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THE recent BBC drama Five Minutes of Heaven has once again brought the thorny issue of truth and reconciliation in Northern Ireland into the public spotlight – even thought, to an extent, progress in this area at present is likely to be difficult because of the return of Republican paramilitary activity to the province.

At the same time, last week’s political drama centred on the swift departure of the UK’s most senior anti-terrorism police officer, Bob Quick, after he was photographed with papers concerning Operation Pathway – the smashing of an alleged al-Qaeda-style cell – while arriving for a meeting with the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

The spread of extremist thought among young Muslims throughout the UK is cause for concern, so we are constantly being told. Leaving aside for a moment reports that 11 of the 12 arrested as part of Pathway were from Pakistan, prompting Gordon Brown to once again focus on problems within the Asian state, there appears to be political census that this is an issue that must be tackled, but few ideas as to how.

Terrorism’s root causes are most often inequality (perceived or real), discrimination, deprivation and poverty. If we look at two of the most enduring post-war actions in which paramilitary action and terrorism have played defining roles, in Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine, those factors have defined the conflicts.

Muslim communities in the UK, are demographically dominated by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, with sizeable individual concentrations from other nations, such as Somalis in Cardiff, found in unique locations. Generally, these communities have not assimilated into British life as well as West Indians and Indians.

There could be a spectrum of reasons for this. To begin with, those communities are generally not as well-established as other immigrant groupings. As a consequence, they may have struggled for acceptance until much more recently, and may also have faced discrimination from other ethnic groups. In addition, Islam plays a central part in the lives of its adherents in a way rarely understood here. West Indians also often share a common religion with the UK.

A strong, separate identity among young British muslims has grown up in recent years, mixing elements of hip hop culture with Pakistani and Bengali heritage. This East meets West has, it is commonly supposed, contributed to a sense of alienation that is attributed as a cause of rising extremism here.

But a polarised community that is prepared to fight over its differences can’t be taken as a whole and must instead be broken down into levels of commitment. This allows reconciliation with moderates and, usually for military purposes, isolation of fanatics.

Northern Ireland once again makes a good case study here. Of the country’s 680,000 Catholics, the overwhelming majority have or are committed to the peaceful cessation of the country from the union. From the mid-80s onwards, as few as 50 people were regarded by the security forces as members of IRA active service units. If that number were ramped up into the hundreds, it would still represent a tiny minority of opinion – although, of course, there were often thousands of supporters, particularly in notorious areas like West Belfast and South Armagh, and often willing to lend active support.

If we apply this ratio to the UK’s 1.8 million Muslim Asians, it would leave plenty of people whose opinion could be swayed. The best way to do this is through proper education and on to prosperity. This, however, takes years. In the meantime, why not draw on the experiences of former paramilitaries to work with young British Muslims in an effort to persuade them that peace always solves more than violence?

Five Minutes of Heaven highlighted the life of Alistair Little. A former UVF gunman whose incarceration for murder led to a rethinking of his beliefs, Little has worked extensively in his home country and in the former Yugoslavia on truth and reconciliation projects.

There was considerable media debate over the usefulness of the Government’s Young Muslim Advisory Group when it was launched last year, focusing particularly on the access members of the group would have to ministers. Little works with a charitable organisation called The Forgiveness Project. With well-known figures like Desmond Tutu, Michael Watson, the parents and Victoria Climbie and the Brighton bomber, Patrick Magee, it also boasts a wealth of experience from Muslims from all across the world – including those from areas of conflict such as Palestine.

Its work, within prisons (where Islamist radicalisation is said to be gaining traction) and within schools, is something the Government could support. It could also go one further. With Sinn Fein and other electoral groups formerly aligned to paramilitaries now committed to the Peace Process, could ministers impress upon their new political colleagues to supply the men and women whose knowledge of violence could well help bring an end to a new chapter of division in this country?