[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 145 (Thursday, September 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12278-S12279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TEAR DOWN THE WALLS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, next April, the people of Northern 
Ireland will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, 
which did so much to put Northern Ireland on the path to end the 
violence that had afflicted the population for three decades, and 
achieve the longstanding goal of peace.
  On September 20, the Irish Times published a perceptive article by 
Trina Vargo, President of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance emphasizing that 
more remains to be done and urging the people of Belfast to this 
auspicious anniversary as an opportunity to remove the so-called 
``peace'' walls that continue to divide the Protestant and Catholic 
communities in Belfast.
  The walls are still serving as physical and psychological barriers 
between the two communities, and Ms. Vargo's article offers a timely 
and creative idea that could have a widespread beneficial impact in 
Northern Ireland. Analogizing it to the fall of the Berlin Wall, she 
suggests that the simple act of removing walls can be a significant 
gesture in breaking down barriers in a community and promoting progress 
and unity.
  Ms. Vargo was a member of my staff and did an excellent job on the 
issue of Northern Ireland for many years, and I believe her article 
will be of interest to all of us in Congress, especially those who 
worked with Ms. Vargo on this issue. I ask unanimous consent that the 
article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Irish Times, Sept. 20, 2007]

               Time To Tear Down These Walls of Division

       With things settling down in Northern Ireland, isn't it 
     time to consider taking down the so-called ``peace'' walls 
     separating communities instead of erecting more, asks Trina 
     Vargo.
       Everyone of a certain age distinctly remembers the fall of 
     the Berlin Wall in 1989. The sight of East and West Germans 
     joining in celebration on the wall, and the chipping away of 
     it over the following weeks, demonstrated to the world--in a 
     way that no other act could--that the cold war was truly 
     over. Can the walls come down in Northern Ireland? Next 
     April, Senator George Mitchell will return to Belfast to 
     participate in an event marking the 10th anniversary of the 
     Belfast Agreement. We have also invited Taoiseach Bertie 
     Ahem, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton to join him and other 
     negotiators of the agreement, as well as the DUP, to consider 
     Northern Ireland's divided past and its shared future.
       We hope that the people of Belfast will consider using this 
     occasion to take down at least a part of the ``peace'' line 
     and send a message to the world, and to themselves. I

[[Page S12279]]

     recently visited Belfast to begin conversations about this 
     with community leaders, politicians, former paramilitaries, 
     and the police. While some expressed scepticism, a much 
     larger number were eager to begin the conversation. Some were 
     conjecturing, hoping that their interface community might be 
     confident by April. After all, many unexpected and welcome 
     things have happened this year in Northern Ireland. It would 
     be naive to underestimate concerns about the dismantling of 
     that which has provided physical and psychological protection 
     for many years. And walls coming down won't alone solve 
     Northern Ireland's many problems--disaffected youth, a 
     growing suicide rate, a parochial outlook, high levels of 
     economic inactivity, and an economy overly reliant on the 
     state.
       It is also disheartening to see new walls going up in some 
     neighbourhoods at the very time the virtual walls between 
     Ireland and Northern Ireland are coming down. Progress at the 
     political level is slowed by a lack of confidence on the 
     street. The loyalist community, in particular, is still 
     reeling from political developments it didn't see coming. 
     What is now most necessary for Northern Ireland is economic 
     development. Foreign investment and increasing tourism can 
     play a part in that. While the political developments that 
     have occurred this year are truly incredible, they only 
     briefly and barely registered on the world's consciousness.
       It is likely that there is only a small window of 
     opportunity with the business community in the U.S. 
     Disproportionate attention has been paid to Northern Ireland 
     for more than a decade and there is a sense that it's sorted. 
     Attention will wane.
       In 1998, when I was Senator Ted Kennedy's foreign policy 
     adviser, I contacted a Massachusetts company with a call 
     centre in Northern Ireland, thinking the company might like a 
     photo opportunity with Senator Kennedy when he visited 
     Northern Ireland.
       That was the last thing they wanted. Many of their clients 
     didn't know where the call centre was located.
       They feared they would associate Northern Ireland with 
     disruption and that wouldn't be good for business. Northern 
     Ireland must dispel any remaining doubts that it is bad for 
     business. Nothing will say that like walls coming down.
       It is no coincidence that the walls are in the most 
     economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Belfast and it 
     is these neighbourhoods that have so much to gain by their 
     removal.
       It is worth considering how much the walls prevent problems 
     and how much they are an invitation to confrontation.
       A fundamental shift in thinking about neighbours previously 
     not known, feared and hated is required. It won't happen 
     overnight. But there are some hopeful signs. There are 
     excellent cross-community projects at several interfaces.
       The parades season went off peacefully. And those inciting 
     violence at interfaces are no longer paramilitaries but 
     alcohol-fuelled teenagers.
       While such anti-social behaviour by teenagers can be found 
     in most American cities, the danger in Belfast is the 
     potential those otherwise minor incidents have to turn into 
     riots.
       Many in interface neighbourhoods feel powerless, left 
     behind, and they know that the walls are holding them back, 
     economically as well as psychologically. But the removal of 
     walls is something they do have control over.
       This will be for people there to decide. We are simply 
     providing a date on the horizon with the hope that it might 
     spur conversation and consideration. In order to most 
     accurately assess what the people at interfaces think, we 
     will soon commission a survey of people living at interfaces.
       When will peace truly come to Northern Ireland? When walls 
     fall. There is nothing more evocative of Northern Ireland's 
     divided past, and nothing more indicative of a shared future 
     than their removal.
       Trina Vargo is the president of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance.

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