Tuesday 23rd September 2003

This is a solemn occasion for all of us as we meet to dedicate a memorial to all who lost their lives in the cause of freedom, justice and peace in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2001. Those years will forever be remembered as a period of suffering, death and destruction in the Province which has left its indelible mark in the history of our island home. It is a period which recalls the very worst that human kind can inflict on itself through violence, murder and terrorism. It is a period when the eyes of the world were focused on the conflict in Northern Ireland and many despaired of an end to what we called ‘The Troubles’. It is a period when for many present here today loved ones were taken from their sight in a conflict which questioned their understanding but left them with their human memories of a loved face, voice or personality. For the human cost of those years will forever remain when much else is forgotten. But it was also a period when bravery, dedication to duty, courage and steadfastness in devotion to the highest call of decency always gave us hope. Truly we recall today years when the entire tapestry of human endeavour was exposed for all to see.

Within that tapestry we pay our tribute to the men and women of the armed services, the members of the RUC GC and its Reserve, the Prison Service, and all who provided the protection of human life, upheld the rule of law and together provided the framework of a whole community’s effort to defeat terrorism. For them the cost and the danger was constant. We know of those examples when lives were protected and action against terrorism was successful. But equally we cannot estimate those many times when terrorism was prevented with no publicity. We know of the duties carried out in the name of democracy – but equally we cannot estimate the everyday pressures and tensions under which those duties were fulfilled. Truly it can be said we remember today every facet of human sacrifice of those years.

Memory is a fragile and personal emotion. It has been rightly said that memory is what to a large extent makes us what we are. The memory of sadness, loss and tears, the memory of loved ones no longer with us, that myriad of human reflection on the past recalls both the light and the darkness. We cannot remove memory from consciousness of the present. The truth is that what really matters is how we deal with those memories. As the poet reminds us some memories ‘lie too deep for tears.’

But life moves on. Towards the end of the period 1969 to 2001 hope began to become a reality. There were the first glimmers of an end to the suffering and the loss. Saner voices and actions grasped the possibilities and the fragile plant of peace in Northern Ireland has begun to appear. It is a fragile plant but it is slowly becoming a reality. The lives we recall today have made that planting a real possibility. Let that fact dominate our thinking, dominate our memories, at this moment of solemnity.

Here in the heart of the United Kingdom where an entire nation is building a place of remembrance the Ulster Ash Grove takes its place as a living memorial.

We can tell something of the age of a tree by examining the rings nature portrays on its bark. Each year that passes another ring gives evidence of growth. A tree keeps growing and more rings are added as time passes. These Irish Ash trees will be a living memorial. Their presence in years and generations to come will be a reminder of human lives – but they will also be a testimony that life moves on. Surely our prayer today is that this living memorial to loss will be a symbol of what can be built on sacrifice. It can become a testimony to dedication and self-sacrifice but also a symbol of genuine hope for the future. Above all can it be a symbol to what can happen when humankind finds the opportunity and the vision to turn swords into ploughshares?

So we have come to remember. We have come to pay tribute. We have come to dedicate this living memorial to the glory of God. May we leave this place with our individual memories but also with our hope and our vision that we have confined to history a time when brave men and women doing their duty and making their sacrifice have given us all the chance for a future of peace, reconciliation and safety?

At some time in the future a generation yet unborn will look at these trees. They will read their history books. They will wonder about it all. Pray God they will see in this place a testimony to service, dedication and courage in an age when a community faced great danger but survived to build a better future for all.

In thankfulness to God, in tribute to those who died and in humble remembrance we offer this Grove as a living memorial to the very best humanity can give to generations yet unborn.

We will remember them …