3,600 deaths and 40,000 injuries are estimated to have occurred during the Northern Ireland troubles, according to Sir Kenneth Bloomfield's report yesterday on the victims of violence. The decision to appoint a minister with responsibility for victims is an important gesture; but it pales in significance when put alongside the urgent need to reinforce the campaign for a Yes vote amongst the unionist community, much concerned by the appearance of the notorious perpetrators of violence, the Balcombe Street gang, at the Sinn Fein ardfheis. The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, will today make a crucial speech in Belfast designed to shore up Mr Trimble's campaign and to influence those who have been swayed by critics within the unionist party to vote against the agreement. It is expected to deal with the relationship between arms decommissioning and the formation of a Northern Ireland executive including Sinn Fein. Mr Blair has little room for manoeuvre beyond the text of the agreement. But those who now support it openly and campaign for it to be passed, Sinn Fein included, must realise their political responsibilities to swing all the voters they can muster behind it.
The urgency of this task was underlined by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday in the Dail. He said Sinn Fein should declare the war is over in Northern Ireland. It is impossible to dispute his logic. The agreement commits all parties who support it to democratic means and opens the way for them to form an executive together. How would this be possible if the war is not over? Sinn Fein, by virtue of its weekend decisions, has committed itself to such a political logic. While it is not possible to go beyond the letter of the Belfast Agreement, it is certainly possible for those who support it to spell out the implications of their position. For Sinn Fein to make such a statement would not prejudice their position on arms decommissioning; but it would make it clear they are not going into an executive intent on keeping the armed option open. This would make it far easier for Mr Trimble to say convincingly to his supporters that they can trust the agreement's terms. It would also provide necessary evidence that Sinn Fein has moved beyond a preoccupation with bringing its own supporters along - a task the party leadership has accomplished very effectively - towards playing the political game to ensure the referendum is carried convincingly.
Assuming it is, yesterday's report on the victims of violence, along with Mr Gordon Brown's the previous day on economic development, must be seen as essential building blocks towards a peaceful society in Northern Ireland. The emphasis on practical solutions is valuable, especially combined with the full realisation of the need to repair the psychological damage done by so many deaths and injuries in a small population. What is needed in the final stages of the campaign, North and South, is the political courage to take risks to ensure such a healing process can take place by building trust among those who must make the agreement work.