[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 27, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           NEW ERA IN IRELAND

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                             HON. JACK REED

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 27, 1994

  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, this past week, President Clinton welcomed 
John Hume to the United States. As a member of the British Parliament 
and leader of the Social Democratic and Labor Party of Northern 
Ireland, he played an active role in the achievement of the recent 
Irish Republican Army cease-fire.
  John Hume has been a champion for peace in Northern Ireland. He has 
shown extraordinary courage and commitment to resist the violence that 
has consumed Northern Ireland. His example inspires men and women 
throughout the world who cherish peace and respect the dignity of all 
mankind.
  The continuous bloodshed and human rights abuses that have 
characterized Northern Ireland are appalling and John's efforts to end 
this situation are of paramount importance.
  This cease fire, while significant, is just the beginning of a long 
and complex process required to achieve lasting peace in Northern 
Ireland. I call to the attention of my colleagues an editorial written 
by the Honorable Mr. Hume, that appeared in the Friday September 23d 
Washington Post.

               [From the Washington Post, Sept. 23, 1994]

                           New Era In Ireland

                             (By John Hume)

       With the announcement of a cessation of military activities 
     by the IRA and the commitment of their political voice, Sinn 
     Fein, to peaceful and democratic means to reach an agreement 
     between the people of Ireland that can earn the allegiance of 
     all our traditions, we are now at the beginning of a new era 
     in Ireland. That was the clearly stated objective of my 
     dialogue with Gerry Adams. Since five British governments and 
     20,000 troops failed to stop the violence, I took the view 
     that if the killing of human beings on our streets could be 
     ended by direct dialogue, then it was my duty to do so. I am 
     naturally pleased that we have achieved this first major step 
     toward lasting stability.
       Now we must move on to our next major challenge--to reach 
     agreement on how we share our piece of earth together. The 
     challenge is to find common ground between two fundamentally 
     different mind-sets, the unionist and the nationalist. The 
     unionist mind-set, based largely in the Protestant population 
     of Northern Ireland, is akin to that of the Afrikaner who 
     believes that, surrounded by hostility that is real or 
     apparent, the only way to protect his people is to 
     concentrate power in their own hands to the exclusion of all 
     others.
       That approach is not only doomed to encourage widespread 
     discrimination and conflict but is ultimately unsustainable. 
     Nor does it do justice to the unionist tradition. The 
     unionists of Northern Ireland are justly proud of their 
     heritage and their contribution to the world. As many as 11 
     American presidents came of their stock. They number captains 
     of industry and colonial governors among their great men. 
     They see themselves as a pragmatic, hardheaded, straight-
     talking, skeptical, robust people and there is much in their 
     history to justify their view.
       However, the negative impact of their laager mentality has 
     tended to dry up their creativity and paralyze their 
     political talents. The time has come for them to believe in 
     themselves as their own best guarantors in a future shared 
     with the rest of the people of Ireland. They must realize 
     that because of their geography and their numbers, the 
     problem cannot be solved without them. Their true interest 
     depends precisely on the exercise of their traditional gifts 
     of self-confidence and self-reliance. Let them exercise those 
     gifts now in the face of a historic opportunity by engaging 
     in the political process of dialogue and consensus building.
       The nationalist mind-set has traditionally relied less on 
     the discipline of its people and more on its commitment to 
     the territory of Ireland. ``This is our land, and you 
     unionists are a minority and you cannot stop us taking it 
     over'' can fairly well sum it up. But Irish nationalism has 
     grown in its complexity, and it accepts that unity is not a 
     territorial objective but one that involves people. It is 
     people who have rights and not territory. A divided people 
     can only be brought together by agreement. If coercion 
     entrenches those divisions, only dialogue can bridge them.
       In my whole approach to this process, I have been strongly 
     inspired by both my European experience and my contact with 
     the United States. The European Union is the greatest 
     testament to the resolution of conflict. After one of the 
     bloodiest conflicts in history, which left 35 million dead 
     across our continent a mere 50 years ago, Europeans are 
     engaged in a level of cooperation so intense it has blurred 
     the traditional bounds of sovereignty. The political system 
     of the United States commands the loyalty of citizens despite 
     the diversity of their ethnic makeup and experiences. And 
     each U.S. citizen carries in the small change in his or her 
     pocket the maxim that holds the country together--e pluribus 
     unum, from many we are one, the essence of unity is the 
     acceptance of diversity.
       We in Ireland are engaged in a process that seeks to give 
     reality to this most profound truth. We must create by 
     agreement, as was done in postwar Europe, institutions that 
     respect our diversity but allow us also to work our 
     substantial economic ground together--and by spilling our 
     sweat and not our blood to begin our healing process. If that 
     happens, a new Ireland will evolve, and the model that 
     emerges may be very different from the traditional models of 
     the past. It will be based on agreement and can earn the 
     allegiance of people from all our traditions.
       While we work for political agreement, we should also--in 
     conjunction with the Irish abroad, particularly in the United 
     States--work together to build our country economically, 
     concentrating on areas of higher unemployment in the North so 
     that the positive results of the peace process can be visible 
     to our young people. We must give them hope and belief in the 
     constitutional process. We must plan to give them the 
     opportunity to earn a living in the land of their birth and 
     to contribute to its development.
       I have had major contacts in the U.S. political and 
     business communities, where people of Irish extraction are 
     prominent in both. I have learned that they would be keen to 
     help in the development effort. Indeed, they are already 
     doing so through the International Fund for Ireland, which 
     has already created 20,000 jobs. Reconstruction goes hand in 
     hand with reconciliation.
       My hope, and it is a confident hope, is that the fast 
     approaching 21st century will be the first century in our 
     island history in which the evil genius of mistrust and 
     violence will be finally laid to rest, and politics alone--in 
     all its dynamism and vigor--will direct the affairs of all of 
     the people of Ireland.

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