What next?

Can you even begin to imagine the pain of Kate Carroll? She kisses her husband, Steve, goodbye as was her custom on that morning that would change her life:or rather would be the end of it, as she later described it. When he returned it was in a wooden coffin. Here was a woman who loved her husband, and a man who loved his wife: he was her life. Why did these people decide to make their bid for "freedom" and notoriety by taking his life? Can anyone ever say, least of all the one who pressed the trigger. to them he was just another collaborator. He was a "uniform" that was all that mattered nit a husband, not a son, not a father or grandfather. He will never retire, never feel the frustrations of the credit crunch or fight for the right to choose without coercion the political identity of his country.

If this action was designed to make Gerry Adams words, "they haven't gone away, you know" come back to haunt us they succeeded. if they were intended to revitalise the lost pipe dream of the revolutionary republicanism, they failed. In the wake of the death of three defenders of the state the public, the too often silent majority, has risen up to say, "no more" , we want, we demand peace for our children and grandchildren. Like Jesus said about the poor, they will always be with us. We will, for a considerable future, have the disgruntled minority who cannot live with democratic decision. But what next? After the rallies and after the shouting is done, what can we do next to minimise the minority?

It seems to me that for Jesus Christ people were more important than political principles or political dreams. it seems to me that the answer to our situation has to be about getting on with those that we disagree with. The mistake of the dissidents is to imagine that you can force unity, you can coerce people into a United Ireland. I wonder when Ireland has ever been united? I would like to propose a way for Ireland to be truly united; when hearts are united. Put simply for all to understand that means that relations are the bedrock of real prosperity and progress and political affinity. That means that actually the way to unite people is for us to learn to be friends. we need to take hold of the big picture, we need to put our smaller political aspirations on hold with the knowledge that that journey will change us both. It is always difficult for me to disagree with my wife and I certainly would not do that in public. why so? Just because I love her and I want her to agree with me. If I really want the best for us all why can i not call a moratorium on the status of this province for a period so that we can learn to live together without agitation and the complications of nationality? There is no need to change my dreams, just put them on hold for the betterment of all or am I afraid that these dreams will not stand the test of time?

Sorry but we all need time to come together without the fire of my heritage being questioned or threatened. Why can we not just learn about each other's culture and each others sports and accept that in some things we are the same and i others different, is that so bad? I get annoyed when people can only see nationality in monochrome when it is colouful and integrate. I am unashamedly an irishman, in fact i am an Ulsterman, if not a Belfast man. yet I have also a strong feeling of belonging to these islands-I am British by birth and by upbringing. I am a Presbyterian Christian but we do not have all the answers and have made many mistakes and I have come to appreciate my catholic brothers.

Why would you not take the time to learn about your Irish/British, Protestant/Cathoic neighbour. Maybe if we really did concentrate on becoming friends we might be able to move forward in a more satisfactory way. God sent His son to die for the world, not just this part of it. In fact as we have been fighting the Christian population has moved south and east;we are only just begining to realise that the majority of Christians do not have white faces, nor do they speak English, more likely they have brown or Chinese faces and they speak a very different language as their national language-wake up and smell the coffee!