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1998 now opens up before us like the blank pages of a new diary. While nobody can foresee what is going to appear there, it is likely that this year will be an historic one for Northern Ireland, and I have my hopes for it.
I hope for a new and conciliatory note in political debate. Politics may be an essentially adversarial business, but at this crucial stage in our history it would help if public pronouncements by responsible leaders were as constructive and statesman-like as possible.
I hope that public opinion will be mobilised in a new way. The man (and woman) in the street sometimes feels helpless to influence the course of events, but public opinion is a force that should never be underestimated. There are many people of goodwill in this community, and their voice of moderation should be heard loud and clear. Of course citizens have a right to expect that the highest standards of truth and integrity will be maintained in public life, and if all involved there can demonstrate that that is happening, then public trust and confidence in those who occupy positions of authority or influence will be built up.
I had hoped that the day of sectarian murders was over. The last 30 years and the killings of last weekend have shown that such events lead only to a spiral of retaliation bringing unquantifiable suffering to countless people. We must not go down that blind alley again. Society does not want to be held to ransom by feuding between ruthless killers. The time has now come for a total and permanent ceasefire by all paramilitary groups.
I hope for a new realisation that in the last analysis our problems are really moral and spiritual, which it is the special vocation of the churches to tackle. I hope there will be support and encouragement for those who pray and work for those radical changes in the human heart and conscience that would help to bring a really happy New Year.
Rt Rev Dr Samuel Hutchinson, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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