A Methodist Church statement has expressed appreciation of the comment of Dr Dermot Clifford, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, that he was disappointed at the GAA decision not to relax the ban on membership by members of the RUC.
In the statement, the Rev Ken Todd, chairman of the church's Midlands and Southern District, adds: "Peace is a process and in any peace process there will be those who are set free to look to the future and those who are chained to the past . . . We need to continue to work and pray that all sports, including GAA, will be freed of social prejudice."
The Rev Sam Clements - whose brother and nephew, both RUC men, were killed by the IRA - appealed to Sinn Fein and the SDLP to talk to the Police Authority. He commended council members for meeting Sinn Fein "whose murderous partners murdered my own brother". He asked the conference to call on Sinn Fein and "the deputy leader of the SDLP (Mr Seamus Mallon), who always urge dialogue", to talk to the Police Authority in the North. "If the way forward is dialogue, they should be there." His nephew, the Rev Dr David Clements, son and brother of the two murdered RUC men, said that he had heard too many say "the church has been there for the funeral service, and not there again". Acknowledging all the church does for the bereaved and other victims of violence, he said they needed to address the issue.
Mr Ken Twyble of the Portadown district and mayor of Craigavon, asked delegates to remember in their prayers "all those of us involved" in negotiations for a solution to Drumcree. Mr Twyble, whose term as mayor ends tomorrow, was praised by outgoing president Dr Norman Taggart for his "outstanding leadership" over the past year.
Speaking yesterday as "an unapologetic unionist" he said he "unapologetically supported the Yes vote" as "the best way forward for the whole island".
He said: "If Ireland was united tomorrow, probably one million Northern Protestant unionists would become very vociferous, and possibly violent." But "if the greater number of people in Northern Ireland voted for a united Ireland I would accept it. In that sense I am a democratic unionist." He recalled the violent incidents of the past year in his area: the murder of two young community policemen in Lurgan, and of Bernadette Martin, Billy Wright, who came from Portadown, the bombing of Portadown, and the murder recently of Adrian Lamph. He asked for support and prayers for those like him involved in the "extremely delicate" negotiations to prevent Drumcree Four.
The Rev Jim Williamson of the Belfast district asked that as Christians the conference be willing to debate decommissioning. There was "no precedent for it [decommissioning] in Ireland or Ulster" he said. "The old UVF never decommissioned. The old IRA never decommissioned. The `Stickies', who became the Workers' Party, never decommissioned. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael after the Civil War never decommissioned but found their way into mainstream politics." He suggested the conference should call on paramilitaries to "have the courage to . . . make this a momentous time in our Irish history".
Presenting the World Development and Relief report, the Rev Frederick Munse expressed appreciation for the £500,000 given by the Department of Foreign Affairs to Methodist projects in the Third World. The Government, he said, had agreed to give £3 for every £1 spent by the church on such projects.
