Sir, - Now that the smoke is clearing over the debris of the political process it may be of value to gather together the many reasons why the British proposal for a peace assembly can only fail.
(1) Candidates will have to stress their traditional and extreme positions if they want to be elected. (2) An assembly of 90 members is suggested. Bitter experience has shown that there is no chance of Northern Ireland producing 90 reasonable, moderate politicians. (3) The assembly will conduct its business in the full light of media exposure. This will ensure the maximum amount of megaphone "diplomacy" and the minimum of compromise.
(4) The role of the assembly is not yet decided. (A) If it is only to consider constitutional issues its discussions will be confined to the one subject on which disagreement is guaranteed. It will, moreover, be hard pressed on that basis to justify its existence, and its salaries, for its proposed term of a year or 18 months. (B) If it is to be split into committees to produce reports on various aspects of the peace process the result will be endless bickering over the composition and procedures of those committees. The value of such artificially produced reports, should they ever see the light of day, will be questionable.
(5) The elections will give no fresh mandate to negotiating teams. It is unimaginable that if - for instance, the fringe loyalists or Dr Alderdice, fail to be elected they will then be barred from the conference table. We already know who the negotiators need to be.
(6) Neither the UUP nor the DUP have expressed their intention of accepting whatever proposals or compromises come out of the assembly. In fact they have come close to maintaining that assembly or not, they will make no concessions to Sinn Fein without a decommissioning. If there is decommissioning, the assembly is unnecessary; if there is no decommissioning the loyalists will impose an instant stalemate.
Your correspondent, Dr Leslie Lucas, suggests that the SDLP and Sinn Fein should accept an assembly in return for no decommissioning before talks. This sort of quid pro quo misses the point: the reason why an assembly is unacceptable is simply that it will not work, and will only cause renewed bitterness for no purpose. - Yours, etc.,
Magherydogherty Road,
Markethill,
Co Armagh.