Peace in the North
Posted on 22. Jun, 2017, in Places of Conflict, PoliticsComments Off on Peace in the North
This week we are looking at the book on Fr Alec Reid, One Man, One God by Redemptorist by Fr Martin McKeever. It provides unique insight into what motivated Fr Alec, what inspired him, and what kept him going during years of disappointment, frustration and seeming failure. We also remember a interview Fr Alec Reid gave to Soul Waves Radio in 2005.
Fr Alec was notoriously slow to talk to the media and never spoke much about himself, but here he spoke candidly to Soul Waves Radio after the IRA announced that they would decommission their arms. We are playing this piece again this week to remind us of how extraordinary he was and how his words were able to bridge divides and create peach. At the time, there was concern that the IRA mightn’t decommission all their arms, so Miriam Gormally asked Alec if he believed the ground breaking statement that the IRA made to lay down their arms. Fr Alec further highlighted that he had faith that Northern Ireland would create a new society and find a way forward.