In Macedonia the British government has been to the forefront and provides the operational strategy behind an agreed stance by the international community. A stance that is intolerant of foot dragging by the majority (power-holding) community but also one that ensures the two protagonists have a shared hostile other to shift the blame onto, thereby making compromise easier and reform quicker.
I think a useful exercise for any British politicians and Belfast-based civil servants would be to examine the position they have forced onto the Macedonian government in regards to policing and demilitarisation since 2001 and compare that with their lack of movement in Ireland since 1994.
Councillor Killian Forde
Sinn Fein, Dublin
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PRICE OF PEACE: Clarke’s comments are timely. Earlier this year I visited Serbia. It has had a conflict more riven with religion and politics than ours. The bloody results have been there for all to see.
Those who would make peace in Serbia can only dream of the resources and fanfares surrounding our peace process. What we have is a process attempting to drown our conflict in money. It is a form of bribery on a mass scale. Whether personal or communal, who can say? A “kite” is being flown for another form of bribery — for “moves” on decommissioning. The moves are vague. The concessions are not. The payment is expected from the law-abiding communities on both sides of the border. Not only that, but the price keeps rising. Those holding illegal weapons as leverage, and governments, seem to believe we will not balk at any price.
There comes a time when the corruption of bribery becomes apparent. And when both communities north and south decide the price is simply too high.
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Rev’d Earl Storey
Address supplied