Last month my niece went to the funeral of a teaching colleague. Four weeks ago, he shouted at a pupil who was disrupting the class. The pupil threw a stone at the teacher. It hit him on the temple. He recovered from the initial shock, but had to take leave for stress. Two weeks ago he was buried. He left a wife and three children, one of whom suffers from Down's syndrome, another of whom has severe hearing difficulties.
I cite this example because we cannot point out often enough what is happening in our midst. If we do not come together as a society with a common purpose, the terror will not only continue, it will steadily worsen.
The Assembly's remit does not yet include justice and security. However, we have been elected to take a lead. We must stop putting political interests before society. We should stop referring to men, women or children as 'Loyalist', 'Republican', 'Catholic' or 'Protestant'. We should refer to people as fellow citizens or human beings. We must stand squarely with the public services against hatred and intimidation.
It can be done. The peace organisations in the beleaguered communities faced the local 'hoods', as we called them, with common purpose during the Troubles. We marched and attended peace rallies, such as those held on 18 January, and we brought it home to them that people want peace, stability and hope. Those priorities come far ahead of territorial aspirations.
We must deal with division and inequality as the precursor to achieving real democracy, real human rights and the full implementation of the rule of law. We must cast aside the annual idiocy of controversy over graffiti, parades and flags. We must be seen to be helping victims rather than increasing the number of victims by upholding medieval practices.
We must strive for an overarching sense of identity that embraces all cultures without offending any. Parents must assume full responsibility for the actions of their children and they must teach respect for others.
