TOBY JOYCE,
Madam, - The philosopher Karl Popper, prophet of the Open Society, was fond of saying: "The future is open". I am sure there are many others besides myself who voted for the Belfast Agreement not because it brought a United Ireland closer, or because it ensured the Union, but precisely because it opened up a future that the people of Northern Ireland could make for themselves.
Sadly, my expectations have not been realised. Nationalists seem to harp on the Agreement as merely a milestone on the road to their Year Zero, and count the days to the first border poll (see Mark Durkan, Opinion, December 20th, and J. Rogers's letter of January 3rd).
This forces unionists to be continually on their guard, fearful of even inadvertently giving some advantage to the agenda of their foes. Reconciliation is the casualty of these mentalities, and without reconciliation, the longer-term hopes for Northern Ireland are slim.
If unionists and nationalists cannot love one another, they must at least love the same things in order to live together. It is not progress to go from a single closed society to two societies, each closed in different ways. Would it not be better to put a moratorium on the political future of Northern Ireland for at least a generation, roughly 25 years, and focus on the implementation of the Agreement in that time? The latest census figures suggest it will be at least that long before any border poll is worth holding (Garret FitzGerald, Opinion, December 21st).
Commitment to an open agenda is difficult for both sides, but even Dr Ian Paisley has admitted the possibility of a United Ireland by consent. Nationalists must equally admit the possibility of the permanence of the Union, even if it carries the (unhelpful?) admission for the IRA that 25 years of war may have been in vain.
In the meantime, both sides must work to build up the social, educational and moral capital of the region. The priority should be, quoting Abraham Lincoln after a much bloodier conflict, "With malice towards none, with charity for all. . .let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds. . .to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE,
Balreask Manor,
Navan,
Co Meath.