Two community leaders were appointed yesterday to study how to reconcile Northern Ireland's ertswhile Catholic and Protestant foes, including possibly setting up a South African-style "truth" commission.After consulting with the province's new power-sharing self-rule government, Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain appointed retired Anglican archbishop Robin Eames and former Catholic priest Denis Bradley to the job.
The independent consultative group headed by the pair would consult widely and "suggest how Northern Ireland might approach its past in a way that heals rather than poisons," said Hain. "It would not be an easy task."
The panel chiefs said much work was needed to wipe away the pain of the past and create a proper-functioning Northern Ireland since Catholics and Protestants resumed sharing power in an autonomous government in May.
Bradley, a former priest and community mediator, said: "This is a consultation, people might think it is the Truth and Reconciliation South Africa model — this is not what we are about.
"We may recommend that at the end of the day, people may convince us that is the way to go, but we may not make that recommendation," Bradley said. We start with a clean sheet."
The truth commission which shone the light on the abuses committed by all sides during whites-only rule in South Africa is credited with playing a major role in the last decade in reconciling the races of the so-called Rainbow Nation.
Acting as international advisors to the panel here are former Finnish prime minister Martti Ahtisaari, who helped ensure the Irish Republican Army scrapped its arms, and South African lawyer Brian Currin, who mediated in disputes here.
Lord Eames, who retired as Archbishop of Armagh six months ago, said the group had been promised complete independence and was asked to report back to the government by the middle of next year.
"Will it be the final piece of the jigsaw-who knows?" Eames said.
"It could be one of the final pieces if we do our job properly, but it is by no means the end of the story."
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland, who worked closely with his British counterpart Tony Blair on the Northern Ireland peace process, hailed the panel's establishment as a positive step toward full reconciliation.
"There are no easy answers," Ahern said in a statement from Dublin.
"But while I believe that our focus must always be on building a better future for the people of this island, it is right that we think again about how we try and address the human legacy of an appalling conflict," he said.
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