported by guardian.co.uk 11 hours ago.
