A Church of Ireland rector whose father and uncle were murdered by the IRA has spoke out strongly against a peace centre being built at the former Maze prison site. Arrangements are being made for the Presbyterian Moderator and the Presbyterian Church and Society Committee to visit the site.
Churches must resist Maze
A Church of Ireland minister whose father and uncle were murdered by the IRA has said that they would likely never have joined the security forces if they had known that a peace centre would be built at the Maze Prison site.
Sam McBride writes in the News Letter – Opposing the Maze proposals, the Rev Alan Irwin – who is also deputy Grand Lecturer in the Orange Order – called on Christian churches to join others who have come out against the controversial plans.
In recent months the plans to build a peace centre at the Maze have been opposed by a host of organisations and individuals, including numerous victims’ groups, many organisations representing former security force members and the Orange Order.
But the DUP – the only unionist party supporting the plan – has given no sign that it will reverse its support for the proposal, arguing that when the final plans for the centre are released it will be clear that it is not a “shrine to terrorism” as claimed by opponents.
In a letter to the News Letter, Mr Irwin said that victims had been forgotten for too long and that politicians and churches who have not commented on the centre should now speak out against it in support of victims.
And, speaking to the News Letter last night, the minister of Lack parish church in Fermanagh said that the Maze proposals were “sickening”.
He said that if his father and uncle “were to see now what was going on, I don’t think they would have chosen to do what they did”.
Mr Irwin said that he, like many other victims, had been prompted to speak out about the Maze because he felt he had been “silent for too long” and “the fact that our politicians seem capable of doing nothing [for victims]”.
He said that the Maze buildings should be demolished immediately, something the DUP says is legally impossible as the buildings are listed.
Mr Irwin said that the “majority, if not all” of his congregation shared his fierce opposition to building a peace centre at the Maze and other ministers also opposed the plans.
He added that many of his congregation had signed a petition opposing the Maze plan but had done so “knowing that their voice and their signature means nothing to the hierarchy of power – they don’t listen to the voice of the ordinary person in the street”.
Mr Irwin was one of five senior Orange figures to speak against the Maze proposals at the field on the Twelfth where he said that the proposals lacked any thought for victims
Top Presbyterian set to visit Maze site
Presbyterian Moderator Dr Rob Craig is to visit the site of the former Maze Prison to see the location for himself before commenting on the proposals for a peace centre.
Belfast Newsletter – The news emerged last night after the Rev Alan Irwin’s letter to the News Letter.
Although Mr Irwin is a Church of Ireland minister, his denomination declined to comment on his call for churches to oppose the Maze proposals.
But a spokesman for the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, the Presbyterian Church, said: “The Presbyterian Church has to date not made public comment regarding the development of the Maze site.
“However arrangements are currently being made for the Moderator and representatives of the Presbyterian Church and Society Committee to visit the site in order to make informed comment in due course.”
Churches in Northern Ireland have often been loathe to take firm positions on politically sensitive issues.
Even the Free Presbyterian Church – founded by DUP founder Ian Paisley and with close links to the DUP – now rarely comments on unionist/nationalist issues, mindful of the deep internal divisions caused by the DUP’s decision to enter power-sharing with Sinn Fein in 2007.
However, in his letter to the News Letter, Mr Irwin argues that churches have a duty to side with the victims of terrorism.
Mr Irwin said that churches should “stand shoulder to shoulder with the innocent victims, and openly condemn this controversial decision, calling for it to be shelved indefinitely”.