We’ve moved on from the days when Rome ruled our Republic

THERE was an amazing interview during the week on RTÉ in relation to the final decommissioning of weapons by the UDA. It seemed strange to hear Frankie Gallagher of the Ulster Political Research Group speak in such complimentary terms about the help received in Dublin.

Gallagher was also highly complimentary of the role that President Mary McAleese had played in figuratively building bridges between the two communities in Northern Ireland. He emphasised that her husband, Martin, had played a critical role in negotiations leading to the decommissioning.

“When we went down and met the ordinary people in the Republic whose aspirations may have been for a united Ireland, they never once made us feel that we had to give up our Britishness,” Gallagher said. “We never once felt that we had to surrender our beliefs. The people we met were so warm and accommodating that we have actually built very solid relationships and friendships with people in the Republic. That’s the way to go forward, working with people, uniting people, but it’s also about accepting their difference,” he added.