“Humility yes, humiliation no”, declared the Primate of the Irish Catholic Church and Archbishop of Armagh, Monsignor Seàn Brady in commenting on the peace process in Northern Ireland and its more recent developments. “I believe that the progress which has been made to date is extraordinary said the Primate in a press release issued on 9 December . That progress shows that the parties are able and willing to work together. But the breakdown just short of the finishing line is disappointing. It tells us that more trust has to be built… All parties who intend to go into Government together need, not only to talk, but to listen to each other”. According to Archbishop Brady “something that is seen as humiliation is not likely to help people to work effectively and peacefully together in partnership in Government. Humiliation is one thing, humility is something else, humility is built on trust. The truth is that here we have parties who have received a mandate from the people and are offering to take on responsibilities for the future government of this country”. “The blame game concluded Archbishop Brady leads nowhere; just as there is no monopoly of victims, there is no monopoly of blame. Perhaps an honest acceptance, by all sides, of what has happened in the past and an appropriate taking of responsibility for the past would be a good basis on which to go forward. A humble expression of sorrow for the grief that has been caused by all sides would be even better”.
