Madam, - As the Good Friday Agreement is now drained of value it is important for those in the British and Irish governments to reflect upon their failures. An honest appraisal should be the first step towards rebuilding a pro-agreement consensus.
As a Loyalist it is important for me to say that even though pro-agreement Loyalism has been excluded from the peace-building project we in the Progressive Unionist Party remain committed to the principle of "agreement and power-sharing" in Northern Ireland. Both Mr Blair and Mr Ahern should realise that, like others, "we have not gone away" and they have a responsibility to deal with that reality.
So what are the government failures? Three stand out as having been especially damaging to the process of peace building. They are:
1. The promotion of Mr Trimble as the sole guardian of the Good Friday Agreement.
2. The exclusion of political Loyalism.
3. The failure to recognise and address the causes of paramilitarism.
The notion that Mr Trimble could succeed as the sole guardian of the Good Friday Agreement is a policy instigated by Downing Street. In following it Mr Blair marginalised and, in the case of Loyalism, sought to criminalise those outside the Trimble camp.
No one within Loyalism seeks to hide or justify the activities of criminals who masquerade as Loyalists. But we do take exception when the Prime Minister instigates a policy that labels all Loyalists criminal.
When one compares this to how criminals who masquerade as Republicans are not even mentioned for fear of offending Sinn Féin or the PIRA, Loyalists are correct in concluding that this is not an honest attempt to build peace. As the young Turks in the UUP (Kilclooney, Empey, Nicholson and Smyth), prepare to ditch Mr Trimble, Blair's policy is exposed as folly. Who now can carry the pro-Agreement torch within Unionism? And who would now believe a word Mr Blair says?
To understand the role of political Loyalism readers must cast their minds back to the days when David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson, David Adams and Gary McMichael were given space to articulate the case for the Agreement. They moved people on to political territory many never thought possible in Northern Ireland. Sadly, once the governments got the "Yes" vote in May 1998, the space was closed down. Over time, people who had been persuaded to think anew in 1998 returned to the DUP.
The third and final failure is related to paramilitarism. The governments seem to believe Mr Trimble's theory that says if paramilitaries go away everything will be fine. Does the November election result show that to be the case? Has decommissioning helped? Or might there be more fundamental issues at hand?
From the Loyalist standpoint Mr Trimble is fundamentally wrong in his analysis. We believe that Northern Irish society produces paramilitarism. Thus solving the problem means addressing issues such as an education system that institutionalises division; media that are incapable of moving beyond the sectarian political agenda; poverty and social exclusion.
Mr Trimble opposes this view because it requires the well-heeled political élite to change.
As society slips backwards the two governments and the Northern Ireland political class can be relied upon to express moral outrage. But will they accept any responsibility for the failure? If they find the courage to do so a new dynamic is entirely possible. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID ROSE, Deputy Leader, The Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, Shankill Road, Belfast.