Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Everything we are has been learned. When one is brought up in an environment, a geographical area that is divided along sectarian lines, the way to deal with this is to deal with sectarianism. Sectarianism has been supported by the churches and used historically as a position of supremacy in that way and economically. Therefore, one must deal with it, but how is that to be done? One deals with it through integration, including in education. One cannot change people who have lived through the past 60, 70 or 80 years and have an entrenched position. One must look beyond this if one is talking about creating emotional reconciliation. That will only start with early intervention, at a very young age. That is how one deals with sectarianism.

I disagree with Dr. Mason. Perhaps things have slipped back in certain parts of Belfast, but, overall, the situation has not been too bad. Last year the committee was on the Newtownards Road and met Jimmy Birch, Denis Cunningham, John Bunting and Jackie McDonald inside UDA headquarters. That was a huge step. Four years ago one would probably have ended up on the bonfire if one had picked the wrong night to go there and vice versa, but that visit demonstrates how far we have come. There is an onus and a responsibility on both the churches and political representatives to go along the road towards early intervention to deal with the root cause of the problem in the North - sectarianism.