Unionists don’t want to share power
All the evidence since the signing of the Belfast agreement points to a continuation of the suspended assembly. Mr Walsh says that “for trust to emerge from a conflict situation, it is necessary that both sides recognise and come to terms with the wrongs they have committed.”
I believe republicans have come to terms with their wrongs, but I do not believe there is unionist reciprocation.
The political representatives of militant republicanism have totally embraced constitutional politics. And this, I suspect, is what unionism fears.
It is clear that unionism would prefer no power at all rather than share power with nationalists. The window of political opportunity from which a normal civil society would emerge has been closed by unionist intransigence.
Mr Walsh wonders “if hardline unionism were to celebrate the crimes committed in the name of the union, could they expect this to help create an atmosphere of trust with republicans?”
May I remind him that unionist objections to the full implementation of the Patton report on policing and their blanket support for sectarian Orange marches is an ongoing celebration of anti-Catholicism.
While rejecting violence from whatever source, it should be borne in mind that the war fought by the IRA was primarily a military one, while the war engaged in by loyalists was primarily a sectarian one.
Following the publication of both the Barron and Cory reports, it is safe to assume that there was security force collusion in some of the murders of innocent Catholics.
I believe that the loathing some unionists have for nationalists, and their fear of sharing power with them, is so great that a return to the military campaign by the IRA would be met with a sigh of relief in some unionist circles.
Tom Cooper
23 Delaford Lawn
Knocklyon
Dublin 16
