Judge says dialogue is still the way forward

THE events of the past week in Northern Ireland made it difficult to hope, but dialogue is still the way forward, the chairwoman of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, said.

The newly appointed High Court judge was speaking yesterday at a Dublin conference organised by the Irish section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

She told the conference of how, during the forum, relationships had developed between political opponents who had initially been very suspicious of each other.

"When you look at the past week it seems so awful and difficult to get people together. But when you do get people to sit down together and look at each other, it does work, in my experience."

Proposals made by women during political debate were not taken seriously, Mrs Justice McGuinness suggested.

She quoted the then international secretary of the WILPF, Ms Emily Greene Balch, when she was receiving the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize. Referring to the Treaty of Versailles she said: "It would have been wise if the statesmen of the world had listened to the proposals from the women."

Looking at the "tragic events" in Northern Ireland, it was noticeable that apart from the Garvaghy Road, few women were involved, she said.

"Who was standing up and saying we cannot give way, we cannot compromise? Who was burning cars in the street?"

She welcomed the increased involvement of women in Northern politics and said she believed they could play a greater role in the politics of reconciliation, tolerance and compromise.

The WILPF was founded in the Hague in 1915, in protest against the first World War. In 1926, it hosted the first conference held by any international organisation in the then Free State.

The Irish section of the WILPF was first established in 1915 and lasted until the 1930s. Its members included Louie Bennett, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, Lucy Kingston and Marie Johnson.

It was re established in 1990. Its efforts are currently focused on Northern Ireland, disarmament and neutrality, and peace education. The weekend conference was a commemoration of the 1926 congress.