On Tuesday 14th May, church leaders met with the Secretary of State, Tánaiste and the leaders of Northern Ireland's main political parties engaged in inter-party talks at Stormont House. At the meeting, church leaders presented the report from their civil society dialogue initiative, which took place between December 2018 and February 2019. Supported by CRC, these dialogue events brought together approximately 120 people for facilitated discussions in Newry, Belfast, Ballymena and Derry-Londonderry. This included locally-based representatives from health and social care, policing, business, farming and agriculture, youth work, family support, women’s groups, those engaged in anti-poverty work and community development. Like many other similar gatherings, these meetings focused on the consequences of the political impasse and ways in which political leaders and civil society could work together for the common good. Two church leaders attended each regional meeting along with local church representatives and locally-based MLAs.
The report, and the statement from the church leaders that accompanied it, were entitled ‘A time for courageous and compassionate leadership’ reflecting the dominant themes emerging from consultation. At the conclusion of the report church leaders stated: “Despite the severity of the challenges we face, the feedback from participants in this dialogue initiative conveyed the sense that these events had been hope-filled encounters. As church leaders it was a great privilege for us to be able to make some small contribution by providing this space at a critical time. There is a need to do more of this type of engagement, with an emphasis on relationship, listening and understanding, in order to begin to restore hope. Such initiatives need to be grounded in the reality of the challenges that people are currently facing, and underpinned by a commitment to meaningful action around shared priorities.”
Megan Brown
Communications & Administration Assistant
Irish Council of Churches
Irish Inter-Church Meeting