Date: 2007-07-11
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Madam Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me on this important part that other colleagues and I have traveled to Ireland to work on this issue. And I am pleased -today to speak in support of the powersharing agreement reached in Northern Ireland. Since my own youth. I have followed the conflicts in Northern Ireland and. like many Americans. hoped and prayed for the day when there would be peace throughout all the island of Ireland. As of a few weeks ago. with the powersharing agreement. it would seem that peace has finally come. Now DUP. Sinn Fein. the UUP and the SDLP all share -in the governance of Northern Ireland. Now men and women who once gave fiery speeches in opposition to one another sit at the same table working With one another. When I visited Northern Ireland a few months ago with other Members of Congress. we were witnessing history. perhaps the end to centuries of conflict. the beginning of a new dawn. It was not too long ago. beginning in the 1960s. that marches for civil rights in Northern Ireland were followed by decades of riots. assassinations. bombings and warfare carried out by paramilitary groups. Thousands of British troops occupied the north to stop the violence. Ceasefires temporarilystopped the attacks. but the "Troubles." as they came to be known. continued. In the end. over 3.200 or more were killed and thousands more were wounded. Phil Coulter from Northern Ireland wrote in the song a few years ago. "The Town I Loved So Well." about his return to the area. where he wrote in the final verse: "Now the musics gone. but they carry on for their spiritsbeen bruised. never broken. They will not forget. but their hearts are set on tomorrow and peace once again. For whats done is done. and whats won is won. and whats lost is lost and gone forever. I can only pray for a bright. brand new day in the town I loved so well." Perhaps those prayers have been answered. The troops are gone. The bombings have stopped. And there is hope for all of the towns that are loved by the citizens of Northern Ireland. Eight years ago. the Northern Ireland political parties signed the Good Friday Agreement. which established a blueprint for selfrule. But reconciliation faced continued difficulties. New deadlines to start selfgovernment were set. The ceasefires continued to hold. and another election occurred in March of this year. Then. for the first time. men who were enemies. the likes of Ian Paisley. Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams. sat at the same tables to establish selfgovernment. It was nothing short of remarkable that left all on the island with a palpable sense of awe and hope. How did they do it? First. there was hope for prosperity. The south of Ireland is in the midst of the greatest economic boom in the European Union. Families in Northern Ireland want to be part of that pros.perity rather than the poverty and dependence on government jobs and the dole. They are putting tremendous pressure on their leaders to settle the differences and create jobs. Number- two. international diplomacy. The prime ministers of the United Kingdom. such as Tony Blair. and Irelands Bertie Ahern. Presidents Clinton and Bush. and Members of Congress from the United States. in particular Mr. WALSH and KING of New York and Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. have all maintained pressure for resolution. At the same time. programs supported by the International Fund for Ireland brought Catholics and Protestants together to build positive relations. Third. the disarmament of paramilitary groups. The IRA says it has given up its weapons. and outside observers agree. And even though other paramilitary groups say they are not yet ready to disarm. there is still a discernible belief that the days of terrorism are a thing of the past. Each day without violence builds trust. Number four: integration of the police force. To overcome the fears that the police will be used as weapons by or against either side. they have been working towards a goal of 50 percent Catholic and 50 percent Protestant. Respect for law enforcement is growing on both sides. and after 30 years of occupation. the last British troops quietly left only a few weeks ago. In the midst of this hope. there are many challenges that lie ahead. Ninetyfive percent of schools are still segregated. Thirtyfoot high "peace" walls still divide Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. Huge murals still cover the sides of buildings declaring loyalty to the Crown or to Ireland. or showing one or other masked paramilitary members looking down the barrel of a gun declaring who controls the neighborhood. or depicting an atrocity blamed on either the Catholics or the Protestants. Some neighborhoods fly the Union Jack of the United Kingdom. and others the green. white and orange flag of Ireland. Perhaps these challenges and choices facing the people of Northern Ireland are best characterized by one of the murals we saw in a Belfast neighborhood. It depicts a large black and white photograph of a youth lying wounded on a street while a riot looms behind in. the neighborhood. Another youth stands in the foreground throwing a bomb. But encircling this picture are the words. "Can It Change?" And at the bottom is the word "Believe." While the original meaning of the mural was meant to show that- this Protestant neighborhood believed it could rise up and defend itself against what it considered to be ethnic cleansing. perhaps this mural can take on a new meaning today. Perhaps it can be a beacon of hope to believe in an end to violence and a lasting peace. Indeed. keeping the peace will demand that many believe. And if they do. perhaps this time. in our time. there will be an end to several centuries of warfare. Perhaps this time the elected governrent shared by the parties will not just be one more temporary fix. but the dawn of a bright brand new day in the towns that we all love so well.