Alf McCreary: Stormont divisions and church scandals cast Christmas shadow

Many of the politicians at Stormont and in local councils still do not respect each other, despite the bright hopes of the Good Friday Agreement.

The recent row in Belfast City Council about flying a Palestinian flag on the City Hall was utterly ridiculous.

It showed how many unionists and republicans were itching to have a verbal row with one another, with Alliance naively finding itself caught in the middle.

Do councillors realise, or care, that their real role is to serve their rate-payers, and not to flounce in public over an international conflict away beyond our imagination.

At Stormont there is also tension and mistrust between the main parties. Almost daily there are spats and nasty exchanges at the heart of government which receive widespread coverage, but that is not the fault of the media.

It seems as if some MLAs still do not care about their poor image, while their real well-paid role (with good holidays) is to further the best interests of their constituents.

There are some MLAs and ministers who are doing their best in difficult situations, not least the health, justice and environment ministers, but this work is overshadowed by the petty spats between others who believe that the only worthwhile politics are those based solely on Orange versus Green.

There is also the lingering issue of a border poll which Sinn Fein is pushing at every possible occasion, to the point of being obsessive.

This continues despite the fact that in the recent polls prior to the election of the new Irish President only a miniscule one per cent of voters in the Irish Republic regard the constitutional position as important.

Like many voters here they may feel that bread and butter issues are far more relevant, including nationalists and republicans in the north who might favour a united Ireland - but typically not just yet.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a day in Dublin as part of my Christmas adventures. I travelled by train, and this cross-border service operated by Translink and Irish Rail has improved greatly. There are trains each way every hour, and in my case they ran on time. It was noticeable, however, that the majority of the travellers boarded or left the train when it was across the border, and these people were from diverse backgrounds.

The journey lasts over two hours but in many ways it is also a journey into history with the gap remaining about two parts ion a small divided island. It is important therefore that people should travel across that invisible border to find out how the other half lives.

The other major talking point this Christmas is the sorry state of the once-proud and broad-minded Presbyterian Church which has mired itself in a scandal of its own making.

The shockwaves are still reverberating among presbyterians, and people of other denominations and none, concerning the sudden resignation of the former Moderator the Reverend Trevor Gribben because of serious shortcomings in the church’s safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

This resignation was the first in the 185 year history of the church, and it was followed by the announcement of a criminal investigation by the PSNI into the PCI’s handling or mishandling of safeguarding issues, as well as the announcement of a statutory inquiry into the PCI by the Northern Ireland Charity Commission.

Any one of these developments would have been a blow, but three in a row paints a picture of a church which has hit a brick wall and is now desperately trying to pick up the pieces.

This week the PCI held a well-attended Special General Assembly in Belfast, with members attending from all parts of this island. They were told by senior figures the sorry tale that requests to the church from families seeking help in safeguarding their children or adult relatives had been ignored.

No one seems to know why, but that may become clear when the current investigations by the outside bodies have been completed.

The five-hour debate was complicated and worn down by dreary procedural issues, and many members may have asked themselves, “why am I sitting here?”

To be fair, however, the point was made that many good people in a wide range of congregations have been obeying the safeguarding rules, but the trouble is that others were not, in a culture of secrecy and bullying which has disfigured the record of this once admirable church.

After the long debate it was clear that members are still not sure why the church is in such trouble, but at least the current leadership is moving in the right direction to protect the children and vulnerable adults.

There are other issues to be addressed, including the culture of bullying and not allowing dissent in a church which was built on dissent, and this will take a long time.

The PCI will not have a happy Christmas nor a happy New Year.

Away from church and state, there is a good spirit of Christmas celebrations, with certainly a buzz about Belfast, and some of the best lights I have seen anywhere.

So it’s time to enjoy Christmas and to remember the central message that the light shines on in the darkness, and that the darkness has not overcome it.

Happy Christmas everyone!

l Alf McCreary’s book Keeping the Faith is published by Messenger at £12.99