Still adding names to the book of victims

This is the situation in Coleraine this week: on one side of town, one family burying a husband and father; one family sitting in vigil by the bed of a brother on a life support machine; on the other side of town, eight or nine families with someone in custody facing serious charges in relation to the murder of a community leader who was set upon by a lynch mob who had descended on the street outside his home.

What does the fatal beating of Mr. McDaid tell us about the new, post-political agreement Northern Ireland?

It is that while the vast majority of our people are enjoying a time of unprecedented peace, there are sections of our society, on both sides, for whom life still has the potential to be nasty and brutal and who feel that the wider peace has somehow passed them by.

In certain localities, the social problems normally associated with deprived areas of the inner city or town, when mixed with our wider, enduring problem of sectarianism produce a lethal cocktail that is still creating victims.

While we have a working political agreement and the Troubles can rightly be viewed as history, our conflict has left a legacy that means the book of victims is not yet finished; new names are still being added. And this week, the ink is not yet dry on the name of Kevin McDaid.

What can be done?

I am aware that among various officials and on the ground in Coleraine in these days, people are busying themselves with thoughts of how best to respond to this latest challenge to the integrity of the town. However, my concern is that the response to Kevin McDaid’s killing should be strategic, coherent and authoritative.

Strategic, by having a clear vision and sense of direction to any new initiatives.

Coherent, in that there needs to be joined-up thinking between the statutory and community sectors and between Government and the local Council.

Authoritative, because there needs to be ministerial support to a strategic response for Coleraine. In this case, that means joint ministerial backing from the First and deputy First Minister, reinforced by cross-party endorsement from public representatives.