THE Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Armagh — the Most Revd John McDowell and the Most Revd Eamon Martin— have reflected together on the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft Programme for Government 2024-27, published in September.
In a joint article in the Belfast Telegraph and The Irish News this week, they refer to the mandate given to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive three years ago, which has resulted in the programme to help Northern Ireland to “come good”.
Broadly interpreting that as equating with “the common good”, they describe the optimistic tone of the programme as “a welcome change to the often stagnant and stultifying rhetoric that characterised political commentary here while the Assembly was suspended”.
The Archbishops commend the programme for “daring to dream” of “opportunity”, “hope”, and “partnership”, with priorities given to “people”, “planet”, and “prosperity”, underpinned by a “cross-cutting commitment to peace”.
“The challenge facing all of us is to ensure that our children and young people are educated and cared for in a way that not only gives them opportunities in the job market but which also deepens their humanity and their desire for wisdom,” they write.
“Caring for the sick has always been an important touchstone of a truly civilised and compassionate society. The most tangible and reassuring way of progress on this front would be in shorter waiting lists and meaningful value and respect both for the carers and the cared-for.”
They also write of the support needed for those nearing the end of life, “whose value as producers or consumers may be deemed to have ended long since, but whose intrinsic human worth and dignity are as great and as sacred as ever”.
Reflecting on the fragility of confidence in the rule of law, they declare: “There is no place for vigilantism or intimidation in a civilised society. The most legitimate concern we can hold is for the safety and equality of our fellow human beings.”
They describe those working in the voluntary and community sector as “the "glue of society”, without whom the government’s key priorities would never come good or bear fruit: “These are people who make a real difference, especially to the most disadvantaged among us, by daring to dream with their eyes open and feet on the ground.
“In recent years many such groups and organisations have had to suspend their activities or have struggled to survive because their contribution is so taken for granted that they find themselves competing with each other for the funding scraps left over.”
Christians’ task, they suggest, is “not to wallow in disillusionment or cynicism but to do our bit to encourage work and pray for ‘the coming good’ . . . There are certain ‘goods’ which only good when they are held in common. Are we a people who respect and acknowledge the humanity of one another sufficiently to stand up for each other’s well-being? Can our institutions rise to the enormous challenges of envisaging a new sort of society or are they resigned to be a slow motion re-run of the past?”
Ordinary citizens, they conclude, “must have the confidence in ourselves and in the leaders of political and civic life to give them space to take risks and to dream dreams”.
The eight-week public consultation period on the programme ended on Monday.