A letter from Doug Baker in Northern Ireland
April 2013
Dear Friends,
Recent months have not been good in Northern Ireland. Identity in this society is deeply divided. Unionists, who favor Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, hold strongly to a British identity, while nationalists, who favour Northern Ireland being joined to the Republic of Ireland, affirm their Irish identity. Each group also often feels that the other resents or even inhibits their expressing their identity. One of the principles enshrined in the 1998 Belfast Agreement between nationalist and unionist parties is actually “parity of esteem” for both identities. However, detailed implications of this principle, particularly in relation to the use of flags and emblems, have never actually been agreed.
Loyalist protesters and police face off outside Alliance Party office as part of flag dispute.
For decades the British flag flew over City Hall 365 days a year. That, in spite of the fact that the population has always had divided national identities and is now almost 50 percent pro-Irish. In December 2012 nationalists on the Belfast City Council proposed that the British flag no longer be flown over the City Hall at all. Rather than support that motion, the cross-community Alliance Party, whose few seats determine the balance of power in the Belfast City Council, put forward an amendment that the flag continue to be flown on about 20 designated days of particular significance to unionists. Nationalist parties supported the amendment and it passed. However, unionist politicians and hard-line supporters did not view it as a sensible compromise but as a threat to their identity. After the vote there were angry demonstrations outside City Hall with some present becoming violent toward police there to keep order. Disturbances soon spread to several staunch unionist districts of the city.
This controversy touched deep nerves and sparked protests that continued for months with some turning violent. Death threats from extreme unionists were issued against Alliance leaders and Alliance offices came under physical attack more than once. The bill for policing these protests and riots from December 2012 through February 2013 topped $25 million, while education, health and other budgets where that money could be used were experiencing cuts. It has been a mess! The rioting has now stopped, as have most of the protests. But it will be a long time before relationships between different sections of this society are healed.
While a seemingly insignificant issue to many both here and around the world, this decision about the flying of a flag has been the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” for those who don’t see the 14-year-old political agreement working in their favor. This controversy is revealing that the foundations of peace are not as strong as many had believed or hoped. Recession is not helping either. Much of the anger comes from districts where unemployment is high and future prospects dim. Those who feel politics are not moving in their favor and can’t find jobs build up frustration, which explodes. This controversy also reveals just how little understanding there still is amongst both unionists and nationalists of what matters to those on "the other side" and how much dialogue about that still needs to take place.
I would like to say I have been run off my feet in recent months facilitating such dialogue, but that is not the case! Although my colleagues and I see the crying need for it, most ordinary folk here either couldn’t be bothered engaging in it or don’t understand how dialogue might help. There is a marketing task to be done—not least in the churches!
What I have been busy with over recent months is the launching of a new project through which the churches will be in a position to contribute significantly to dialogue between those from different political/cultural backgrounds and contribute in other ways to long-term peace. Shaping the initiative and navigating hoops to secure funding has dragged on for four years! Endless paperwork and scores of meetings, emails and phone calls gave me a deep appreciation for the parable Jesus tells in Luke 18 about a widow who pesters a judge until she receives justice. Having been asked to facilitate the application process, I ended up playing "chief pesterer" on behalf of the churches. Finally a grant of over $2 million dollars was awarded through the European Union, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland governments. A Steering Committee with senior representatives of the four largest denominations—Catholic, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, and Methodist—has been formed and a director and two other staff appointed, with six more to begin soon.
Over the next three years the Irish Churches’ Peace Project will work across Northern Ireland and border counties in the Republic of Ireland, engaging those inside and outside the churches in cross-community dialogue on sensitive issues. Staff will also accompany local interchurch groups wishing to turn visions into new initiatives that will contribute to long-term peace. Let me share one of the visions that has already surfaced:
In one county most secondary-age schoolchildren travel into the largest town to attend either an almost exclusively Protestant or exclusively Catholic school. As soon as school is over, they travel home again into rural settings that are often exclusively unionist or nationalist. But there is a vision for creating a shared space in the town where pupils from all of these schools can come together in after-school activities, socialize, and receive homework support from a team of volunteers drawn from local congregations of all denominations—thereby allowing relationships to be built and demonstrating both that these youth matter to the churches and that we can work together across the religious and political divides for their common good.
Please remember this new project in your prayers!
Faithfully yours,
Doug
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 278
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