Ahern urges anti-sectarianism charter

All political parties on the island of Ireland should sign up to a charter to ban sectarianism in Irish politics, a senior government minister said today.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said that politicians must no longer pit Protestants and unionists against Catholics or nationalists for political gain.

The Dundalk TD said a unified stance against sectarianism would not ignore the injustices of the past but would send out a powerful message to all communities on the issue.

“Perhaps it is time that all parties in the North and South signed up to a political protocol on sectarianism - a declaration that politicians or political parties will not resort to the gratuitous, populist narrative of Catholic versus Protestant or unionist versus nationalist for political gain, a powerful message from political leaders, throughout the island, that sectarianism is just not on.”

Mr Ahern recalled that most political parties across the island signed up to an anti-racist political protocol and the Charter of European Parties for a Non-racist Society in 2005.”

He continued: “I’m not talking about ignoring the very real injustice, isolation, alienation and terror of the past.

“I’m talking about a clear political statement that those who rioted in Dublin, those who have attacked families in Northern Ireland for no other reason than their religion or their political beliefs, are wholly without legitimacy and open to nothing but condemnation.”