Chai Brady
Outreach workers from a Catholic youth centre on Belfast’s Falls Road at the scene of violent unrest persuading young Catholics not to engage with loyalist stone-throwers on the other side of the peace wall that divides the communities. They also confiscated petrol bombs from rioters and destroyed a box of petrol bombs they came across. Photo: Mal McCann 
Religious leaders have a key role in supporting peace and reconciliation, writes Chai Brady
Churches must be visible in communities and actively engage with young people and those involved in the violence that has wracked the North in recent weeks, according to a Passionist priest who has become well-known for his work in interface communities.
Fr Gary Donegan, formerly of Holy Cross in Ardoyne and now based at Tobar Mhuire retreat, Crossgar, Co. Down told The Irish Catholic that there must be a “visible response” and clergy and others involved in pastoral ministry should “get out and smell the sheep”.
Almost 100 police officers have been injured in street violence which involved petrol bombs and various projectiles in mainly loyalist areas. The violence has been blamed on the Brexit-related Northern Ireland Protocol and the decision not to prosecute Sinn Féin members who attended Bobby Storey’s funeral despite Covid-19 restrictions. However, many community leaders have rejected this and the police have warned of paramilitary involvement.
For many young people involved, Fr Donegan says: “What has actually happened is a lot of young people who are sadly from socially-deprived backgrounds, often from single parent families, often from families with issues around drug and alcohol abuse – dysfunctionality in general – they’ve been locked up for over a year and here was the chance to get out.”
Gangsterism
There is also so much “gangsterism” behind the turmoil, he said, with some loyalist paramilitary groups being heavily involved in racketeering and the illegal drugs trade he claimed.
“If you’re part of one of these organisations, you’re only relevant if there’s trouble: how can you justify your existence 23 years after the Good Friday Agreement? But if you can stir up trouble, you can turn around and say, ‘well, we’re here to protect you’,” he said.
“The reality is…an awful lot of it is actually to do with extortion, racketeering, drugs and very little of it is to do with the Northern Ireland Protocol,” he said.
Fr Donegan warned that with many high-profile republican anniversaries and the loyalist marching season approaching, there has to be a “doubling up of efforts” to quell further violence particularly by engaging with youth leaders, community workers and “people who are there on the ground all the time”.
He added: “We won the peace inch by inch. Under my watch, I’m not prepared to allow any inches to be lost.”
Visible
Sociologist Dr Gladys Ganiel from Queen’s University Belfast said that while it is positive many pastors and clerics have been visible in their communities for many years, there has been a process of population decline in loyalist areas which has heightened the problem.
“There’s people moving out of the areas and a lot of the churches left and went to suburbs, so there’s that sense that over many years – even with some exceptions – that loyalist areas felt a bit abandoned by the churches so there can be a credibility gap between the Protestant churches and working-class loyalism,” Dr Ganiel said.
“They do feel abandoned by everybody, in some ways. A lot of the church-going population moved out to the suburbs, started going to suburban churches and then some of the buildings closed and then there’s a sense that maybe the ones that were left behind weren’t as active in the community as they once were,” she said.
She added that a ministry of presence, of “being there without making demands on people…would be really helpful and there are some that do that, but that sense of abandonment which goes back decades is very real”.
This week Church leaders across Ireland issued an open letter to political leaders in the North, the governments of Ireland and Britain, and the EU.
They urged politicians “to come together in a unified response to the heart-breaking scenes witnessed on our streets last week and renew their commitment to peace, reconciliation and the protection of the most vulnerable”.
Complex
The leaders stated that the causes of violence are “complex” and “deep-rooted”, adding: “Church representatives and other community leaders working on the ground in affected communities have spoken to us of their frustration at seeing another generation of young people risk their lives and their futures because repeated warnings about the need to treat our fragile peace with care went unheeded.”
There has been “failings of leadership from the Churches in our ministry to divided communities”, they said.
“In such circumstances there is nothing ignoble in showing genuine sorrow. It is hardly surprising, given the complexities of our relationships at home and abroad, that politicians, political parties and others in leadership make miscalculations. Learning from the consequences of miscalculations is much better than an endless scramble to paper over the cracks.”
The joint statement called on the Executive to make a joint approach with the British government and the European Union in relation to the challenges posed by the Brexit-related protocol.
In addition they described the Good Friday Agreement as a “beacon of hope for societies in conflict around the world” and the reduction in violence since then “teaches us that these challenges can only be addressed by political leaders coming together with a genuine desire to find solutions”.
The leaders also expressed their support for the PSNI and “the importance of ensuring that any concerns about policing are addressed in a way that supports and strengthens democratic institutions and processes”.
Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor diocese also urged politicians to be more careful about their language and called on youth “to stop engaging in disturbance and violent activity now”.
Speaking after of some of the worst violence in Belfast in recent years on April 8, Bishop Treanor said: “Sadly…we have experienced a return to civic unrest and violence on our streets. These scenes are deeply concerning for all of us who believe in and have worked together for a shared, brighter future for our society.”
