Hevesi criticises Garvaghy decision
By Dennis M. Prebensen
``The message (the British government is sending) is: violence
pays,'' said Alan Hevesi, the comptroller of the City of New York.
``Whomever threatens and delivers the most violence wins.''
Hevesi was speaking at a special briefing last Thursday afternoon
in his office at City Hall, New York, following his return from a
trip to Ireland and England to view the situation regarding
loyalist marches, particularly on the Garvaghy Road, and to
attend meetings on the MacBride Principles.
``I was dismayed and disappointed by the actions of the British
government,'' he told an overflow crowd of Irish Americans in the
boardroom.
Hevesi told the group that before he left, he felt that Mo Mowlam
was acting ``in good faith'' to find a solution to the Drumcree
parade and all the loyalists' marches. But commenting on the
British reneging on a promise to notify the nationalists of their
decision on the Garvaghy Road march he said, ``Now (good faith) is
in question.''
The comptroller was accompanied on his trip by former NYC Police
Commissioner William Bratten, and First Deputy Police
Commissioner John Timoney. The three men traveled to the Garvaghy
Road in Portadown as part of a group of international human
rights observers.
Commenting on the decision to force the march through the
Garvaghy Road without consultation with the residents, Hevesi
declared, ``it's the worst decision that could have been made. It
really damages the peace effort.''
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