We must banish hatred for our future society

AS I left the launch of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, I felt considerable sadness at all the opportunities that were missed and the mistakes that were made, as our society would go on to become embroiled in an unnecessary conflict.

I was brought up in a police family and our lives were about to change significantly, particularly for my father and other officers, who had to live with a constant threat to their lives.

For the next 30 years, we’re going to face a series of 50th anniversaries of the tragedies from that conflict. Are we mature enough, as a society, to deal with those stories?

Perhaps, as a start, we could send each and every household a copy of the book Lost Lives, that documents the stories of all those who were killed. In addition, we should start to create an expanded archive, collecting individual stories, so that we can better understand the impact that a violent death has on families and friends.

This could be combined with a clear statement that unlawful violence was never a justifiable method to promote political aspirations and that it should never be used for these ends again. That’s a lesson that we have to keep repeating to our young people.

Some people — including Sinn Fein — are currently very busy encouraging the idea that the end is nigh for unionism and Northern Ireland.

I don’t accept that analysis and I believe that we should appreciate more what we have and seek to maximise our potential as a people. But, even if they are right, can we not get on with building strong social bonds and a thriving economy in the meantime?

Trying to bring about constitutional change by relying on hatred and sectarian demographics is a putrid, simplistic concept. We are, surely, much better than that.

TREVOR RINGLAND Holywood, Co Down

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