Sir, - "The Good Friday Agreement is on the point of collapse," the SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan warned in a statement recently (The Irish Times, October 3rd). The reason he gave was the "widespread disillusionment" within the unionist community. When only 50 per cent of unionists voted for the agreement in the first place, there was always likely to be some slippage in support, but the slide over the past 12 months has been truly alarming.
With yet another UUC meeting looming, there is now a real danger that the unique power-sharing Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council and the North-South bodies may not survive beyond a few more months. If that happens it won't only be unionists who are disillusioned - all who voted "yes" in the referendum of May 1998, all who worked so hard for such an agreement down through the long years, and all those who suffered so much will have a right to feel let down.
This situation must be averted. Every attempt must be made to spirit of the agreement and restore the goodwill that was there in May 1998. The alternatives are dismal - return to direct rule; removal of local accountability; more interference by both the British and Irish governments in areas best left to local politicians; and more instability.
So what can be done? Councillor O'Loan called on nationalists to "take on the task of showing that the agreement can deliver on behalf of the unionist people", and clearly a positive, generous and imaginative response from nationalists - North and South - is required, if we want the agreement to survive and fully take root, and are not just interested in seeing parts of it implemented. There must be more co-operation among the pro-agreement parties, more appreciation of the concerns and difficulties of the "other", more dialogue "on the ground", and a recognition of the need not to rush the process of change in sensitive areas.
Last May the governments compromised on the arms issue and put back the final date for paramilitary groups to meet their obligations until June 2001. This compromise was deemed necessary to address republican difficulties and IRA obstinacy. The compromise was accepted by the UUP and, in good faith, they went back into the Executive, despite fierce opposition within their own party. Six months later, with not a single weapon nor a single ounce of Semtex destroyed, with all the other issues that have arisen in the meantime which have added to the perception among unionists that their concerns are being ignored, we wonder why the majority of unionists do not appreciate the need for the full implementation of Patten.
Police reform is an essential element of the agreement - of benefit to all the community - yet the necessary consensus is lacking due largely to imbalance in other areas. Nationalists say that compromise on even minor aspects of Patten is impossible; so what can be done to save the agreement itself? - Yours, etc.,
Julitta Clancy (Meath Peace Group), Parsonstown, Batterstown, Co Meath.