Would ' anger management ' work for our politicians in Northern Ireland ?
We should not forget for more than three decades in Northern Ireland we woke up daily to learn of another bombing, shooting or worse, killing.
To suggest that the public should be thankful to Loyalists, Republicans and the State for putting away their guns should not be interpreted that there was any justification for the application of violence.
The willingness of local people in South Armagh to give their names and to say publicly that they opposed the planting of a 600llbs bomb near Forkhill speaks volumes.
For them ' the war is over ' and they do not want any return to the bad old days.
Churchill said "jaw -jaw is better than war- war." That is a truism.
Churchill would know too that 'Jaw- jaw' hurts and hurts badly.
The endless fusillade of jibes, insults, name-calling and bickering among Northern Ireland politicians is killing the hopes and dreams of thousands of people striving daily to bring happiness to the less well off.
Why must our politicians feel the need to shout, scream and hurl insults to make a point ?
Scores of teachers, carers, parents and Heads of the Services are working frantically daily to encourage , cajole or persuade those in their charge in the classroom or where-ever to have manners and to respect another person's point of view.
They expect leadership and role modelling from their elected representatives.
The alternative to realising order in community is chaos.
Opinion on radio, on television and at public gatherings argues the backbone of society, the social workers, teachers , taxi drivers and everyone who gives a service inside and outside the home is despairing at the tone being struck by the politicians in the Assembly.
The bulk of people here get a living and manage to survive.
They dream however, of better times to come for their children and ageing parents and for their retirement.
No one can deny some politicians do good work and it must be galling for the elected men and women who are outside their homes for up to eighteen hours a day doing what they believe to be a good job for their constituents and yet they get lumped in with those meriting criticism.
Practically every studio where there are rival politicians discussing any subject ends up a bear pit.
SDLP members bristle in the presence of Sinn Fein elected members. Dup elected representatives compete with each other to find more venomous language to target Sinn Fein and Ulster Unionists when it suits.
Sinn Fein habitually engage in
' whataboutery ' the exception being Martin Mc Guinness who has privately earned the respect of some Unionists for his forward looking thinking even if they do not forget that he was in the IRA.
Listening to people across Northern Ireland they want an end to all this bile, venom and nastiness hurled across the Assembly chamber and over the airwaves.
It is not good enough for politicians to defend the ugliness they visit on our homes by simply saying " Ah well - That is part of the cut and thrust of politics."
When are politicians going to realise that their behaviour and apparent inability to agree on anything is tearing people apart - people who are wrestling with children suffering from autism , people who are house bound supporting their ageing parents.?
People across Northern Ireland under the yoke of recession need hope.
They want to hear politicians spelling out collectively how problems are going to be tackled and resolved.
One of the big burning issues is Education.
The Executive is where people expect their ministers to overcome problems and make common cause for the greater good.
Daft talk of CSR, Monitoring Rounds, RPA, PPS and so on simly shut people out. Exclusivism replaces inclusivism.
Ian Paisley, for all his historical faults helped foster ' a political miracle ' in Northern Ireland in grasping the nettle in going into government with Sinn Fein.
He was quite incendiary in many of his utterances down the years.
This is a new era. Politicians need to be careful. A more thinking generation of better educated young people is emerging.
The day may come soon when those seeking election will reap what they sow at the ballot box. People want solutions not argy- bargy.
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