The Church of Ireland primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, has told the Armagh diocesan synod that "the community from which members of this synod come has an equal right for a place in the future of this province."
Addressing the synod yesterday he said: "It cannot be right that the redress of alienation over the years on the part of one community means the alienation of another. Whatever emerges from the political process which has begun with the suspension of the Assembly and the Executive has got to reflect genuine and real partnership in a democratic process in which all law-abiding people can feel ownership. There is no other way in which real stability can emerge. No one and no community should feel this is a 'cold place' for them."
It used to be "that we talked about a divided society here on religious terms alone. We linked those religious terms to party politics. I believe we have moved on in the past few years. The real division now is between those who want to see genuine democracy deliver good government for everyone and those who still believe old sectarian labels are vital and that violence or the threat of violence must remain.
"There is much good will in both of our main religious communities. Let us recognise that. But let us also build on that good will to build a peaceful, just and equal society where terror and violence have no part."
Speaking "from within the Protestant and largely unionist community let us make the voice of hope call out to our neighbours. Let us find a new confidence for the future. Let us challenge the voices of despondency or gloom. In the end it will be when both these communities can see each other in purely human terms of shared needs, hopes and fears, shared vision and shared humanity that we will begin to move forward together".
Neither community could claim to have "a completely clear conscience when we consider what we have contributed or failed to contribute to progressing this province towards justice, equality and lasting peace," he said.
"Within both communities we have allowed sectarian attitudes to flourish, and those attitudes in turn have encouraged vicious thuggery to find excuses for action. We have had a really good dose of the 'blame game' lately," he said.
Now was "a time for genuine reassurance. This is a time to say plainly without reservation or prevarication - the threat of violence, the continued existence of paramilitary force, the dread of a return to atrocities, targeting and violence have gone - all gone - they are part of the dark past - they are no longer a part of the equation," he said.
People in the North had "come a long way in the past few years, but each day we live we see evidence of how far we still have to travel if justice, equality and fairness are to dominate our lives".
It was inevitable that "with an improvement in the overall terrorist situation, even though the level of threat remains high, paramilitary activity would turn to other outlets such as drugs and protection rackets. Clergy working in areas of north, east and west Belfast know only too well the corrosive influence that the 'godfathers' of terror exert over people's lives", he said. Nor was this confined only to Belfast.
"This society faces a choice. Is it to be a community of fear dominated by the decisions of sinister figures whose agenda is self-advancement or is it to be allowed to be a society in which decent people can go about their lives confident of protection and free from fear?" he asked.
