An Irish experience in the Mindanao peace process DAVAO CITY Sept. 5 (PIA) – On April 10 1998, an agreement was signed by the British and Irish governments and most of Northern Ireland’s political parties. Known as the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement) it was a landmark document which meant the end of a 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland. Sharing his experiences on forging that long elusive Irish peace, Deputy Dominic Hannigan, Irish member of Parliament and implementing chair of the Good Friday Agreement, is on a three-week visit to Mindanao in sharing to various Mindanao peace process partners and stakeholders his Irish peace experience. Acting as a volunteer of VSO Bahaginan, an international development organization, Hannigan will begin his tour meeting up with various parties involved in the Mindanao Peace
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Process. “My role is to meet with various groups (peace organizations, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front) to share our experience in the peace process in Ireland,” Hannigan said during a media interview at the Kapehan sa Dabaw forum held today (Sept. 5) at Café Rhysus, SM Davao. He said that the conflicts all over the world share some common issues. He cited the war in Ireland which centered on lack of autonomy, lack of education and civil rights and
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economic deprivation, problems which resonates with the conflict in Mindanao. Hannigan said that trust and compromise on all sides is very crucial in the negotiations. “The way to achieve it is by going as far as you can and taking another step,” Hannigan stated. A l s o, h e e x h o r ted peace advocates to stick with their efforts in promoting peace. He said there will come a time that the parties to the conflict would really w a n t t o e n d t h e w a r. (PIA-11/Rudolph G. Alama) Monday, September 5, 2011