A number of speakers at the Church of Ireland General Synod in Dublin yesterday called for a Yes vote in the Belfast Agreement referendum next week. No one called for a No vote, though one speaker did warn against giving the impression that a No vote might be perceived as non-Christian.
Speaking as a unionist, and during a debate on the role of the Church Committee report, Canon John McKegney of Armagh diocese said: "I am voting Yes. No is an opt-out, it abdicates responsibility. It could leave us in a situation where Tony Blair might say to Bertie Ahern: you have them."
Negative politics had not served unionism well, he said. Rather, by saying No, they had always come off worse. "Yes will give what we want. It is clearly stated in the agreement there can be no change without my vote," he said. This had been agreed by a 96 per cent Sinn Fein vote, which renounced violence and agreed to take seats in the assembly, he said.
Prisoner release was not an easy issue, but the many of his parishioners who were victims of violence, particularly those who had come closest to the violence, wanted a way forward. There were many things in the agreement he did not like and found perplexing, "but if there is not a strong, clear commitment to a Yes vote we are in for more dark days," he said.
Canon John Bond of Connor diocese thought the prospect of a release of convicted murderers stomach-turning, particularly for the victims of violence and those who had lost loved ones, some still missing. But he felt the best way to honour the sacrifice and heroism of such victims was for people to dedicate themselves to reconciliation and the building of mutual trust.
Mr Peter Reid of Limerick also called for a Yes vote. "I'm proud to be a Freemason and say this today," he said. He rejoiced in the opportunity as he wished to see "this fractured country", which he loved, do better. "We have a unique duty to the next generation and all who have suffered to follow the course of peace, love and harmony," he said.
Mr Dar Chillingworth, of the Connor diocese, recalled what it was like when de Valera was elected Taoiseach in 1932. "In the Church of Ireland we thought the end was at hand," he said. Word had gone about that when de Valera and Fianna Fail entered the Dail in 1927 they had guns in their pockets, he said.
There was even a story of one of the party assembling a machine-gun in a phone box, a story he had since confirmed. "But nothing happened. Life went on. Then who gave a substantial grant to Trinity to keep it afloat?" And when de Valera did so he only asked why they had not sought his help before, he said.
Later Dr Alan Acheson said the agreement was intended to sustain unionism and maintain the integrity of Northern Ireland. What it had done was make nationalists, North and South, the guarantors of the union, which was very remarkable.
He was proposing a motion "that the General Synod, in the light of the agreement reached in the recent multi-party talks, calls on our Church of Ireland people, in both jurisdictions, prayerfully to consider and conscientiously to determine their response to the choice before them in the referendums to be held on 22nd May 1998." It was passed unanimously.
