A Church of Ireland bishop has asked people in the South to consider "ruthlessly" what they would be prepared to sacrifice of themselves "so that others may know peace in their lives throughout this country". Speaking at the annual open air service in Clonmacnoise yesterday, the Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare, wondered whether "in the tranquillity of the South", people seriously imagine that woolly goodwill is the only price we will need to pay?
Much of the price of peace in Ireland, it seemed to him, would involve the willingness of people to confront their own pride "whether personal, or national, or social, or denominational - and to sacrifice it on the altar of Christian love".