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LONDON — Loyalist (Protestant) paramilitaries in Northern Ireland were urged to disarm and disband by Anglican Archbishop Robin Eames of Armagh in a speech May 11, echoing a similar plea last week in London by his Catholic opposite number, Archbishop Sean Brady, and aimed at the Irish Republican Army.
Addressing the Church of Ireland’s general synod, meeting for the first time in Armagh, Eames said there were areas in Northern Ireland where life was dictated by and controlled by the godfathers of paramilitary organizations.
“It is their laws and their concepts of ‘justice’ which hold sway,” he said. “It is their protection rackets which dominate local businesses. It is their will which determines the lives of young people. It is their drugs which ruin young lives.”
Together, the two speeches by Eames and Brady represent some of the strongest criticisms by church leaders of the Catholic and Protestant militants who have been carrying on an armed struggle over the future of Northern Ireland.
Eames said the (Protestant) Unionist or Loyalist community frequently calls for a declaration from the Republican tradition that the war is over.
“While there is mounting pressure for such action, the community which makes this plea must also recognize realities within its own ranks,” the Anglican primate said.
“Loyalist paramilitarism cannot be excused simply because of (Catholic)Republican paramilitarism,” he said. “Loyalism cannot demand actions by Republicanism while remaining ambivalent about Loyalist paramilitaries.
Armed gangs and so-called punishment beatings exist within Protestant areas. “Roman Catholics continue to be attacked by thugs under the guise of Loyalism simply because of their religious identity,” he added.
“Protestants are attacked because of their identity. Is that the way ordinary decent Protestants or Roman Catholics want to be represented?”
He said Loyalist paramilitaries do not speak for the vast number of members of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland in Northern Ireland. Calling on both communities to speak up and demand the end of paramilitary activity, Eames said: “Let criminal activity of whatever identity be seen for what it is: nothing to do with legitimate politics, nothing to do with protection of religious or political identity — and nothing to do with a stable, just and forgiving community for the future.
“So, let the mounting calls for an end to all paramilitary activity grow and grow. From within the Protestant community let us say to all Loyalist groupings: stop, and stop now.”
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