Working for peace in Belfast

From Peter Jennings in Belfast
THE no-warning bomb explosion in a crowded Belfast shopping arcade, in which four people were killed and 21 others injured, some seriously, has helped to fan the flames of sectarian bitterness and hatred in Northern Ireland.
Responsibility for law and order in Northern Ireland rests constitutionally and morally, with the British Government and yet people are living in daily fear of assassination.
It was against this grim backcloth of death and destruction, that Fr Desmond Wilson talked to me a few days ago, in his house in the heart of the notorious Ballymurphy Estate.
"Sectarian assassinations have now become an effective political weapon and I fear they
will be stepped up in order to try and make the Catholic minority accept any solution whatsoever.
"People are looking for an alternative to violence and we must teach them to think peace so that it becomes a way of life for them. This house is used by people from all sides and every shade of political opinion."
The house, in Springhill Avenue, where Fr Wilson has lived for the last four years, is rented from the Belfast Housing Executive. "At the moment we are financed from a trust, but after May I just don't know where the money will come from to keep this vital work of reconciliation going," said Fr Wilson.
He explained that as a result of the troubles, a serious drink problem had developed among young people who had nothing else to do during the long dark evenings but frequent the numerous bars and social clubs in the city. Since he resigned from the diocese of Down and Connor last year, over disagreement with the policy of Bishop William Philbin, Fr Wilson has said Mass privately.
As a "priest of the people" he is in tremendous demand and the telephone rang constantly while we talked.
In the famous Belfast Europa Hotel, scene of more than 30 bomb attacks, Mr Sean Cooney, a 49-year-old Catholic who lives in the Ardoyne district of the city said: "I have been accused of being a 'Protestant lover' but my job in reconciliation is to help people, whoever they are."
Mr Cooney works for Peace Point across the "peace line" which divides the Catholic and Protestant communities.
He continued: "One of the main reasons I am so deeply involved in working for peace is the' future of my two young children.
"I am trying to help build a society based on truth and justice for all."