Methodists told of day the North `stepped backwards'

Last Thursday was described at the Methodist Conference in Lisburn during the weekend as "a grey day, when Northern Ireland stepped backwards". Mr Kenneth Twyble, Portadown, said "democracy took a bloody nose in Banbridge" when the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, and his wife Daphne were harried by a mob at the count centre there on Friday. All people could do now was "hold on to hope that we will come through this", he said.

It was only through decommissioning that the unionist people could accept Sinn Fein as a democratic party, after which "there can be demilitarisation as well".

Prof Desmond Rea said the Westminster election revealed that "this society of ours remains deeply divided," and "both the DUP and Sinn Fein will ultimately have to talk". He noted how the British government, through the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, "tells us it is neutral. The Irish Government tells us it represents the nationalist people. Is it any wonder the unionist people are insecure?" The Rev David Cooper said while people may be depressed following the election, "we must not give up on the journey now". He quoted from Pope John Paul's words during a visit to Harlem in New York: "We are an Easter people and `allelulia' is our song".

Meanwhile, the church's Council on Social Responsibility presented a major report on suicide, described as "pioneering" where the churches are concerned. Dr Tony Walsh, Dublin, told the conference that it was "increasingly being recognised that there is a huge problem of suicide among elderly people", particularly those living alone or in rural isolation. He also said that "unacknowledged pain and suicide are inextricably linked".

The conference was told that in general twice as many men took their own lives; in 1997, of the 111 people under 24 who took their lives in the Republic, 95 were men. Gay men were six times more likely to take their lives than heterosexual men, while divorced or separated men were twice as likely to kill themselves as married men.

Among women, housewives had the highest suicide rate. High-risk groups included adolescents, mainly young men; older people, particularly those living alone or in isolation, and medical doctors.

Those left behind were frequently "not just bereaved but bereft by the suicide", Dr Walsh said. When it came to dealing with such people "the churches did not come off well". They "have become an issue in the downward spiral or block to healing of bereavement," he said.

The Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Robin Eames has said that the recent Vatican statement Dominus Iesus "was welcome fodder for Protestant fundamentalism in Northern Ireland which adopted the attitude `we told you so'." He made the comment during a wide-ranging lecture delivered in Wakefield, England, at the weekend.

He also said fundamental Protestantism saw "as further evidence of Anglican `sell-out' " recent progress at the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission on authority and Eucharist. He paid tribute to the growing number of localised efforts at inter-church witness and service but felt "the record of institutionalised church progress in this regard has been disappointing".

"How can we, the church, urge society to grasp reconciliation when all they see of us speaks of faltering steps at joint initiatives and understanding?" While encouraged by joint local efforts and approaches by the churches on various public issues, he noted that "joint services during the Octave of Unity [in January each year] are poorly attended and there is a singular lack of enthusiasm for Reformed-Roman Catholic worship. Indeed, in many areas, `ecumenism' means greater contact between the reformed churches only."