Photo: Breidge Gadd speaking at the 2006 School for Leadership Conference
The only surprise about the Paisley /Adams settlement was the number of people, especially supposedly well informed journalists who expressed surprise that it could possibly happen. Anyone who has been around those communities that suffered most during the conflict, and indeed, it could be argued in some ways contributed to the conflict, knew that sooner rather than later, Government by the “extremes” was in the cards.
In fact, astute observers of the attitudes and activity of key leaders in those communities would have noticed that the people who in previous times would have been leading the street protests have for some time been leading the peace process.
The only surprise in the final stretch of the road to self government was the alacrity with which old enemies brought magnanimity and good will to the table. The expectation was that while the DUP would form a government with Sinn Fein after the election, there would still be a fair amount of begrudgery amongst its leaders. Not so. In fact the reverse is the case.
It has been fashionable, again in the popular press, to single out individuals for their noticeable, if not unique, contribution to the peace process -- Major, Reynolds, Mitchell Hume, Clinton, Blair and Ahern -- and of course all these people patiently played an important role. Their work would have been in vain however if the communities in which conflict festered had not already been on the journey to peace. It is these communities and their leaders who have made the biggest contribution of all. These leaders realized that continued tribal intransigence did most damage to their own young people and their own community. Therefore for some time now, they have shown by their example that what in the past were considered to be irreconcilable differences between unionists and nationalists could in fact be accommodated in proposals that alleviated the need for a clear winner, and therefore a clear loser.
The guru of lateral thinking, Edward de Bono, has an empowering technique for problem solving amongst people with opposing wishes. If you want to pursue option A and I want option B, perhaps we might find common agreement if we explore the attractions of option C instead.
That is exactly what has been happening in ‘extreme’ communities. Over the years, discussion, debates, and then tentative working partnerships have been tried out between communities previously at loggerheads. Women and men started to listen to each other, found that they could have a new conversation, and slowly trust was built.
Such has been the success of this slow but sure confidence building that people who were previous antagonists became champions of an agreed way forward and a devolved Assembly. And it has been the politicians who have felt the pressure to cut the deal.
Policymakers this time round have been well aware of the powerful role this civic society, and especially grass root community organizations, have played in bringing about stability in Northern Ireland. It was hoped during the last devolved Assembly that the Civic Forum, established to enhance the development of participative democracy and in recognition of the importance of continued community involvement would create the space and the place to enable those people who played such an important role in bringing communities to peace to continue their good work in designing a future Northern Ireland. This didn’t happen. Maybe because more time was needed to shape the role of the Forum. Maybe the wrong people were appointed to the Forum -- not the movers and shakers but instead those people who wouldn’t cause too much trouble for the politicians.
Certainly the politicians were not wholeheartedly supportive of this additional voice and potential competitor for power and influence. Whatever the reason for the slow start then, this time round we should recognize the critical role played by the community, as well as the private sector, in bringing us all to the current positive position. We should also recognize the added value their local knowledge brings to policy issues and we should make sure that their voice continues to be heard and continues to so effectively influence change.
Breidge Gadd is a weekly columnist for the Irish News. Breidge retired from the Probation Board for Northern Ireland in May 2000 after 14 years as Chief probation Officer. Breidge is currently a member of the board of the Big Lottery New Opportunities Fund, deputy chair of the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission, works with the De Bono Foundation on the development of an International Centre for Constructive Thinking, and is a Governor of Hazelwood Integrated School.