A real solution means bridging the divide which separates Protestant and Catholic workers, not institutalising it through some form of power sharing. It means answering the fears of Catholics and Protestants of discrimination and of the trampling of rights and culture. It means offering economic security by providing decent jobs, decent services and facilities. It is only the working class which can achieve this. Despite all that has happened the real common interests of working class people are far greater and stronger than the sectarian ties which separate them.
Unity already exists in the workplaces and in workplace union organisation.
Some community organisations which are genuinely cross community have held together. It is by building on this unity at the bottom, not by relying on the politicians at the top, that the basis for a solution can be found. A parallel peace process involving rank and file trade union bodies, community groups, women's groups, youth groups and other organisation with roots in working class communities is now needed. A 'Peoples Forum' involving such groups would be far more capable of coming up with a solution that the politicians with their sectarian vested interests at Stormont. A movement whose goal is the ending of poverty, unemployment and exploitation could unite Catholic and Protestant workers in the North and could unite workers North, South and in Britain.