Dr Eames sees attitudes hardening

The Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, said yesterday he had come to believe during the past 12 months that "attitudes have hardened in many parts of our communities in Northern Ireland".

Delivering the presidential address at the church's General Synod in Belfast's Waterfront Hall, he said: "The euphoria of the Belfast Agreement has now been tested by the practicalities of its implementation".

Although the vast majority of people wanted to see a stable and peaceful society in the North, he said, they "find some of the changes involved extremely costly". And while change was essential, "the removal of alienation on the part of one community by the creation of feelings of alienation on the part of another community will never be the base of that stability and peace".

A "most careful and sensitive balance is essential between the perceived burdens of change to be carried by both Northern communities," he said. Deep hurt was felt by many and "if this society cannot collectively learn to manage not just change but the ways in which it deals with memories, reconciliation will remain a vision only".

Archbishop Eames continued: "We can never forget - nor are we asked to do so. But the past is the past and the whole of this society needs to be sure that all those memories can be left behind. That is why behind and beyond the well-known arguments lies the longing for reassurance that the violence is a thing of the past . . . such reassurance has got to be the bedrock of any move forwards."

In Irish history "a conflict has smouldered for generations. At times it has burst out into a raging fire. Is therefore any wonder that people in this generation yearn for clear and definite evidence that violence has no place in quelling the embers of our age-old differences?" he asked.

Trust was the real casualty of Irish history. "Both unionist and nationalist need confidence-building measures - but they need them in equal measure."

Dr Eames described the recent IRA announcement as "representing radical change . . . But there are other paramilitary organisations in the equation. We look for movement from loyalist sources as well." He strongly condemned "so-called punishment attacks" as "terrorism under a different name". No organisation "has the right to act as judge and jury and inflict on men, women and children barbaric injury . . . it has got to stop - and stop now".

In both jurisdictions there were issues "which demand that we have the courage to make the Christian voice heard. In the Republic public scandals, the misuse of power and privilege, the corrosive emergence of evidence of racism and the injustice of poverty, question the qualities of the Celtic Tiger," he said.

"The serious issues of asylum, so ably highlighted by my colleague the Archbishop of Dublin [Dr Walton Empey], and the principles which should underline true pluralism demand a hearing for the Christian voice."

Dr Eames's full address can be found at www.synod.ireland.anglican.org