Northern Ireland groups maintain a safe distance

Date: 02/11/1995

Northern Irish Euro MP John Hume's decision to take some of the region's unemployed to Strasbourg was intended as a contribution towards bringing the two communities in the province closer together. It didn't quite work.

Certainly the group of more than 30 from the jobless register who were divided more or less equally between Protestants and Catholics got along perfectly well. But their presence at last week's session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg session put the fear of God into one group of God-fearing visitors from the same area.

By coincidence Hume's fellow Northern Ireland MEP Ian Paisley had visitors in town at the same plenary, a group from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). They reacted with horror to learn that the Hume contingent included one or two people with former terrorist links. (Even Hume said before the visit: “A year ago some of these people would have been out to get me.”)

The DUP contingent decided to avoid any danger of bumping into the other party, and sought a detailed itinerary for Hume's guests from the Parliament's Visitors' Service. Officialdom even provided information about which Parliament corridor they would be using and when. The DUP delegation swiftly adjusted its own programme to ensure there was no confrontation.

A classic case of cross-party cooperation.