One
version for Dublin and another for Belfast
From IRISH TIMES August 3rd, 2000
If that does happen, it could turn out to be another case of the courts
getting the Government off the hook. It will do nothing to help convince
the victims that their sacrifice may help towards a lasting peace. All this
highlights yet again how far we have to go in building the kind of trust
which will en able the victims of the past 30 years of violence to come
to terms with their anger and pain. We have overcome many political hurdles,
but the challenge of dealing with what the Belfast Agreement describes as
the "deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of suffering" has hardly begun.
The release of paramilitary prisoners has reminded us of just how daunting
that task will be. We have had commissions to look at what might be done
to help the victims of violence on all sides, but we have not begun to understand
the scale of the problem and the depths of anger that still exist. The complexity
of public emotions over the release of paramilitary prisoners is just one
indication of this. It is just part of what we have to deal with if we are
to win the prize of a lasting peace. |
