State papers a timely reminder on the North

THE dossier released on the Troubles, taken from the National Archives from 1987, is a terrible reminder of just how reckless we have been in handling that most delicate membrane that separates war and peace. The past year has seen the North bereft of a government. Parties put their own political interests ahead of their key responsibility to protect democracy and represent the interests of their people. Students of the black arts of murder, sectarianism, tribal hatred, subterfuge and collusion could learn a lot from this file.

In truth, any one year of the Troubles could offer bleak insights into the darkness that political stagnation and injustice can incubate.

That is why it is such an affront to all those who invested their hopes in this current crop of Northern Ireland politicians to act as custodians of the Good Friday Agreement, to see once again that differences and division have been allowed to erode hard-won trust and unity.

We know that there can be no going back to the past, but unless politics moves on, the past has a sinister way of catching up on those who stand still. There are plenty who still have an interest in derailing peace and reasserting the role of the trigger-man.

But as John Hume explained about the milestone deal signed in 1998: “In coming to that agreement, my party had a clear philosophy throughout. In Northern Ireland, we should have institutions that respected the differences of the people and that gave no victory to either side.” Where is the respect for those institutions today?

Another architect of that milestone accord, David Trimble, also made a potent case for respecting it: “There are two traditions in Northern Ireland. There are two main religious denominations. But there is only one true moral denomination. And it wants peace.” All those who profess to be democrats in the North must make peace their priority and a government their new year’s resolution.