Liam Collins speaks to a number of quality sources. Bearing in mind that most of them are relatively Unionist-friendly commentators, some important points arising out of last weeks events are aired:
Henry Patterson: “…there is a constituency of Protestants which don’t feel they have got anything out of the deal and it is all one-way traffic. If the IRA were to make a decisive break it would be much easier for Trimble to win the doubters over.”
Paul Bew: “The IRA has not signed up to the Good Friday Agreement and that is the key to the problem. Is it a distinction that doesn’t make any sense to anyone who is not an Irish republican.”
Simon Partridge: “The Irish troubles are an anachronism, we are fighting political battles from the turn of the century and at one level we know the game is up, it is a ridiculous conflict.”
Father Denis Faul: “What happened last week is all politics. I think it is a matter of healing. Very positive steps have to be taken to build up trust. You have to apologise to all the people who were murdered . . . and all the people who took lives should apologise too. There are so many victims, so many crushed, those who haven’t even got a body to bury. Healing should be the dominant tone and I don’t think that has been properly expressed.”
Roy Garland: “I believe this is a very long-term process. The war might be over but we still have a long way to go. Republicans are moving in the right direction, but I feel they haven’t fully taken on board the existence of others, some of them still think that unionists have no right to be here, they’re not really Irish. Sinn Fein has learned a lot, but it has blind spots, there are blind spots all over the place.”
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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