other chance for progress
BY MICHEAL MacDONNCHA
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The most positive factor of all is that the nationalist people of
the Six Counties enter this new situation stronger and more
confident than ever.
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If the restoration of the IRA cessation was greeted with less
euphoria than the 31 August1994 announcement it was no less
momentous and historic. Another big step has been taken towards
the democratic resolution of the conflict. For republicans
another phase of struggle has begun.
The cessation of 31 August 1994 came as the culmination of a long
period of building a peace process. It created unprecedented hope
and the prospect of an end to 25 years of war. To succeed it
needed real and substantive negotiations. John Major and the
unionists ensured that such negotiations never happened and the
peace process collapsed.
The device they used to block real negotiations was the utterly
meaningless demand for IRA decommissioning of weapons. For the
entire 18 months of the cessation which began in August 1994 the
British and the unionists took everyone around the houses again
and again on the decommissioning issue. The unique opportunity
was frittered away. The momentous nature of the IRA decision at
that time was, it seemed on the surface, neither appreciated nor
understood. But of course it was understood by the British and
the unionists. Former Ulster Unionist Party leader Jim Molyneaux
showed his thinking when he described the IRA cessation as the
most destabilising factor in the North in 25 years.
The unionists and Major successfully kept Sinn Féin out of talks.
But what is not often commented upon is the fact that the
unionists were determined to stop even those some-party talks
from discussing the substantive issues - the Union with Britain
and the need for equality. The unionists want Sinn Féin kept out
of talks; their desire to keep the Union off the agenda is even
stronger.
Patient work by Sinn Féin and others led to the political
situation which Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness described to
the IRA last week when they urged a cessation. The key elements
in the situation are first, the commitment of the British and
Irish governments to inclusive peace talks and the assurance that
they would take place; second, the shared commitment to
significant and substantial change, to issues of equality and
demilitarisation on the part of Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Dublin
government, and Irish American opinion. (Statement in more detail
on page 10).
Two new governments in London and Dublin were politically obliged
to make strenuous renewed efforts to rebuild the peace process.
In Dublin the departure of the Bruton administration was a
positive development; the commitment of Bertie Ahern to represent
the interests of Northern nationalists was another.
The extent of the political transformation now required was
demonstrated at Drumcree. If the British government mindset which
led to that ordeal for the people of the Garvaghy Road does not
change, if issues of equality are not addressed before, during
and after the talks, then the process will have failed again.
The most positive factor of all is that the nationalist people of
the Six Counties enter this new situation stronger and more
confident than ever. Their strength and confidence throughout the
past three years has reinvigorated nationalist Ireland at home
and abroad. It was demonstrated in the greatly increased vote for
Sinn Féin.
The mass mobilisation of nationalist people across the Six
Counties prevented the repetition of the ordeal of Garvaghy Road
on Lower Ormeau. People power forced the Orange Order to act with
some sense and to avert the crisis. That lesson of street
politics and of people power is very important in the period
ahead of nationalists. It must form a central part of the new
peace process.
Republicans have never lost sight of what has guided them
throughout their long struggle. It is the same ideal that has
guided them in the formation of their peace strategy and in all
the negotiations and political developments that established the
peace process. That ideal is the republican aim of Irish unity
and independence. It was repeated in the IRA statement announcing
the cessation: ``The IRA is committed to ending British rule in
Ireland.''
During the past week some commentators were to the fore in
accusing Sinn Féin of lowering its aspirations. It began on
Thursday 17 July when an Irish News reporter interpreted an
article in the same paper by Gerry Adams as Sinn Féin ``softening
its stance'' on Irish unity. But the article was specifically on
the subject of equality. The core of it was the demand that the
British government take immediate action on a range of issues
including equality in employment opportunities, in economic
investment in areas of high unemplyment, in Irish language and
culture, in education resources, in ending repressive
leigislation, in disbanding the RUC, in release of political
prisoners.
Adams said these issues and many more were matters for the
British government - not for negotiation. ``These are matters of
policy - not negotiation. These are rights, civil and political
rights which every citizen in every democraitc state should be
entitled to.'' He said that ``if a durable settlement is to be
reached there must be a constructive context within which to
resolve the conflict''.
Some commentators homed in on the phrase that Adams used when he
said that Sinn Féin would press for ``renegotiation of the Union''.
But as he pointed out the next day the Irish News interpreted
this in an ``incorrect and misleading'' way. ``Sinn Féin is a
republican party and our primary objective is a united Ireland''
he said.
The point, as mentioned earlier, is that the Union must be on the
talks table and the aim of republicans in those negotiations is
the ending of the Union.
The key phrase of the week came from Martin McGuinness:
``Negotiations are an area of struggle for Irish republicans.'' He
outlined the republican approach to negotiations:
``Sinn Féin will enter any negotiations as an Irish republican
party seeking national self-determination for the Irish people
and an end to British rule. Partition is wrong. It is a failure
of the past which must be put right. In our view the issue of
sovereignty - the claim of the British government to sovereignty
in Ireland - is the key matter which must be addressed in any
negotiation. It is our view that an independent united Ireland
achieved by agreement offers the best and most durable basis for
peace and stability. An internal Six-County arrangement cannot
work.''
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)