Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,
My name is Billy Hutchinson and I am the Press Officer for the Progressive Unionist Party.
I would like to thank the management of St Columb's Park House for their kind invitation and the opportunity to speak to you tonight.
I am the second string since David Ervine was unable to be here tonight because of domestic commitments.
"Opportunities presented by the Cease-fires" is the title of our theme tonight, and, yes there will be many opportunities in the wake of the cessation of hostilities. The opportunities are multi-faceted
Conflict Transformation
The Social Malaise
An Equal Society
The Pluralist Society
Deprivation, Disadvantage and Poverty
Drugs
The De-commissioning of Weapons
The Prisoners
Policing
and the three evils of our society Bigotry, Sectarianism and Hypocrisy.
All of these contentious issues would entail, I am afraid, weeks and months of debate but I prefer tonight to speak of Perceptions and the Political opportunities that present themselves.
Perception in Northern Ireland is all important and in many ways bears no relation to truth. It is only by debate and intercourse such as we are having tonight that we can assist in the elimination of misconceptions.
Since the inception of the State in 1922, up until the commencement of the Civil Rights movement followed closely by the outbreak of violence, what passed for politics in Northern Ireland was the abnormal.
If violence did nothing good or positive it focussed the minds of those who sought a better way and unfortunately some of us had to become embroiled in the violence before questioning the reasoning behind it and ascertaining the historical facts which led us into the morass in the first place.
History is well enough documented from various perspectives and I do not intend to deal with that tonight.
Previous to the outbreak of violence there was little opportunity or inclination for anyone from a background such as mine.. young, working-class and Unionist... to become involved in Politics. There was certainly no meaningful role for me in the Unionist Party, even if I had wanted to be part of it, and even less opportunity for my political views if I had of become part of it.
The University of Long Kesh is a tough place and if the membership had been somewhat shorter and under different circumstances, I would not have missed it for the world. After having arrived there, instead of chains being placed upon me they dropped from me in the full realisation that sometimes one has to be imprisoned to be free. On the outside, whilst my physical person was free, my mind had been in a deep dungeon of obscure political elite sectarianism.
In company with others on a quest for knowledge and understanding, I did not vegetate in Long Kesh and on my release I became a member of the Progressive Unionist Party.
Our Party has begun to articulate a re-definition of Unionist philosophy, with a new outlook which challenges the old.. which questions the precepts on which the old had been based. ..and condemns the misuse to which the old has been put. That state of affairs which may have been accepted by my Mother and Father is no longer acceptable top me or to those of my generation.
We seek change...we seek new attitudes and new methods....we seek equality and justice for all ....and we seek respect for human dignity and one does not have to be a Unionist to benefit from that what we seek.
Those are our goals. Logical force of argument, truth and decency will be our instruments. Our political presentations will be couched in measured and responsible language and we will always place Country before Party.
Long ago I personally learned the hard lesson that it is self-delusion and wrong to feel superior at the expense of another human being.
Unionism is a legitimate political argument even if it's political past leaves very little to commend it to working-class Unionists let alone Nationalists. I will not re-hash the past or engage myself in petty points scoring at the expense of other political Parties.
I am strong m my brand of working class Unionism but I am equally cognisant of the fact that there are those who disagree with my political convictions.. ..both Nationalists and Unionists.
I smile inwardly when I see and hear political commentators, government policy makers and other uninformed sources rush headlong into definitively and absolutely defining the Loyalist/Protestant/Unionist community as one homogenous entity, sharing the same culture, traditions and historical and political experiences.Throughout the duration of the present conflict in Northern Ireland, the world has been repeatedly given a one-dimensional image of this culture which does not reflect the diversity of opinion and aspiration within the Protestant/Unionist community.
This interpretation of course, grievously misunderstands the many and complex layers to what might be called the Protestant community of the North. It fails to incorporate the rural/urban differences, the many political interpretations of Unionism, the subtle territoriality of various parts of Belfast and perhaps more importantly, the dramatic socio/economic class identities- which will often, more significantly, unite working-class Protestant and Catholic communities who share value systems and life experiences-than unify affluent Malone road Protestants and their poor Shankill Road brethren.
It is the working-class Unionist who continues to feel this negative, over-simplified cultural stereotyping most acutely, especially since it is from this unlikely source that there is a vibrant, confident and assertive Unionist voice making itself heard.
It is this source that has cast off the baggage of the past it is this source which is prepared to accept the realities of the situation in Northern Ireland.... and it is this source that is prepared to take the necessary steps to break the impasse of centuries of hatred and mistrust.
Since the advent of the 'troubles' we have studied each other- Nationalist and Unionist- and in our hearts we know where good and bad lies , and not to our credit, we have left unsaid those positive words, lest the rest of the herd look upon us as some strange beings and drive us out.
We have often taken the easy way out.
However I firmly believe that we have entered the most honest stage in which our society has ever found itself, wherein, for the first time we are prepared to see the other person's point of view.
Our task now is not to allow this opportunity pass. We have to strive to find a mechanism whereby we can sit down, without any concession of principle, and reason together in inclusive dialogue.
It will not be easy and it will take time to foster the necessary trust and respect to allow this to happen. We must be prepared for set-backs but we must not allow these set-backs to become an obstacle to progress.
Coteries of civil servants in Dublin and London with their 'master plans' cannot do it. Only we, the people, together. can do it.
Those of us in the Progressive Unionist Party are prepared to play our part in bringing about that Society which we all so earnestly desire... in which everyone is judged on their worth as people and not on their religious or political affiliation.
When we realise just how much we have in common and accentuate those facts positively, then, we will have taken the first tottering steps towards the appreciation that there can, and will be, a bright future for all of our People in this part of Ireland.