Sir, - The cycle of recurring violence, which has plagued us for so many centuries, will not be broken once and for all unless we are able to anticipate more than consensus-seeking politics and constitutional rearrangements. Healing will not be complete until all arms have gone through a process of decommissioning, until prisoners are integrated back into a restored society and until we take much more seriously the payment of the debt which we owe to those many people - on all sides - who have been hurt through injury or loss during these bitter years.
A memorial to all those who have been killed would seem inappropriate - a point highlighted by Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, April 18th) - for people could feel diminished to find the names of their loved ones juxtaposed with those of others who were responsible for their bereavement and grief.
At this stage it would seem much more appropriate to ensure that people maimed and families bereaved will be generously supported by the rest of us for the remainder of their lives. Counselling, training, re-training, communication, friendship are all part of an obligation which we should be encouraged to feel and to act on to promote healing.
People who have been most affected should at the least have the right to tell their stories and know that others will listen and that they will be recorded. This is already being undertaken by An Crann and probably elsewhere as well. The National Unity and Reconciliation Act, ratified in the South African parliament in July 1995, contains ideas some of which may, in time, be appropriate here.
Whatever direction our future takes, whatever arrangements will now come about, we should never be allowed to forget the sacrifice in life, limb and peace of mind which has been made by so many people and in so many families. The disabled and the bereft need our best support so that they too may have the possibility of peace despite the scars which they will sadly but inevitably carry for the rest of their lives. - Yours, etc.,
John Robb, Chairman, Wes Holmes, Secretary
New Ireland Group, Charlotte Street, Ballymoney, Co Antrim.