Sinn Féin underlines political crisis
By Seán Brady
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No one should underestimate the extent of the crisis that we are in now. Sixteen months after the Good Friday Agreement we still have no Executive, no all-Ireland Ministerial Council, no demilitarisation paper from the British government, no human rights or equality agenda
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Martin Ferris
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Reaction to last week's IRA statement varied, with the Ulster Unionist Party predictably portraying it as ``menacing'' and a ``thinly-veiled threat''. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern refused to comment, except to say that the Dublin government was ``neither encouraged nor discouraged about what we heard overnight''.
On Thursday, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said the failure to implement the Good Friday Agreement had ``cheated'' people of 14 months of progress. ``It doesn't take a genius to work out that it is going to be nigh impossible to bring about decommissioning by May 2000. I think many people could be forgiven for thinking there is no likelihood whatsoever of there being an executive, not this year or next,'' he added.
Also on Thursday, Sinn Féin representatives met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. Speaking in Downing Street ,Martin McGuinness said: ``Unless the unionists and the British government play their part within this process, in my opinion there is no prospect whatsoever of the armed groups decommissioning... before next May... The unionists and the British government have to recognise there is no singular responsibility on Sinn Féin to deal with the issue of decommissioning.''
McGuinness said he had told Trimble and Blair in recent weeks that ``ultimately they will have more influence over the IRA than Gerry Adams and I ever will. That's a very clear message. The responsibility to deal with this issue is a collective responsibility - it includes David Trimble, it includes Tony Blair, it also includes Sinn Féin.
``We are prepared to play our part. But the task we have been set, in the context of no political change... is, in my opinion, an impossible one. So it's everybody's shoulder to the wheel, not just Sinn Féin's.''
On Friday, Sinn Féin held a bilateral meeting with representatives of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). Speaking afterwards, Sinn Féin North Belfast Assembly Member Gerry Kelly said: ``Our meeting with the PUP this morning was constructive and worthwhile. The meeting took place at our request and is one of a series to inform all of the other parties as to our assessment of the state of the peace process.
``We discussed a range of issues affecting the peace process and the proposed review of those aspects of the Good Friday Agreement which are in default. ie. the establishment of the Executive, the all-Ireland Ministerial Council, British/Irish Council and the Implementation Bodies.
``We stressed the importance of all the pro-Agreement parties taking their responsibility to implement the Agreement as negotiated seriously. We voiced our concern that the Ulster Unionists are being allowed to stall the whole process on the basis of guns that are silent.
``And although the main burden of responsibility for that lies with David Trimble, ultimately the buck stops with Tony Blair. The British government has moved away from the Good Friday Agreement and backwards in the direction of exclusion. It has conceded to the unionist politics of veto, which clearly breaches the letter and spirit of the Agreement.''
Last Saturday, 31 July, Sinn Féin's Ard Chomhairle met in Dublin. Kerry County Councillor and Ard Chomhairle member Martin Ferris emerged from the meeting to tell journalists that deliberations would continue and that the main business of the meeting was the current state of the peace process.
He said: ``No one should underestimate the extent of the crisis that we are in now. Sixteen months after the Good Friday Agreement we still have no Executive, no all-Ireland Ministerial Council, no demilitarisation paper from the British government, no human rights or equality agenda.
``In our view this is because the British government has allowed the unionists to obstruct the implementation of the Agreement at every stage. Many republicans and nationalists now believe that the Unionist Party leadership do not want to share power.
``The planned review in September has to be seen in this context. Sinn Féin will judge the review on whether or not we believe it can make a difference. We have not yet concluded our deliberations on this matter. But I have to say that there are many who are sceptical and see this as an exericise in providing unionists with another opportunity to try and renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement.
On Monday, Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly said that claims by Dermot Nesbitt of the UUP that his party is not opposed to an inclusive Executive involving Sinn Féin were a distortion of the truth. ``When people look behind the words of Dermot Nesbitt and examine the actions of the UUP, it becoms clear that they have opposed the formation of an inclusive Executive and sought the collapse of the institutions agreed under the Good Friday Agreement.''
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