An Phoblacht/Republican News  ·  Thursday November 30 1995

An air of unreality

Christmas fudge
Bitter words preceded deal
Twin-track troubleshooting
United demand for talks
Countrywide demos say 'save the peace process'

By MICHEAL Mac DONNCHA and LAURA FRIEL

``FLANN O'BRIEN couldn't have scripted it better because the most important point of agreement between the two was that they agreed about that which they disagreed.''

That was how Gerry Adams described Tuesday night's press conference in 10 Downing Street. Certainly there was a sense of unreality about it all as John Major and John Bruton emerged into the glare of TV lights in the State Dining Room. Could they have reached agreement after a week of some of the most public and acrimonious exchanges between London and Dublin?

This question - the first of many to be raised by the announcement - was answered in the negative by the two leaders themselves in what they said about Britain's decommissioning precondition.

John Major asserted that his position had not changed; it was still `Washington 3', an IRA surrender of weapons before Sinn Féin was allowed to enter talks. John Bruton said his position had not changed; the British precondition was unattainable.

The British Prime Minister underlined his stance when he reacted irritably to a reporter's question as to whether he would meet Gerry Adams. ``No!'' was the short, sharp answer.

Watching the press conference you knew that the question all the reporters wanted to ask was: ``Surely this is just a fudge to get you over the Clinton visit and into the New Year?''

If that wasn't said too loudly on Tuesday in Downing Street it was being said widely the next day. Gerry Adams put it this way when he spoke to the press in Belfast at noon on Wednesday:

``A number of people this morning said to me wisely and perhaps with tongues in cheek `It's a pity he hadn't been scheduled to come 12 months ago.'''

All of these of course are first impressions. Sinn Féin was not consulted prior to the announcement of the agreement and saw the finalised document only on Wednesday night. The party now intends to consider very carefully its contents and its potential. Martin McGuinness told Channel 4 News on Wednesday evening:

``It's clear from the comments by the British Prime Minister and the Unionist leadership today that it doesn't really matter what the international body comes up with, their position is that there is still going to be a precondition. And I think most people are now wondering whether the British or the unionist leadership are ever willing to negotiate.''

Speaking earlier to reporters from around the world, here to cover the Clinton visit, crowded into West Belfast's Conway Mill, Gerry Adams said that the party would be addressing the joint communique positively:

``Sinn Féin's definitive response will come in due course when we've had the opportunity to read the detail of it, to get answers to some questions about the detail of it and when we've had the opportunity of meeting collectively to consider all these matters.

``Sometime ago I put out my view that the British government have subverted the peace process to the point where it no longer exists and therefore we have to come to this seeking to evaluate whether we have a new foundation for a new phase of the process. I want to remind you therefore of our approach to the twin-track proposal. We have consistently made it clear that it must move the entire situation with urgency and without preconditions into all-party talks. That's the broad context within which we will judge this.

``I note that John Bruton made the point that unless the twin track approach removed pre-conditions that it was useless. I think that it is also worth noting that John Major in his press conference last night stressed and reiterated the pre-condition that the IRA must physically surrender weapons before there could be all-party talks.

``The joint communique is not a document which Sinn Féin would have negotiated, but then it is not a Sinn Féin document. It is one which presents some challenges for us and for the other parties and I note with, not disappointment, but a sense of continuing concern that the unionist attitude, Mr Trimble and Mr Paisley, were predictably negative. I would have to ask Mr Trimble and Mr Paisley do they really want peace, how can they have peace or how can we all enjoy peace if there cannot be talks about the very issues needed to build the foundation of peace.

``I have made the point that the joint communique is not our document. It is the Irish and British governments'. Some people will see it as a stall by the British government and it may be but I will repeat again the broad context with which we approach this and if I were permitted to write the headline or sound bite this, it would be that Sinn Féin views a two-track approach as one which will move the situation into all-party talks without pre-conditions and as quickly as possible. We will approach this communique positively on the basis of our integrity and our analysis and with a will to move the situation forward. Important here is not John Major or Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley, David Trimble or John Bruton - it is whether this provides the foundation for peace for the people of this island.''

As republicans and others now reflect on whether this agreement has the potential to revive the peace process they could do worse than heed the words of Raymond Ferguson, a Unionist councillor, at the Eigse, the West Belfast Winter School, last weekend. He told his audience that ``if the IRA piled up weapons on every street corner and the Army collected them in lorries, it wouldn't matter. [Unionist] people still wouldn't believe them. We need trust, not gestures,'' he said.

Ferguson, who is also a member of the Ulster Unionist Party's policy-making committee pointed up the absurd nature of the British demand for an IRA surrender when he said: ``The British seem to be saying that if there is a gesture of decommissioning, then all-party talks will begin. Well, the DUP won't be there and the Ulster Unionist Party has no position on it.''