Sir, - As a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, I am increasingly ashamed of our Church and its behaviour in relation to the stand-off at Drumcree. I include myself in the following criticism.
There has been a lot of talk of "distancing" oneself from the actions of the evil perpetrators of the murder of the Quinn children. Our own Primate responded to the atrocity at Ballymoney by calling for an end to the siege, so that the Orangemen and the Church of Ireland could demonstrate their abhorrence for this atrocity. However, to distance oneself implies that one is currently identified with the situation being condemned, and that is sadly the situation our Church finds itself in. Like it or not, we were one of the ingredients which culminated in the blasphemy of child murder. This is inexcusable, because we all saw it coming. Drumcree did not take us by surprise this year. It has been a focus of sectarian strife for the last few years. And what did we do? Nothing!
We have hidden behind the excuse that the Orangemen were merely attending a church service and that our Church had a duty to facilitate the worship of the faithful. That is so, but we ignored the fact that Drumcree Church had become a potent symbol of something very different. It had become a focus for sectarian triumphalism and hatred and as such its capacity to witness as a Christian church in this situation had been severely damaged. Yes, certainly the vast majority of Orangemen had in mind the worship of God and peaceful assembly. Others however did not and we as a Church cannot ignore the consequences of our actions.
We knew that along with the Orangemen would come the usual collection of troublemakers spoiling for a fight and a chance to further deepen sectarian suspicions and fears. We knew all this and yet we were prepared to let the chips fall. The time for action was before the march ever took place.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and yet we have not even taken advantage of it. Drumcree Church should have been closed to the Orange service this year. It has become a focus for very sinister forces on all sides and it is entirely compromised as a place of Christian witness. It has been desecrated by the actions of those who, in the name of God and Ulster, murder innocent children.
Let us hope that as a Church we will stand up to be counted this time and take responsibility for our actions. The blood of these children is on our hands. - Yours, etc., Rev Stephen Neill,
Curate-Assistant of Limerick City Parish,
Dooradoyle,
Limerick.