Looking to a republican democracy
Below is an edited version of the speech by Mid-Ulster MP Martin
McGuinness at the annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration at Bodenstown
on Sunday 22 June
We are here in Bodenstown today, we are in good heart, we are in
good shape and in our fifteen years of fighting elections we have
our biggest mandate ever. Our mandate is an All-Ireland one which
has stunned our political opponents North and South. We are the
only political party with an All-Ireland mandate and an
All-Ireland agenda.
I want to congratulate our candidates in all those elections.
This is the electoral breakthrough we have been working for and
provides us with the foundation on which to build for the future.
I would also like to congratulate Dodie Mc Guinness and Joan O
Connor, the Six and Twenty-Six county Directors of Elections and
all of our party candidates, workers, supporters and voters for
the tremendous successes achieved on both sides of the border. We
must use this strengthened mandate to move forward in a positive
fashion.
Some of our political opponents and others in the media are at
pains to interpret a vote for Sinn Féin as a vote for violence.
Not only are they wrong but their comments are both unjust and a
direct incitement to loyalists to mount attacks on Sinn Féin
members and Councillors like James Mc Carry and their families.
Sinn Féin is committed to a single strategy of seeking a
negotiated democratic settlement of the conflict on this island.
We believe that a durable peace can only be achieved through
dialogue and negotiation based on the democratic principles of
equality and inclusion.
A vote for Sinn Féin is a vote for our political analysis that
British domination and injustice should end and for our proven
commitment to our peace strategy. A vote for Sinn Féin is a vote
for peace.
Those who have been the most vociferous in lecturing Sinn Féin
about exclusively democratic means - the two governments and the
Unionist parties - are also to the fore when it comes to denying
the Sinn Féin electorate their most basic democratic right - the
right to equality of representation by the party of their choice.
If we are to move this process forward the British government,
the Dublin government and the Unionist parties should stop
lecturing people on democracy and start practising democracy
instead.
Since the cessation of 1994 the British government has introduced
precondition after precondition to Sinn Féin's participation in
peace negotiations. The as yet unresolved obstacle of
decommissioning was deployed ruthlessly by a British government
wedded to a military agenda. A British government motivated
solely by a desire to divide and conquer rather than face up to
the need for fundamental political change. We did not allow
ourselves to be deflected by the negativity of the British
government or the confused and flawed analysis of John Bruton.
The international experience of conflict resolution teaches us
that the way forward is through equality of treatment and
inclusive negotiations without preconditions. The British
government and the leaders of unionism know this also.
There can be no return to the failed policies of exclusion.
Attempting to isolate Sinn Féin has failed miserably.
We are all living through difficult times. The killing of two RUC
men in Lurgan last Monday, the ongoing campaign of the British
Crown Forces, the
firebombing of the homes of prison warders and the bomb beneath
the car of Sinn Féin Councillor James Mc Carry's car, are all
potent and tragic reminders this week of the conflict which has
engulfed our people for three decades.
They are also reminders that there are no cessations in place by
any of the armed groups.
The week's events, coupled with the tensions building towards the
Orange marches in July, have created a climate of fear and
apprehension. Let me today seek to give some measure of
reassurance.
Some of the media and some political leaders have launched a
specific attack on the integrity of Sinn Féin, particularly of
this leadership, seeking to demonise and marginalise us again.
They have short memories. While they were busy using the same
rhetoric in the late 80s Sinn Féin was taking real risks for
peace and laying the foundations for the peace process. I point
proudly and firmly to that record of achievement and to our
efforts for a just and lasting peace in which all sections of our
people would be accorded dignity and respect.
In the face of the bad faith by the previous British government
and the intransigence of the Unionists we held the ground for
peace.
When the opportunity was squandered and the IRA cessation
collapsed we did all in our power to rebuild the peace process.
This Sinn Féin leadership is not giving up on our peace strategy.
We are not giving up on the search for a permanent end to
conflict and a lasting peace settlement. We will not be
deflected. We will not shirk our responsibilities.
The Sinn Féin leadership, with others, is working very hard to
save the situation. We are trying to remove the obstacles to
credible negotiations erected by John Major's government.
I have been involved in all of the meetings with the British
government representatives, during the last regime and since this
new one was elected. Let me say that I do not accept that the
meeting which was scheduled for last week should have been
cancelled. The task facing us if it is to be successful needs
absolute clarity and this can best be accomplished in
face-to-face discussions.
Having said this, let me also say that this British government
appears to be taking up a position and approach which is an
advance on the position adopted by the last British government.
However, the distrust created by the bad faith engagement of the
John Major administration is so pervasive that the next phase
must be built on a very solid foundation indeed. This needs to be
done without delay. It requires everyone to take risks and this
includes Mr Blair.
Some might feel that when they compare Mr Blair's style to Mr
Major's or when they compare the style of the present Secretary
of State with the arrogance of her predecessor, that the new
British government is moving very far indeed. I hope they are
right.
I welcome the change in style but I reject totally Tony Blair's
pro-union position as outlined in his Belfast speech. How can he
say that he will not even negotiate ``sensible arrangements for
co-operation'' with the 26 Counties if Unionists feel threatened?
All of these matters must be issues for negotiations and the
question of the union is the most important of the constitutional
matters at the heart of the negotiations.
But obstacles to these negotiations have not yet been cleared
away. And there cannot be real negotiations until they are. Let
me also say that this British government has addressed, in
varying degrees, the four issues which are central to that. I
hope that this signals Mr Blair's intention to move quickly to
resolve these issues fully.
Sinn Féin is taking a positive approach to all of this. We want
to create a dynamic and credible talks process.
Indeed, it was our party which first articulated the demand for
inclusive negotiations - for real all-party talks. To do this
absolute clarity is required, especially in regard to the
decommissioning issue. Decommissioning has not yet been removed
as an obstacle in the negotiations. This remains the biggest
stumbling block to forward movement.
What is the demand for decommissioning? It is the demand that the
IRA surrender its weapons before talks begin or before they can
make progress. Those who make this demand have no interest in
making peace.
The last British government and the unionists used this issue as
an obstacle to and in negotiations. They undermined the peace
process and caused its collapse in February 1996. Since then the
Unionists have used the decommissioning issue to obstruct any
forward movement. It is no accident that this has occurred.
Decommissioning is an important issue to be addressed as part of
a negotiating process. But it needs to be removed as an obstacle
so that it can no longer be employed to block negotiations, now
or in the future.
Sinn Féin wants to see a total demilitarisation of the situation.
We are prepared to address all of these matters as part of a
negotiations process.
No one can be in any doubt about this position. We made our
submission to the International Body. It is there in substantial
detail.
I spoke earlier of the legacy of distrust bequeathed by the Major
government and the need to build the next phase on a solid
foundation. An immediate injection of confidence into the
situation is the prescription for these two matters. This British
government has made broad positive comments on confidence
building. This needs to be given substance and detail. People
need a view of the immediate and longer term horizon. It is
entirely reasonable to see that be provided.
If it is indeed this government's intention to address issues of
equality and demilitarisation then clarity on these issues is
essential.
Making peace on this island is a shared responsibility. The
matters which we are seeking to have removed are not Sinn Féin
preconditions. They were put in the path of the peace process by
the British government. They can only be removed by a British
government. We have sought to assist and be helpful.
Clarity will act as a catalyst to create the foundation necessary
to the building of a new peace process.
If equality is to underpin the process of negotiations then the
Sinn Féin mandate must be fully and unconditionally recognised.
This is particularly so against the background of an increased
Sinn Féin mandate north and south.
We Republicans recognise that Unionists have certain legitimate
fears of their culture and traditions being subsumed in a United
Ireland. They have the right to express those fears and to seek
guarantees that their rights and traditions will be respected.
But they must break out of this psychology which views
negotiation as a sign of weakness.
Republicans realise that the new Ireland which we envisage cannot
be built without those sections of the Irish nation who see
themselves as Unionists or Loyalists. We do not underestimate the
divisions which exist among our people. But in order to assist in
the bridging of those divisions, the British government must
remove its undemocratic veto to constitutional change which only
feeds the Unionist refusal to negotiate.
Vetoes and preconditions are designed to predetermine the outcome
of any negotiations and are used by the parties exercising them
to frustrate any moves towards change. And that is why unionists
are afraid to negotiate, because they know that to concede the
need for negotiation is to accept the need for change.
Negotiation leads to change. Change will inevitably lead to
equality and equality means the end to domination which is the
ethos on which the Northern State was founded.
It is ironic that those who have been the most vitriolic in their
attacks on Sinn Féin following the shooting of the two RUC
members in Lurgan last Monday were the ones who contributed least
to the peace process.
In all conflict resolution situations there are always low
points. That is what challenges us. It would be easy to give up
when things get tough. The easiest thing in the world is to close
doors and do nothing. But those of us who are determined to see
this process through to a successful and peaceful conclusion must
never despair.
We must use all our energy to overcome any obstacles which are
put in our path. Sinn Féin has shown the lead when it comes to
taking risks for peace and we will continue our efforts in that
direction. We will not be deflected nor will we allow
anti-republican politicians or media pundits to scapegoat our
voters.
Both the British and Irish governments have a responsibility to
recognise the rights of Sinn Féin voters to be represented at
negotiations on the basis of the mandate which they have freely
given to our party.
The hopes of the Irish people for peace have not been
extinguished. All who are actively involved in the search for
peace must redouble our efforts to insure that those hopes are
turned to reality.
Last month I was part of a Sinn Féin delegation in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela honoured us with his presence for one of the
workshops and I thought to myself, if Nelson Mandela, one of the
most visionary political leaders of this century, can meet with
Sinn Féin, then what logical reason can John Bruton, Tony Blair,
David Trimble or even Ian Paisley have for their refusal to
follow his example and also meet with Sinn Féin.
In Ireland as in South Africa the momentum is with the advocates
of change. Only we can guarantee that this momentum creates
irreversible political change which will lead to a new Ireland
for all our people.
We have been told through the media that Sinn Féin is to be given
one last chance for peace.
Let me say that until there is peace all of us must focus on
achieving it. Peace demands justice. It demands change. Rather
than eyeballing us, government and political leaders should be
applying themselves to making change and to creating justice.
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