other important step towards lasting peace
The paper presented by Sinn Féin to the British government at
Stormont on Wednesday shows that republicans
are entering talks with a clear and progressive analysis which
sets out a confident way forward. Indeed, because that analysis
goes to the heart of the conflict in Ireland - British
jurisdiction in the Six Counties - it charts the only realistic
agenda for change.
In contrast, the Unionists are still fixed against change. They
too realise that British jurisdiction is at the heart of the
conflict but they are desperately trying to hold back the tide of
change. No wonder they approach the prospect of talks with
republicans with such panic and confusion.
But the time is coming when the unionists must embrace a strategy
for change. Already, many within the unionist community are
coming to terms with the fact that the future can be nothing like
the past. It is increasingly clear that the days of domination
and inequality are slipping away. Nationalists have stood up and
said loudly that there can never be a return to the type of
relationships which the Six County statelet threw up. They are
also saying loudly that there cannot be a reverse of unionist
supremacy - nationalists do not seek to dominate. Instead, they
are holding out the hand of equality to unionists. It is to be
hoped that unionists will have the confidence to enter talks and
to grasp that hand of equality.
The logic of the republican analysis and the continuing lesson of
history is that that future of equality can only come with the
end of British jurisdiction in the Six Counties. A statelet which
was founded on unionist domination can only free its citizens by
dismantling the structures which have given rise to sectarianism
and bigotry. That should be the task of the forthcoming talks.
There is a new future for the people of this island and it should
be grasped with confidence.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif)