Esra Aygin
Civil society engagement is of vital importance in bringing
any political settlement negotiation to success, said John McKinney, who played
an important role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
McKinney, who was the chief executive of Omagh District
Council in Northern Ireland during the process of achieving as well as the
implementation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to the
30 years of conflict in the country, said a well-constructed and empowered
civil society gave political parties a clear mandate and confidence to
negotiate. “This is the main reason Good Friday Agreement was different from
the previous failed attempts at a settlement,” McKinney underlined.
McKinney was speaking at the symposium titled “No Future
Without Forgiveness” held as part of the International Day of Peace
celebrations at the Ledra Palace Buffer Zone, Nicosia, on Sunday 20 September.
He said all agreements made before the Good Friday Agreement in Northern
Ireland failed mainly because they were made behind closed doors without the
engagement of civil society.
If the aim is a sustainable settlement, “you can only
negotiate what your citizens support,” said McKinney, drawing attention to the
significance of citizen peace building and its eventual connection with a
political settlement. “Involve the civil society in your negotiations.”
During the process that led to the Good Friday Agreement, the
negotiators held constant consultations with civil society groups and negotiating
structures were created to permit direct and indirect access to peace talks by
various interest groups.[1] While
previous settlement attempts excluded more extreme groups, the Good Friday
Agreement process engaged the ‘potential spoilers’ on the assumption that “if
you are part of the problem, you need to be part of the solution.” The
inclusion of a wide-range of stakeholders minimized spoilers, provided the
process with the necessary legitimacy and enabled the building of consensus,
said McKinney. “Inclusion is of utmost importance,” he said. “You are not the
only peacemaker – the guy next to you is just as important to the settlement
process.”
The civil society during the settlement process, also
organized various peace-building initiatives, reconciliation programs and
cross-community contact to create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. For
example, a citizens’ inquiry commission encouraged various groups in the
community to start thinking about the future and increased the citizens’
engagement with the political process. A group of academicians conducted “peace
polls” to gauge public opinion on key issues. This helped negotiators figure
out what would be an acceptable agreement to the community at large. A number
of civil society groups, organised storytelling, dialogue groups, and
problem-solving workshops to overcome the pervasive destructive images of the
“enemy.” On several occasions, civil society groups have organized rallies and
demonstrations with hopes of convincing “spoiler” groups.[2]
The civil society also played a pioneering role in the
carrying out the “Yes” campaign for the referendum on the Good Friday Power
Sharing Agreement in May 1998. The Republic of Ireland supported the agreement
by 94 per cent while Northern Ireland backed it by 72 per cent.
McKinney, whose significant role in forgiveness and
reconciliation after the bombing in Omagh only four months after the Good
Friday Agreement gave him worldwide recognition, said it was again the
community solidarity in the most part lead by civil society that prevented the
attack from derailing the peace process and collapsing the whole agreement. “A
good-willed, cooperating community lead by civil society, saved the day,” said
McKinney.
As well as drawing on the successes of the Good Friday
Agreement process, McKinney also talked about the mistakes that left Northern
Ireland still experiencing problems on the road to reconciliation 17 years on
after the agreement.
According to the experienced McKinney, moving fast after
achieving a settlement is vital. He said this was something that Northern
Ireland failed to do after the Good Friday Agreement. “We moved too slow,” said
McKinney. “When you achieve an agreement
you have to move fast in implementation. If you leave any vacuum, something –
and usually negative voices looking to exploit the shortcomings – will fill it.
We did not move fast enough and the 28 per cent that rejected the agreement in
the referendum became very vocal.”
Another mistake committed by Northern Ireland was to keep
too many of the old guard in government after the settlement, according to
McKinney. “People with old ways of thinking and pre-settlement mindsets”
usually are not able to adapt to the new way of things necessary to sustain an
agreement, McKinney said.
Underlining the fact that reconciliation and peace-making is
not just with ‘the other side’ but also within the community, McKinney said the
people who have voted against the agreement should be taken into consideration
and ways should be found to work with them and in time, to include them in the
reconciliation process. McKinney also drew attention to the importance of
dealing with the past, and continuous work to build trust, respect and
forgiveness in the aftermath of a solution. “Place the words in large letters
on your wall – TRUST, FORGIVENESS, RESPECT” said McKinney.
Lastly, McKinney underlined that reconciliation is not an
event but a process that that requires a lot of effort. “Every solution brings
new problems. Be ready for round two,” he said.
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