Madam, - I found it heartening to read the letter headed "Tiring of the North" from M.D. Kennedy (October 7th). I believe a growing number of people in this State and elsewhere would endorse his view. Despite the latest talks failure at Leeds Castle, it appears that more talks are scheduled - and so it will run and run.
Talk is cheap and can go on indefinitely but this matter can not. The Northern Ireland conflict has cost nearly 4,000 lives, probably ten times that in serious injury, and countless billions in property damage and destruction.It's a drastic situation, so let's have a drastic solution.
Mr Gerry Adams and company have long made a big issue of removing the causes of the conflict. Few could argue with that. What are these causes? Basically just two - Irishness and Britishness (the Northern Ireland versions), in whatever order you like and an absolute refusal by each side to tolerate or accommodate the other.
These identities cannot simply be wiped out at a single stroke, but they could be put in a totally new context by the following simple steps:
1. The British government makes an immediate declaration to withdraw totally, including its armed forces, from Northern Ireland.
2. The Government of the Irish Republic makes a formal declaration that it has no interest in, or intention of, invading, annexing or taking a direct role in the administration of Northern Ireland.
3. Northern Ireland becomes a UN protectorate, under the patronage of the EU, of which it becomes a full member.
4. Northern Ireland is administered by its own democratically elected assembly, backed up by a council of state, with special powers in areas of minorities and equality treatment, comprising representatives of NI, London, Dublin, the EU and the UN. It would have no involvement in foreign affairs and no army. If the civil police force needed back-up, it would come from an EU or UN rapid-reaction force.
5. A massive programme of reform and development is put in place, financed by London (which is now saving a fortune), the EU and possibly the Republic. A new Tiger is quite likely - its name eludes me.
6. This arrangement runs for 20 to 25 years - in the context of Northern Ireland, that's nothing. At the end of that period, a new Northern Ireland decides its own future - from whatever options are then open to it - and, it goes without saying, by democratic and constitutional means.
This proposal would work, because it would force a total re-think by the two factions in Northern Ireland. They both believe they have the taken-for-granted backing of one of the two respective governments/states/ armies. They do not. There is little doubt that the British have wanted to get out (for the past 20 years, at least), but have been restrained from doing so by successive Irish Governments - "If they can't handle it, how could we"? Secondly, the various secret armies would become redundant, as the "obvious" enemies disappear, so would their raison d'être. They could set upon each other, Rwanda-style, but this is highly unlikely. Thirdly, the pragmatic Northern people would very quickly put a stop to the shenanigans on the streets of Northern Ireland as soon as the penny dropped that it was now up to them, with no benign British taxpayer or insurance underwriter to pick up the tab.
Can Mr Adams and his friends and their counterparts in the other community - in particular, those represented by the DUP - rise to the challenge and enter the world of realpolitik? That is the real question.
And yes, there is an element of cutting apron strings and even umbilical cords involved - but properly done, these do not normally cause problems. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN NEWMAN, Dublin 11.