Implementation - the ultimate test
BY MICHAEL PIERSE
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We welcome the proposals to close one sangar, one base and two
observation towers but this cannot be seen as a substitute for a
strategy for demilitarisation
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Three years ago, the Irish people voted for the Good Friday
Agreement and therefore, it is the benchmark for progress in the
peace process. After the Weston Park discussions the two
governments promised to bring forward a strategic plan to see the
Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. Yesterday's proposals
from the two governments do make some progress along the road of
implementation, but fall short on a range of important matters.
We welcome the commitment to deliver the new beginning to
policing, promised in the Good Friday Agreement, through the
implemention of the Patten report. We will study in detail the
revised implementation plan, the additional role envisaged for
the Oversight Commissioner and the legislative changes promised.
We will view them in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and
the recommendations of the Patten report.
However, it is clear that what is required to make this new
beginning a reality is amending legislation to ensure that the
requirements of the Agreement in respect of accountability,
community representation and freedom from partisan political
control are met.
With regard to the issue of arms, the Good Friday Agreement is
clear. All of the parties - including the two governments - have
a collective responsibility to deal with this issue. The
government proposals recognise this fact and further recognise
that the resolution of any of the outstanding issues cannot be
seen as a precondition for progress on any of the others.
Sinn Féin wants to see this issue resolved. It has done more than
any other party to see it resolved and a lot of progress has been
made. It is almost seven years since the first IRA cessation, IRA
arms dumps have been inspected and the IICD have stated that the
IRA are engaging in good faith. If we are to see the Agreement
implemented in full, then all of the other parties and the two
governments must begin to use their influence to deal with this
issue also.
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The democratic rights and entitlements of nationalists and
republicans cannot be conditional. These are universal rights and
they benefit everyone
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The IRA is not waiting to hear Sinn Féin's interpretation of this
document. It is a public document and it does not need Sinn Féin
or for that matter any other party to interpret it or to advise
the IRA on what it should do.
The Good Friday Agreement also demanded that the British
government bring forward a strategic plan for the
demilitarisation of society. This has not yet happened. In fact,
areas like South Armagh have been remilitarised since the signing
of the Good Friday Agreement.
The British government has to accept its responsibility for
militarising the political struggle. Not only has it a huge
military infrastructure but there is also a massive ongoing
intelligence gathering and surveillance strategy in place. The
British government needs to consider what it has done to instill
confidence that it is serious about advancing the Good Friday
Agreement.
We welcome the proposals to close one sangar, one base and two
observation towers, but this cannot be seen as a substitute for a
strategy for demilitarisation. This matter must be dealt with by
the British government and not be subject to security assessments
by the RUC Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan.
Although not addressed directly in the proposals, the stability
of the political institutions is at the heart of the Good Friday
Agreement. All of the parties to the Agreement recognised this
and furthermore supported the fact that the institutions would be
interlocking and interdependent. However, in the past three years
they have only been allowed to operate, without threat of
unionist disruption, for a period of five months. This is
unacceptable. The UUP cannot be allowed to continue to undermine
the Good Friday Agreement in this manner.
We must all be mindful of the tragic context of continued attacks
and deaths carried out by loyalist death squads that has formed
the backdrop to these proposals. It is obvious that the issues of
policing, the political institutions, demilitarisation, the arms
issue, human rights, the justice system and the equality agenda,
are issues that are vital to securing peace with justice on this
island. It is important that these issues are also recognised as
stand alone issues, to be resolved in their own right.
Moreover, the democratic rights and entitlements of nationalists
and republicans cannot be conditional. These are universal rights
and they benefit everyone.
Sinn Féin will examine these proposals in detail in the coming
days and at its Árd Comhairle meeting on Friday, 3 August, to see
if they contain the potential to deliver the full implementation
of the Good Friday Agreement. That will be the ultimate test for
this package.
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