Long-standing republican and loyalist antagonists have put aside mutual loathing and suspicion in an effort to combat sectarianism, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
Mr Alex Maskey and Mr John White eyeballed and more importantly spoke to each other across a table in the lord mayor's parlour at Belfast City Hall on Monday night. Thus another piece of history in the always-shaky peace process was enacted: it was the first time they had ever directly addressed each other.
Mr White, as a member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), is now the main conduit for the views of the UDA, which tried to kill Mr Maskey a number of times, on one occasion 19 years ago almost succeeding, badly injuring the current Sinn Féin lord mayor.
The UDA in turnhas never been impressed by Mr Maskey's political credentials, viewing him as organically linked to the IRA, an organisation it says is chiefly responsible for the bloodshed and mayhem of the past 30 years or more.
This was a triumph of political necessity or expediency over mutual loathing. The point of the meeting was to find some means of defusing the escalating sectarian tensions in Belfast and elsewhere. Considering the growing climate of hate in Northern Ireland, it would be a foolish person who would predict a successful outcome to this exercise.
There is still much mutual distrust and suspicion, but at least at face value the fact that they were prepared to break through another political barrier indicated some unity of purpose in addressing the problem of sectarianism. The fact that the meeting lasted more than two hours also raises possibilities of progress.
Mr White was accompanied by UPRG colleagues Mr Davy Mahood and Belfast councillor Mr Frank McCoubrey - serious players in the world of loyalism. Some church and trade union representatives were also present. Mr Maskey was joined by some of his City Hall officials.
The initial minutes of the meeting were rather testing as the republican and the loyalists squared up to each other.
"There was an element of tension at first, but it didn't last long," said Mr White. "After that we just got on with the business like any normal human beings." It was early days, he said, but so far nobody within his constituency had complained about the meeting. It even had the "100 per cent" blessing of former UDA prisoner Mr Johnny Adair.
Mr Maskey said that some partisan comments were made initially, from which he had tried to refrain, but after that the meeting settled down to constructive engagement. Of course he was conscious of the fact that the UDA badly wounded him in 1983 and murdered his friend Alan Lundy at his [MR MASKEY'S]home 10 years later while again trying to murder him. "But if you takes things too personally, you never get anything done", he rationalised. Time would tell whether Mr White and his friends were authentic, he added.
While Mr Maskey's Sinn Féin councillor colleague Ms Margaret McClenaghan yesterday blamed the UDA for 15 bomb attacks, nine shooting incidents and at least 20 other recent attacks on nationalists, the lord mayor said he was prepared to work on the assumption that they were working to a straight agenda. "The people I met gave me commitments that they were genuinely trying to bring this situation to an end and, based on that commitment, I am prepared and want very much to work with them," he added.
Ultimately Mr Maskey wants to establish a Belfast City Council group, co-operating with other interested parties, to spearhead a campaign against sectarianism. Asked if he would co-operate with the Police Service of Northern Ireland as part of this initiative, he said: "Let's get the working group established first".
He wanted to be "constructive". Pressed that this did not answer whether he would co-operate with the police, Mr Maskey said that this was the answer with which The Irish Times would have to be satisfied.
Further meetings are planned between Mr Maskey and the UPRG, as well as with other groupings. Little emerged from Monday night's gathering apart from agreement that it was absolutely crucial to establish better communication at interfaces so that community activists on the ground could help to defuse trouble before it spiralled out of control.
"After all, as one police officer told me, all it takes is for a five-year-old to fire a stone to lead to a death on another side of the province," said Mr White. Future meetings would deal with developing a mechanism across the interfaces "to get to the bottom of trouble before it gets out of hand", he added.
Mr White probably had the best read on the gathering. Everyone was naturally cautious, but the fact that the meeting took place at all had to indicate some form of progress, he said.