Madam, - In his article in your edition of April 6th on the Northern Ireland peace process the Taoiseach rightly points out that "the people cannot be expected to wait for ever for local politicians to take responsibility in Northern Ireland".
The good news is that many of the community groups with which Co-operation Ireland works, for example in areas such as East Belfast, Derry and North Dublin, want change to happen, and are working for change. A return to the old days of violence is an unthinkable scenario. It is imperative that this commitment at community level to long-term peace in Northern Ireland is at the forefront of political minds in the run-up to the November 24th deadline.
There are many success stories of cross-community and cross-Border relationships between youth groups, community organisations, schools and small business built through the hard work and dedication of non-governmental organisations working in tandem with community leaders. These positive stories of the peace process tend to be ignored in favour of coverage relating to the political difficulties.
Beneficial work and the unwavering commitment of civil society organisations and community groups need a greater level of support from both governments. Active strategy formulation must involve not only the political level but also non-government organisations. All cross-Border work, whether at the level of public policy, programme, project or civil society, should work toward the same over-arching objective or vision.
Co-operation Ireland has a vision for the future: a shared, stable, society where relationships between the peoples of the island of Ireland are based on equality and trust, and lead to prosperity for all.
Without this, it is easy to lose sight of the fundamental objective for making the peace process a success, which is to give the people of the island the opportunity to live free from violence, bigotry and intolerance. - Yours, etc,
TONY KENNEDY OBE, Chief Executive, Co-operation Ireland, Belfast.