Press Releases30 May 04

Dedication of RUC memorial window in Portadown - extracts from Archbishop Eames' address

DEDICATION OF MEMORIAL WINDOW TO THE RUC GC AND RUC RESERVE PERSONNEL KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY

St Mark?s Parish Church, Portadown
30 May 2004

EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESS BY ARCHBISHOP ROBIN EAMES

On this solemn occasion we have paused to remember men and women of the RUC GC and the RUC Reserve who laid down their lives in times of great tension and violence in this Province. They are a part of history. But for those who knew them and those who loved them they will never be mere statistics. They were human beings with all the complex attributes of human nature. They were loved within families, they were known by colleagues, they had their hopes and their fears and because of their jobs they were called upon to do what they could to protect the community from evil. In the course of that task they gave their lives. No memorial and no stained glass window, no matter how appropriate can possibly mirror the tragedy of lives sacrificed in that way. For those who knew them best no memorial can replace love or friendship, comradeship or companionship.

They are a part of our troubled past. Today we are confronted with many questions about that past. Many of those questions will never be answered fully. There are lessons to be learned. There are successes to be acclaimed and mistakes to be admitted.

Reviewing history is essential if the past is to produce a better today and tomorrow. But history can play strange tricks. The record of the past when viewed years later can all too easily be judged by the feelings of the moment. There is always the danger that actions or words of the past are not read or noted in the light of the circumstances of the time. None of us should doubt that the people we remember today, their lives and their service, were carried out in years of immense danger and turmoil. Their sacrifice because of the uniform they wore took place when an entire community was denied the opportunity to ask questions of real depth about the future such was the urgency of the moment. What they did and what they stood for was their response to that urgency. Without their bravery and their sacrifice who knows what sort of situation we would face today.

When history looks back to those dark days of suffering let praise, tribute, condemnation and criticism be treated alike. Let it be judged with compassion for ordinary men and women called to do an extraordinary job in extraordinary circumstances. Let history acknowledge the situations in which they found themselves. Let judgement be influenced by admiration for their response to the call to serve and let judgement recognise bravery not everyone even today is capable of.