Forum is vital to peace process: Mallon
From NEWS LETTER October 10th, 2000
NORTHERN Ireland's new civic forum is an essential part of the peace process
and must act as a gateway between politicians and society, Stormont Deputy
First Minister Seamus Mallon said yesterday. Business people, community
leaders and voluntary workers were among the wide cross section of people
appointed to advise the Stormont Assembly on cultural, economic and social
issues. First Minister David Trimble and Mr Mallon welcomed the 60 members
as they held their inaugural meeting at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. Critics
have dismissed the forum, set up under the Good Friday Agreement, as a toothless
talking shop. It has also sparked controversy, with members like Gary McMichael,
whose UDP speaks for loyalist paramilitaries the Ulster Freedom Fighters,
and Derry Bogside Residents' spokesman Donncha Mac Niallais. But yesterday
Mr Mallon insisted: ''I believe the forum is a crucial part of the architecture
of the new dispensation. ''We want to ensure we have a democracy of and
for the people. The civic forum is crucial to this. It should act as a gateway
not as a gatekeeper. ''We have to ensure people cannot be reduced to political
affiliations but can find expression for all parts of their identity, be
it feminists, farmers or students.'' He said he hoped the forum would be
able to challenge and inform the Assembly on issues like poverty, ill-heath
and social exclusion. Mr Trimble said he looked forward to developing the
relationships between the Stormont executive, the Assembly and the civic
forum. ''The whole object of the exercise is to be inclusive and bring forward
a diversity of views,'' he said. And he added members should not be afraid
of arguments. ''We shouldn't get into a state of mind where there is a cosy
consensus,'' he said. ''Sometimes your best thinking is done when you're
in an argument.'' Forum chairman Chris Gibson, a local businessman, said
the forum was an example of how traditional hierarchical systems were being
replaced with a more collaborative approach to problem-solving. ''Just as
in science, you put forward a hypothesis and challenge it. Our role is to
challenge and challenge it in a positive way,'' he said. Gary McMichael
said: ''Everyone is here because they can bring something to the debate.
Those within the Assembly are not necessarily best equipped to deal with
social, economic and cultural issues they are making policy on.'' The forum
will hold plenary sessions around four to six times a year and smaller groups
will be formed to meet more often to deal with specific issues. Attending
yesterday's opening session were Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and South
Belfast MP Martin Smyth. |
