’Dr No’ has finally said ’Yes’.

“I have learned that Catholic worries, tears and concerns are exactly the same as those of their Protestant counterparts”

SPEAKER'S CORNER
DONNA DEENEY

HISTORIC, momentous, a new era, a brand new dawn. All phrases trotted out to describe the meeting between Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley.
In the week or so before the March 26 deadline, an air of anticipation was palpable, however, by Friday, March 23, only the very naive remained hopeful that this would be met. This was largely down to comments by DUP hardliners such as East Derry MLA, Gregory Campbell, who in several interviews with the media reiterated time and time again there would be no deal by deadline day.
However, as dawn broke on March 26, the whisperings in the corridors of Stormont were of possible face-to-face talks between Ian Paisley and his nemesis, Gerry Adams. With both camps initially remaining tight-lipped, confirmation of the go-ahead finally came just a couple of hours before the scheduled meeting took place.
Secretary of State, Peter Hain’s credibility was hanging by a thread because he had started to dilute his speech when talking about devolution or dissolution with suggestions of ‘breathing space’.
With perhaps one eye cast towards his own future as Deputy Prime Minister of the British Labour Party, Mr Hain lauded and applauded both Adams and Paisley for their brave move, crediting himself and the two governments along the way.
But let’s not forget the real movers and shakers in all of this – the electorate. They are the people who deserve the credit. Be under no illusion that the overwhelming majority of people from both divides are sick to the back teeth of their political representatives not doing the job they were elected to do.
They are the people who have had to pick up the pieces during 30 plus years of atrocities and I have seen this not just as a reporter, but right on my own doorstep as well.
I live in the sleepy rural village of Greysteel, in the Borough of Limavady and can still vividly recollect the night a murderous gang of Loyalist paramilitaries gunned down seven innocent people sitting in the Rising Sun bar. This was an indiscriminate, callous act that wiped out all sections of our society.
Who can forget the pictures that were wired around the globe of one of the victim’s relatives, embracing John Hume as the tears ran down his face, as if her life depended on it – and to an extent it did. She pleaded with him to continue talking and working to bring peace.
Those were our darkest days, but in the blackest moments, of which there were too many, it was John Hume who stood, with resolute determination and did exactly what that woman had implored him to. He talked and talked and was derided for it. One of the saddest things about this new era we are supposed to be entering is that his pivotal role has been forgotten, as has David Trimble from the UUP.
Having talked extensively with people from the two communities, both in Derry city and throughout the county in the course of my work as a journalist, I have learned that Catholic worries, tears and concerns are exactly the same as those of their Protestant counterparts.
It must have come as quite a surprise for all the candidates in the run-up to the elections to hear repeatedly that the issues concerning the local communities were not political point-scoring but real bread and butter issues. People were demanding that our politicians get into dialogue and get the institutions up and running. Politicians will ignore this at their peril.
Will it happen? Certainly over the last couple of days there seems to be a few hairline cracks appearing within the DUP. But ‘Dr No’ has finally said ‘Yes’.  Paisley, at the age of 81, has made no secret that he wants to be First Minister and he realises in order to achieve that he must share power with Sinn Féin.

•  Donna Deeney is Deputy Editor of the Letterkenny Post and has previously worked on the news desk of newspapers in Limavady, Derry City and the Waterside. She lives in Greysteel village in Limavady, which is twinned with Westport