Writeback

Belfast Telegraph

Dear Sir/Madam,

We, the members of the Belfast Humanist Group, are dismayed that the unprecedented opportunity offered to us all by the Good Friday Agreement is slipping away. The best chance that we have ever had to arrive at an accommodation between unionists and nationalists is sliding out of our grasp.

Let us not forget the tremendous support that the people, both North and South, showed for the Agreement. An overwhelming majority on both sides of the border voted in favour. There are very few pieces of legislation that have ever received that level of support.

The Agreement offers much to both unionists and nationalists. It establishes credible institutions which will ensure stability for the future and have the confidence of both traditions. It respects both traditions and provides safeguards for both. Most important of all, it creates a space where normal politics can flourish, instead of the violent confrontations of the past.

The Belfast Humanist Group calls upon everyone who supports the Agreement to speak out for it, before it is too late. The Agreement is our door to a better Northern Ireland where peace and prosperity are ordinary and the murders, maimings and destruction of the past are only a memory. We call on the paramilitaries to decommission their weapons and explosives; and we call on the politicians to agree the means by which that can be achieved. A start on decommissioning is essential to confirm that a new era is beginning. Forget about point-scoring and recriminations. The real issue is peace throughout this island and a better way of life for us all.

Les Reid

Secretary

Belfast Humanist Group.