Church leaders tell politicians to ‘go that extra mile’ to restore Stormont

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s main churches have encouraged political parties to keep their eyes on the goal of restoring devolution as the talks pause for Christmas.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Dec 2019, 00:01 BST
Updated 23rd Dec 2019, 10:04 BST
The church leaders (from left) Rev Sam McGuffin, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke and Rev Brian Anderson, released a joint statementThe church leaders (from left) Rev Sam McGuffin, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke and Rev Brian Anderson, released a joint statement
The church leaders (from left) Rev Sam McGuffin, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke and Rev Brian Anderson, released a joint statement

In a joint statement from the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Roman Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches, the faith leaders urged politicians to “grasp this opportunity” to restore power-sharing when negotiations resume in the New Year.

Last week cross-party talks broke up without agreement on how to get Stormont restored. On Thursday, the British and Irish governments said progress had been made, but laid the blame at the feet of the DUP for the lack of a deal.

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The governments say devolution must be restored by January 13 or the Northern Ireland secretary will call a fresh Assembly election.

Now the Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh & primate of All Ireland, the Rt Rev Dr William Henry, moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic archbishop of Armagh & primate of all Ireland, Rev Sam McGuffin, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland and Rev Brian Anderson, president of the Irish Council of Churches, have issued a joint appeal, warning of a “growing sense of despair” in politics.

They said: “Like many across our community, we are disappointed that it has not been possible to restore the devolved institutions before Christmas. As leaders of Ireland’s main churches, we want to encourage all those taking part and pray that together, they fully grasp this opportunity when they return to the negotiating table in January.

“It is incumbent on all of us to recognise the road that has been travelled since the collapse of the Executive nearly three years ago. It is a journey that has damaged our health service and our schools. It has also nurtured a growing sense of despair in our politics and contributed to additional hardships and worry experienced by the most vulnerable people in our society.

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“While we acknowledge that points of difference obviously remain, the goal of restoring devolution remains within reach, even if it still rests a little way off. We add our collective support for this process and encourage those taking part to continue working creatively and courageously towards a deal that can bring stability and begin to restore a sense of hope.

“For the sake of the whole community, we urge all our political representatives to go that extra mile.”

Related topics:Northern IrelandEamon Martin