Forum for Peace in Manilan Speech by Dominic Hannigan

8/4/2019 Forum for Peace in Manilan Speech by Dominic Hannigan

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The Good Friday Agreement and the Mindanao Conflict Deputy Dominic Hannigan, TD

The Good Friday Agreement and the Mindanao

Conflict

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests.

My name is Dominic Hannigan. I am a Member of

Parliament in the Republic of Ireland and I am the

Chairman of the Committee which oversees theImplementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which is

the Agreement signed on Good Friday, 1998 which brought

peace to the people of Northern Ireland after 30 years of

war.

I am here as a volunteer with VSO Bahaginan. For the last

two weeks I have been based in both Manila and Mindanao

to share our experiences of the peace process in Northern

Ireland. Today, I will give you a description of my visit and

I will provide you with some thoughts that I have on the

current situation in relation to the Mindanao Peace Process.

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Before I do that I will give you a brief history of the

Northern Ireland Peace Process.

For centuries, there was strife in Ireland between the native

population and Britain, who had run the country since

1170. This was eased considerably when Britain granted

independence to the 26 southern counties in 1922. Since

1922, the south, the Republic of Ireland, has been at peace,with the Catholics, who represent 80% of the population,

living alongside Protestants, who represent about 20% of

the population.

At the same time as the granting of independence to the

south, the British set up a sub-state in the northern six

counties. This province is known as Northern Ireland. The

1922 Act of Partition gave an inbuilt majority to the

protestant population, who represent about 60% of the

population compared to the 40% of Catholics living there.

The Catholics population considered that they were being

denied rights in relation to political representation and



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social policies, including education and housing. In 1968

Civil Rights Marches were held to campaign for better

rights.

It should be noted though, that the grievances were not due

to any perceived religious discrimination on the part of the

protestant majority government. It was social and political

issues that were at the heart of the problem.

The Civil Rights marchers were faced down by the unionist

police force and consequently the British Army came in to

protect the catholic minority

Over time, the attitude towards the Army changed, due in

part to some military blunders such as Bloody Sunday,

where 13 innocent and unarmed civilians were shot dead by

British paratroopers.

This led to the set-up of the Irish Republican Army, or the

IRA. The IRA saw it as their role to fight for the protection



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of the nationalist areas, and for the eventual unification of

the north with the rest of Ireland.

They shot, bombed and kidnapped people from the British

army, from the unionist population and sometimes even

from their own side.

In turn, unionist paramilitary organisations were set up withan objective to defend loyalist communities. They bombed

catholic pubs, shot nationalists and engaged in other

atrocities.

This war between the two communities went on for three

decades. The period was known in our history as The

Troubles. During The Troubles, 3000 people lost their

lives. Many others were maimed, either physically or

psychologically.

Eventually the people of both sides of the community and

people within the armed groups themselves came to realise

that these killings were not furthering their aims. The



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overwhelming majority of people on both sides of the

island were sick to their teeth with the ongoing war, and

wanted to see peace.

In the early 1990s secret talks were started between these

armed groups and the governments of the South of Ireland

and the Britain.

In these initial talks the parties began to see that some sort

of negotiated settlement might deliver enough, if not all, of

what they were looking for.

At this stage outside help and advice was sought and US

Senator George Mitchell was asked to try and help

negotiate an agreement.

Senator Mitchell went to Northern Ireland and spoke to the

parties. A ceasefire was announced with a view to trying to

negotiate a settlement.



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This ceasefire lasted for almost two years. However,

progress was too slow for the warring parties and in

February 1996 they returned to war. Many thought thatpeace would never be realised; that conflict was the natural

order of events in Northern Ireland.

However, those involved in the peace process refused to

give up. They had seen how far each party had come andthey thought that the prize of peace was too great to walk

away from. So efforts started again.

In July of 1997 sufficient progress had been made to

convince the IRA to enter another ceasefire.

This ceasefire was more lasting, and negotiations resumed

between the governments and the warring parties, helped

along by Senator Mitchell. Some of these meetings were

not face-to-face meetings, they were held in adjoining

rooms, with intermediaries going from the party in one

room to the party in the other. Such was the level of distrust

and hatred.



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After a long, hard, tortuous and painstaking process an

Agreement was eventually signed on Good Friday 1998.Because of the date of signing, its known as the Good

Friday Agreement, but also as the Belfast Agreement,

because it was signed in Belfast.

The Agreement

The Agreement had several strands to it. It deals with the

affairs within Northern Ireland. It has a Northern Ireland

southern Ireland dimension and an eastern western

dimension, between the London and Dublin governments.

In the north of Ireland a new parliamentary assembly was

set up. The electoral system was set up in such a way that

even the smallest political parties are represented both in

the parliament and at Cabinet executive level.

The Assembly has been granted devolved powers in

relation to issues such as trade, regional development,



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education, justice, environment, culture, health and

agriculture.

Legislation on these issues can be blocked if there is not

significant agreement between members from each of the

communities in the parliament.

In addition to setting up this new political institution,several other issues were addressed.

The old police force was disbanded and a new, cross-

community police force was established.

Former combatants who were in prison were released.

Arrangements were made to ensure that all of the

paramilitary groups decommissioned their weapons.

Financial support was provided to Northern Ireland to build

and operate new community centres, and new local

infrastructure, in the process helping to provide



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employment for many who were previously involved in the

conflict.

The relationship between the north and south was also re-

defined. New cross-border institutions were set up which

had whole-island remits. Areas such as tourism, waterways,

the language board, our lakes and other matters are now

addressed on an all-Ireland basis, with funding for theseorganisations coming from both northern and southern

governments.

The Agreement also provided for regular meetings between

northern Ministers and Southern Ministers on issues of

mutual interest, such as agriculture, transport and health.

On an east west basis Ministers from both the southern

government and the British government meet on a regular

basis to discuss common issues. Members of the Irish

parliament and the London parliament meet regularly.



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A copy of the Good Friday Agreement was sent to every

house in Ireland. In the north, 71% of people said yes. In

the south, 95% of the people said yes.

The implementation of the agreement was not been easy.

Trust and understanding do not magically appear overnight.

The Agreement is just the end of the beginningof the peace

process.

For each day of the last 13 years issues have emerged that

could have been allowed to de-rail the peace. There are still

splinter groups that refuse to recognise the will of the

people, who want to bring the peace-process crashing

down, but the will is stronger amongst the rest of us.

We still have many areas which are suffering economic

hardship. These areas could provide splinter groups with

fertile recruitment grounds. So, we have to target resources

and supports into these areas so that the people there go out

to work, not go out to fight.



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We have also had problems in getting politicians to work

together in the new Assembly. Only over time can trust be

built.

But peace exists. Trust is growing and the vast majority are

united in their desire for the peace to hold.

The last two weeks here in the Philippines have brought meback in time to the early 1990s. I have seen so much that

reminds me of the conflict in Ireland. I recognise many of

the causes, many of the impacts, but I also see the hope, the

goodwill and the work that is being done for peace.

I am very grateful to the organisers of this visit, the VSO

Bahaginan and the Mindanao Peace Partners. They put a

tremendous effort into ensuring that my visit was

comprehensive. It went without a hitch.

I spent the first week in Manila, where I was briefed by

various individuals and organisations. These included Jun

Enriquez from the Mindanao Peace Partners, Pancho Lara,



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from International Alert, the British Ambassador, Stephen

Lillie and others.

I also met groups involved in bridging the divide between

the communities. I was particularly impressed by the work

of PeaceTech, who try and establish dialogue and

understanding between school pupils in Manila and

Mindanao through internet link-ups. I think their modelcould be transferred to other countries, including my own.

I met with members of the MILF negotiating team, and

heard their views on the current situation in relation to the

peace talks.

I met with the Columban Fathers in Malete. These priests

have worked for peace in Mindanao for many years and

their perspective was very useful.

I also spoke to a number of press organisations, and

appeared on ABCs Date Line show to discuss my visit

here.



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I then moved to Mindanao. My first stop was Davao, where

I met with the Mayor and local officials, as well as withsome NGOs involved in promoting livelihood projects for

the Indigenous People, the IP.

Later that day I visited the Pamulaan Centre, where almost

100 young IP students are undertaking a 4 year degreeprogram which will give them the skills and knowledge to

help improve their communities. This course is unique and

I think of huge potential benefit to the IP communities.

Young leaders from IP communities across the Philippines

are studying together, living together, building lifelong

friendships which will serve as a wonderful network of

links for their communities in future years.

Whilst in Davao I also met with Mr Iqbual, who is one of

the key MILF negotiators on the peace talks. Later on that

day I shared a platform with him at the Ateneo de Davao

University, which was attended by 500 peace students.



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Their questions were interesting, to the point and their

desire for peace was evident.

Our team then moved across to CDO, where I joined a

workshop which addressed many issues that the constituent

partners of the Mindanao Peace Partners are facing. I was

hugely impressed by the commitment and vigour of the

members. On the first night I went to bed at 11pm - theywere still in the workshop, teasing out issues of mutual

concern.

I used my time there to familiarise myself with the

individual members of the group, and learned about their

individual roles and interests in peace making.

Our next stop was Marawi. I met the local Muslim Council

there and briefed them on my visit. I spoke at two

universities in Marawi. Both events were attended by

several hundred students, all eager to ask questions about

how peace was achieved in Northern Ireland.



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In Northern Ireland many people were forced to leave their

homes because of the conflict. I remember as a boy

welcoming new students into our class who had beendriven out of their homes. This is also a problem in

Mindanao. I spoke to some Internally Displaced People

living in Marawi and visited an IDP community in

Kulasihan.

They spoke about their fear of returning home, their

worries that conflict might start up again. The lack of

permanency is something they live with on a day-to-day

basis. It makes planning for the future difficult for them

and it makes it harder for them to overcome the

psychological scars of war.

I met with many mayors and local officials in Lanao del

Norte, including former Congressman Bobby Dimaporo

and his son, Governor Khalid Dimaporo. Their insight into

relationships between the communities was very

interesting, as was the perspective they gave on the conflict

in the region.



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I did a number of interviews with the press, including an

hour long interview with Love Radio, a station based inIligan City. Each time, I stressed that peace is something

that can be achieved, but that it needs patience and there

must be a desire and willingness to face up to hard

compromises.

I went to see the Bajau community in Iligan City. I was

hugely impressed by the work being done by an NGO

there. They are teaching not only the children how to read

and write, they are teaching the community elders as well.

They also provide training in livelihoods, so that the

community develops the ability to earn money from their

work efforts.

I also visited Tambo community in Murai, where I spoke

with 20 children aged from 10 to 16. Each one of them was

present in Tambo when the last conflict occurred there in

2008. They spoke of their terror and of their fears that

conflict would re-occur. Thee children also spoke of their



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hopes. Virtually all of them are still going to school and

some of them hope to go on to University after they finish.

I had dinner with the Iligan Chamber of Commerce. We

spoke about the issues facing the city, the problems of

obtaining funding for business start-ups, and we spoke

about their desire to see Iligan grow and prosper. They

want to see peace because they recognise that war is badfor business.

I was impressed with the good work that they are doing in

relation to corporate social responsibility. One of the

members provides breakfasts for poor schoolchildren, so

that they dont go to class on an empty stomach. Another

provides free dental treatment in the poorer communities.

They are working to promote further acts of corporate

social responsibility in their city.

I discussed the role that the religious leaders played in

bringing peace to Northern Ireland with a group of inter-

faith leaders. Representatives provided a reflection on the



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role of their faith in the Mindanao Peace Process. It was

evident to me that they will be continuing to search for a

peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Later that day I concluded my visit to Mindanao by

speaking to 500 students at the Mindanao University of

Science and Technology.

Throughout my visit on Mindanao I was accompanied by

some very professional members of the armed forces and

the police forces. At no stage did I feel under any threat. It

was a very full programme but a very enjoyable

programme. I was helped out by each and every member of

the Mindanao Peace Partners, and I am very grateful for

their support and help during my stay there.

In two weeks I have seen a lot. I dont have the answer to

the conflict in Mindanao, but I do have some thoughts that I

am happy to share with you.



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My first observation is in relation to the publics attitude to

the conflict. I have listened to many groups and met people

from across Mindanao and it seems to me that on theground there is a clear thirst for peace. There is also a

recognition that compromises will be necessary on both

sides.

One of the causes of the conflict is clearly economic. Forinstance, unemployment in the ARMM region is much

higher than elsewhere. This clearly has to be tackled, so

that younger people see a clear role for them in society and

do not feel that they need to take up arms to fight for a

future. I listened to one young community leader tell me

about his lack of faith in what the political process can

deliver in his area. We have to convince him otherwise.

In Ireland, there were a number of different armed groups

that were included in the peace process, some of them quite

small. In Mindanao there are also some smaller armed

groups, some of them previously with the MILF. In my

view efforts should be made to include them in the process.



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It would be much better to try and reach an accommodation

with them as part of an agreement rather than have them

shouting from the sides and continuing their operationsafter an agreement is signed.

The issue of prisoners and ex-combatants will need careful

thought. A programme for disarmament of ex-combatants

will have to be agreed. Issues such as the timing of thisdisarmament, and whether it should be at the exact same

time as the agreement, should not be allowed to obstruct an

agreement. As long as all parties agree in principle to put

their weapons beyond use the mechanics of this can be

worked on after an agreement is signed.

Training and jobs for ex-combatants and for ex-prisoners

need to be provided. Former combatants need to be brought

into society as part of the agreement.

The needs of internally displaced people need to be

considered. Each community is different. Some will want

to return to their original homes once peace is assured.



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Others will decide to stay in their new homes, if they feel

that economic circumstances there will provide them with

better livelihoods. Where this happens, local governmentwill need to respond. This response could be in the form of,

rehousing within their new localities, or recognition of

informal settlements and provision of basic water,

sanitation, road and educational services, or assistance with

a return to their original homes.

To build the peace a programme of reconciliation will need

to be devised. This will need to include counselling for

trauma victims, including the children affected by war.

There will also need to be intra-community reconciliation

programmes. These programmes will need to be ongoing,

so that trust is built up over time.

There is a clear need for NGOs to be involved in all of

these efforts. This will require additional resources from

the NGOs, and I would ask all of them to consider what

their role will be post-Agreement. What problems and

challenges will they face post-Agreement? How can they



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increase their capacity to respond to a post-conflict

Mindanao?

But of course before any peace agreement is signed we

need the different sides in the conflict to agree.

In my view an agreement is not going to happen in the next

few days or weeks. We are still some months off.

Recent announcements of the position of each of the parties

would indicate that we are just at the early stages of a

potential settlement. The parties continue to set out their

stalls. The main thing is that discussions have begun.

What we learned in Northern Ireland is that blockages are

inevitable along the way. But they must not be allowed to

derail the process. Absolutism by either side could

potentially lead to a breakdown in the talks and even a

return to hostilities.



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This is where help needs to come from the ICG. Lessons

can be learned from Northern Ireland, from South Africa

and elsewhere. Not every issue needs to be agreed in finitedetail as part of the agreement. Some things may prove too

difficult to get absolute agreement on at the beginning, but

it may be possible to include them within the agreement,

with a commitment to revisit them post-agreement, when

trust and mutual understanding between the partiesimproves.

The issue of what to call the conflicted territory, post

agreement, and how to describe it, should not be seen as a

blockage. Deciding on whether the territory is a sub-state,

independent state, a regional government or whatever are

not as important as what the officials in the territory can do.

What powers they have in relation to setting new laws and

what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the minority

community within the territory have guarantees and

safeguards are much more important considerations.



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The issue of whether a constitutional amendment is

necessary should not be allowed to block an agreement.

This will be a difficult issue to get agreement on and somethinking outside the box will be necessary to get a

compromise that is agreeable to both sides.

In the meantime there are some things that central and local

government can do. For instance, when it comes toeducational policies in Mindanao, one issue that causes

annoyance is the relative low priority given to the history of

the Moro and the IPs within the school curriculum. The

government could announce an update to the history books

so that they would more accurately reflect the historical

context of the Moro and IP peoples in Mindanao.

Members of the main opposition parties in the national

parliament need to be involved. This will help in two ways.

It will ensure that if there is a change of personnel at the

top then a new administration is onside and up-to-date with

the peace agreement.



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Secondly, it means that they can feed back and sound out

their local congressmen, mayors and representatives on the

ground so that local sensitivities are understood,appreciated and that the agreement does not contain issues

that are simply unacceptable at a local level.

Similarly, the public needs to receive more information

about the peace process. Not everything needs to be madepublic, indeed quiet negotiations are an integral part of the

process. But selective ideas could be planted with the

media to test public opinion and to gauge whether the

public would be willing to accept these ideas as part of a

comprehensive peace plan.

Finally, the government must devise a financial package

which will be implemented immediately after the signing of

an Agreement. This package should spell out what peace

will mean to the people of the conflict area, in terms of

better job opportunities, better access to housing, education,

health and social services.



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This will cost money, and commitments for aid should be

sought not just from members of the ICG, but also from the

broader international community. Work should begin ondevising this package now, so that the economic prizes

from peace are evident.

Thank you.

Documents

Forum for Peace in Manilan Speech by Dominic Hannigan