The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation set up in 1994 attempted to address many complex issues that had bedevilled Irish life for too long. Dublin Castle brought together a wide range of interests to reflect on their place in Irish society while encouraging them to take on board the views of others. It had a particular relevance for minorities.

This initiative in self-examination and self-criticism had implications for the Northern peace process. It could be argued that for the first time we in the South were prepared to think seriously about the shape of our society and ways in which attitudes here impinged on the violent tensions north of the Border and how these might be resolved.

There was a willingness to acknowledge that while there were worthy features in the growing pains of this State, there were also failings, not least in respect of those who did not conform to what at that time was considered genuinely Irish in terms of politics, culture and religion. The forum opened the welcome possibility of a new understanding of Irishness which was broader and more tolerant.

The drafting committee set moral standards as it identified "the key present realities which require to be addressed and the principles and requirements which should characterise an acceptable political accommodation".

It emphasised the right to peace based on justice, the importance of dialogue, freedom from violence or coercion and full respect for the concerns, rights and identities of all. This was language consistent with the faith many of us share and much of it finds expression in the Belfast Agreement.

There is no doubt that politicians have had enormous difficulties trying to get the agreement fully operational and now we are experiencing particular difficulties.

However, as a member of a minority most of whose members live in the North, I feel a growing unease at the apparent drift of elements of the political establishment in the South towards a nationalist/ republican alliance with a dated political agenda which by its very nature excludes modern unionism. It seems at times there is a political equivalent to Dominus Iesus.

We are in danger of losing the openness and understanding gained at the forum and replacing it with elements of a bitter and resentful northern nationalism. We are being inexorably reversed into a preforum past and alienating many in the process, including the entire moderate unionist community.

Of course every reasonable effort must be made to draw people away from violence into the political process, and where that happens it should be welcomed, but if we believe peace and reconciliation belong together then we must demonstrate to unionists as well as nationalists that the phrase "acceptable to both communities" includes them.

We are failing miserably here as anyone who has contact with the North must know. Take, for example, policing. No one can deny there has to be change but it would be enormously helpful if we showed some understanding of why people in the North feel as strongly as they do.

The Omagh inquest reminded us of RUC men and women who risked their lives clearing streets, and tending the injured and dying, at great emotional cost to themselves. Prof Paul Bew recently pointed out that while the RUC caused 52 of the fatalities of the Troubles, republicans were responsible for 2,139. He went on to suggest that the perceived snub to the RUC contained in Patten has convinced many there is something wrong with the value system of the Belfast Agreement.

The statistics raise another issue - decommissioning. It is an issue not because people want victory but because they have suffered too much and too long and they want to be safe. It is not the method that matters but the uncertainty. The sad fact is that neither government is trusted in this matter and probably does not deserve to be, given the endless fudging and prevarication.

The recent controversy concerning the murder/shooting of Sgt Henry Cronin of the RIC some 80 years ago was informative. A relative of the dead man, in a letter to this newspaper, recalled the grief of the family at the time of his death, just one of many such families wiped out of the national memory because they did not belong and therefore did not count.

Have we really changed as much as we like to think or are there not signs already in books and films and elsewhere that history is being rewritten to portray perpetrators of violence as heroes and victims, while the real victims from places like Enniskillen, Warrington, and Dublin are forgotten? If the intention is to legitimise things done over the past 30 years, and which we all said were wrong at the time, then we have learnt nothing.

Another who, like Henry Cronin did not belong, was the late Hubert Butler, a great Irishman, disowned and ostracised because he upset powerful people in church and State. He did not fit their notion of what constituted a loyal citizen. The proposed posthumous apology has no value unless the political narrowness and religious bigotry that excluded him have gone forever and are no longer operative.

The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation gave clear direction, but we are in danger of losing our way.

The Venerable Gordon Linney is Church of Ireland Archdeacon of Dublin