NEWS FEATURE: Nobel laureate still has hope for Northern Ireland

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Mairead Corrigan Maguire’s large blue eyes have witnessed immeasurable tragedy over the years in Northern Ireland, yet they still blaze with the passion of a visionary of peace. It was nearly 20 years ago _ in October 1977 _ that Maguire shared the the Nobel Peace Prize for […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Mairead Corrigan Maguire’s large blue eyes have witnessed immeasurable tragedy over the years in Northern Ireland, yet they still blaze with the passion of a visionary of peace.

It was nearly 20 years ago _ in October 1977 _ that Maguire shared the the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring peace to the blood-weary area. And despite set-backs _ continued sectarian killings and bombings and violated cease-fires _ she remains convinced the Northern Irish can reach a peace nonviolently.”There is a passion for peace in Northern Ireland,”Maguire told a small group of reporters gathered recently at U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) headquarters here. But, she added, it will take healing and justice before it comes about.


Maguire, 52, is co-founder of the Community of Peace People in Northern Ireland, a grassroots organization dedicated to”building that peaceful society in which the tragedies we have known are a bad memory and a continuing warning.”Her co-founder, Betty Williams, with whom Maguire shared the Nobel Peace Prize, left the group in 1978 and moved to the United States.

The six counties of Northern Ireland have suffered for some three decades from a bloody fight between the largely Roman Catholic Irish nationalists who want closer ties with Ireland, and the predominantly Protestant unionists who want to maintain ties with Great Britain.

Personal tragedy sustains Maguire’s activism and religious faith sustains her vision of nonviolence.

In August 1976, her sister Anne’s three children were killed by a runaway vehicle driven by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) man who had been shot and killed by a British soldier. Then, four years later, the trauma caused Anne to take her own life.”In Northern Ireland, we need a lot of emotional healing,”Maguire said.”And healing cannot take place as long as there is injustice.” Maguire’s Catholic spirituality fuels her social and political beliefs. But sometimes, she said, militants on both sides misinterpret the Christian message.

She said that crucial question in Northern Ireland is the validity of the”just war theory,”which claims that under certain circumstances an armed struggle is justifiable for a larger good. The IRA often cites this theory as support for its armed activities.

But, Maguire said,”The just war theory is a phony theoryâÂ?¦ Christians follow Jesus who said love your enemy and do not kill, and that’s perfectly clear.” Recognizing that theological issues are fundamental to the larger peace process in Northern Ireland, Maguire called on church leadership, Catholic and Protestant, to come together, through ecumenical church services and other dialogue, and resolve the”just war”question.”It would be, I think tremendously spiritually enlivening for the churches and for us all to know that that message was being taught by the churches,”she said.

Duncan Hanson, coordinator for European affairs for the Presbyterian Church (USA), agreed.”The church needs to witness the fact that it’s not our faith that pits us against each other, but our faith that unites us.” The Presbyterian Church has a Northern Ireland working group which, like Maguire’s group, works to implement peace. The majority of Northern Ireland Protestants are Presbyterians.

Maguire said she is encouraged that”there are Christians who are reclaiming their early pacifist roots and want to live that kind of life again”in both Catholic and Protestant areas of Northern Ireland.


On the political issues, Maguire said it is crucial the IRA suspend their violent activities, which include the use of car bombs and other terrorist measures, and immediately resume the cease-fire which it broke a year ago after 17 months of relative calm.”It was a mistake by the British government not to move the process forward during that period (of the cease-fire),”she said. She said the British government should have begun the process of bringing their troops out of Northern Ireland as soon as the cease-fire began as a”confidence-building measure.””Decommissioning (of British troops) should take place alongside party (political) talks,”she said,”because the two communities are so far apart, there’s so much fear and distrust there.” Maguire said she does not necessarily support a union of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.”We want to see a Northern Ireland with no guns there,”she said.

She said if the peace process is to move forward, accountability must be imposed on the IRA for its use of violence.”There are no simple answers, and there won’t be simple answers,”she said.”And there certainly won’t be a violent solution _ violence doesn’t work.” Maguire also warned that Northern Ireland’s annual Protestant parades, in which members of the militant Orange order march through the region during the summer, could result in”a very hot summer”unless steps are taken to defuse the situation.

She spoke approvingly of a British government recommendation that a five-member Parades Commission be created in an attempt to curb violence, such as the rioting that took place last summer when the Orangemen marched through the largely Protestant town of Portadown’s major Catholic neighborhood.

Such a mediation effort, she said, could let the parades happen without violence.

But primarily, she said, the work of peace must be built at the grassroots.”It’s really a matter of us realizing we have got to build relationships between two traditions in the North, we’ve got to build relationships between the British and the Irish, we’ve got to begin to say we’re sorry for the past and move forward together into new relationships,”she said.

END LEBOWITZ

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