Canada to hear Garvaghy facts
GEORGES BERIAULT, a member of a high-powered Canadian delegation that
witnessed events on the Garvaghy Road on July 6 when the crown
forces forced an Orange march through the nationalist enclave
spoke to An Phoblacht about what they saw on that day.
The delegation, made up of members of the Information on Ireland
Campaign and the Coalition for Peace in Ireland, were in Ireland
as observers to events over the Drumcree and Twelfth period. They
were invited by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and the
Lower Ormeau Concerned Community. The group also met Sinn Fein
President Gerry Adams, West Belfast community groups,
representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party, the NIO, RUC and
George Patton of the Orange Order.
Of their meeting with RUC Chief Ronnie Flanagan Beriault said:
``He accused Warren Allmand, former Canadian Solicitor General, of
being non-independent and challenged statements he made in the
press about the behaviour of the RUC. In fact he said Allmand
left a false impression of the Garvaghy Road operation in the
media. I would describe Flanagan as being aggressive and
impolite.''
Beriault is a French-Canadian trades unionist with a long time
interest in events in Ireland. He was shocked by the
``concentration of military and police power on the Garvaghy Road
that morning. It was more than an excessive presence in such a
small area and the degree of apprehension was something I haven't
felt in a long while. As well the RUC with their balaclavas and
new black uniform were like robocops; this added to the threat
and menace of the situation.''
Among the delegation were two MPs Roger Gallaway and Chris
Axworthy from the Democratic and Liberal parties both of whom
expressed a desire to return to the North next year, especially
after what happened on Garvaghy. Both men have also agreed to
participate in tours of Canada when they will report their
findings from the North to universities, human rights groups and
trades unionists.
The delegation will be reporting back to the Candadian Department
of External Affairs. ``They will be able to clarify a lot of the
misconceptions that exist in External Affairs about Ireland'',
said Beriault.
Beriault maintained that their trip would also go some way to
counter the view that Canada is a stronghold of Orangeism. ``A lot
of Irish nationalists now live in Canada and are obviously eager
to hear about developments. Also in places like Montreal which
has a 75 to 80% French Canadian population, a lot of whom claim
Irish descent, there is a very big interest in Ireland and among
trades union groups in Quebec there has always been strong
support for Irish self-determination. In Toronto the nationalist
emigrant population is also very large, so generally what we want
to do in Canada is become a focal point and try to get people to
look at the effects of British imperialism in Ireland.
``We hope that Garvaghy Rcan be a catalyst that will get Canadians
to see the situation in Ireland in a different light.''
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