Rights, Justice, Equality
The foundations for the road to a just and lasting peace settlement
In a keynote address to The American Irish Historical Society in
New York on 27 May 1998 Gerry Adams spelled out what changes must
now be implemented as a result of the Good Friday Document
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Nationalists, on a basis of equality, must be represented at all
levels, including the highest levels of decision taking,
implementation and review. And there must be equality everywhere.
In the political institutions. In the judiciary. In the civil
service. In public bodies. In a new policing service
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Good Friday is one of the most important days in the religious calendar.
For some, it may simply evoke an image of crucifixion. And, of course,
there are those who will maintain that is what happened to Irish
republicanism on April 10th this year. But for others Good Friday is
part of a continuum whose true and ultimate meaning is new life. And
there are also those who would say that, a little over a month ago, the
cause of a united Irish republic was in fact given new hope and fresh
possibility. I am one of those.
In deciding which interpretation of that momentous event is correct, it
is necessary to distinguish between certain concepts which were put
forward in the Good Friday Document, and the concrete and practical
arrangements which are contained in it.
After a general Declaration, it commences with a view of consent and
self-determination that no Irish republican could accept. That is
because it rests on the gerrymander of `partition' and is thus a
violation of the principle of democracy and a denial of the right of the
Irish people as a whole to freely resolve our own destiny. We held, and
hold, that Ireland is the valid constituency for mapping out the future
of the people of the island, and without external interference. However,
it is not feasible to proceed in that way immediately, not least because
of the attitude of the British government. So, we must see how we can
advance the situation without a negation of principle. No other party
has been asked to abandon its philosophy and analysis. Nor will we
abandon ours and there is nothing in the Document which compels us to do
so.
There is no affirmation or action required in it which can be construed
as binding one to the Document's flawed definition of
self-determination.
In reality, and despite the section concerned, the Document is, in many
ways, a testament to the failure of the northern statelet and of
partition.
The measures for governance of the north and for human rights, as well
as the reviews of policing and justice, are a clear admission that it is
not a normal society. And the North-South Ministerial Council is an
acknowledgement of the need for all-Ireland structures, which both
reflect the national democratic rights of nationalists and provide for a
coherent and effective approach to addressing economic and social
problems on the island.
In so far as these things are provided for, we should consider how we
may move foward on that basis. To begin with, specific commitments in
the Document should be acted on without delay by the British government.
I refer to incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into
the law of northern Ireland, and legislation for Supplementary Rights in
particular to the circumstances of the north.
RIGHTS, NOT PRIVILEGES
It should be appreciated that Irish republicans have come a long
distance to reach this point. Many difficulties have had to be
surmounted. Traditional ways of viewing the conflict have had to
be re-evaluated. Treasured positions have had to be modified. We
have had to distinguish between principles and tactics, and it
was not always easy to do so.
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We need a wholehearted commitment to ensuring political, social,
economic and cultural rights. Inequality and social exclusion are the
enemies of peace. We need a partnership, based on equality, which will
empower and improve the quality of life of citizens by being open,
inclusive and democratic.
Equality as between Catholics and Protestants is of course necessary
and right. But so too is equality between nationalists and unionists.
Nationalists, on a basis of equality, must be represented at all,
including the highest levels of decision taking, implementation and
review. And there must be equality everywhere. In the political
institutions. In the judiciary. In the civil service. In public bodies.
In a new policing service.
Equality of treatment, and full human rights protection must be
guaranteed. These are rights, not privileges. They are non negotiable.
For most people living here in the United States many of these rights
are taken for granted. For us living in a part of our country where such
rights are denied it is necessary that we spell them out in great
detail. Sinn Fein has done so in our document `For a Future as Equals'
which I commend to you. Some of what is involved includes:
Civil Rights:
These include:
- the right of free political thought;
- the right to freedom of expression of religion;
- the right to pursue democratically national and political aspirations;
- the right to seek constitutional change by peaceful and legitimate
means;
- the right to equal opportunity in all social and economic activity,
regardless of class, creed, disability, gender or ethnicity;
- the right to freedom from sectarian abuse and harassment;
- the right of women to full and equal political participation;
The Good Friday document accepts these to be necessary. But as
experience in various societies demonstrates these will remain fine
words or worthy sentiments and as aspirations unless there is:
- a constitutinal instruction to give effect to these rights
- effective comprehensive legislation to entrench them in law including a
Bill of Rights; and
- effective institutional underpinning to promote, monitor and police
them.
In light of the myriad inequalities which exist within society in the
north a Department of Equality, to promote and reinforce the equality
agenda is an obvious next step.
Justice And Policing:
Rapid progress is needed to establish the Independent Commission on
Policing and to put in place a new policing service. The RUC is
unacceptable. It is a significant part of the problem. It cannot be part
of the solution. Unionist militias can be no part of a settlement.
Similarly the justice system has been abused over the years to
facilitate a culture of repression by successive British governments.
All repressive laws have to be repealed; the judiciary fundamentally
reformed; demilitarisation of British military installations has to
begin and conclude quickly; British troops should go; licensed firearms
should be recalled, and all political prisoners have to be released.
Plastic bullets which have claimed 17 lives, many of them young
children, should be immediately banned.
These killings, and indeed the other 400 killings by state terrorism
have to be thoroughly and publicly investigated. The right to the truth
demands the setting up of a full independent inquiry into collusion
between the British forces and loyalist death squads. As an immediate
step the Stalker/Sampson reports suppressed by the Conservative
government should be published.
The hurt and pain of these forgotten victims must be acknowledged. We
need a process of reconciliation which is inclusive, bringing together
the families of every victim. All of those who have died as a result of
this conflict must be remembered. Their deaths should not be forgotten
or airbrushed from our consciousness.
It is essential in this new era of possibilities that we all -
republican and unionist, loyalist and British - address honestly and
openly the hurt we have caused and begin a real healing process.
Republicans want no more suffering, no more victims.
Economic Development:
We need an all-Ireland economic strategy. It makes sense - common sense
and economic sense - that this be overseen by an all-Ireland economic
authority. In conjunction with this a strategy must be developed which
pro-actively seeks to reverse decades of discrimination against
nationalists and nationalist areas in the north. Western counties of the
north, border areas and disadvantaged areas of Belfast all need to see
major investment and rapid development.
Irish Language and Culture:
The Irish language community must enjoy parity of esteem with English
speakers. The Irish language should be given official status reflected
in appropriate legislation, including the right to allow Irish speakers
to deal with all levels of government and local government
administration in our own language.
The British government should ratify the European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages and move to bring about a position of equality for
Irish and English speakers within the Six Counties. It should also
provide funding for Irish language enterprises.
Irish medium education should be available as of right at all levels for
those who wish to avail of it. This could be facilitated by the creation
of an all-Ireland Education Board with adequate powers and funding to
co-ordinate the promotion and provision of Irish-medium education
throughout the island.
Funding for Irish cultural and sporting organisations from public bodies
should be made available according to appropriate agreed criteria. These
would be established following a review of existing arrangements that
will involve full nationalist participation.
Furthermore, I think of the undertaking to ensure that the use of
symbols and emblems does not offend anybody. The day should be gone for
a decision like that of the recent Forum in Belfast to fly only one flag
- the union jack. And symbols are not unimportant for either unionists
or nationalists, anymore than they are for Americans when they pledge
allegiance to their flag. Because, the very meaning of the word symbol
is a representation of something broader and bigger. To fly only one of
two disputed flags, just as to ban the Irish tricolour (as was the case
for most of the northern statelets' existence), means dominance. And
that is at an end and must be seen to be.
National Democratic Rights:
But nationalists do not just have civil rights, they possess national
democratic rights as well. That is to say, as a willing part of the
Irish nation on the island of Ireland, they are entitled to have
expression given to their all-Ireland national identity. An historic
beginning has been made with the North-South Ministerial Council.
Unionists don't like to admit it, but it has altered and diminished the
Union. Otherwise why would amendments to the Irish and British
constitutions be necessary to give it powers?
Such amendments are only obligatory where there is a cession of
sovereignty. Of course, it is not the total cession on the part of the
British that we would desire. Yet, it is a start. It means that the Act
of Union, which was first modified in 1922 when the Free State was
established, has been modified for the second time in this century in
1998. And the point is highlighted by the repeal of the Government of
Ireland Act, the partition settlement imposed in 1920. Some have said,
referring to the attempted agreement of 1973, that this all amounts to
Sunningdale Mark II. However, it doesn't and without going into all the
details, the core difference is that no constitutional changes were
proposed then. When I hear some wiseacres saying that the Good Friday
Document is `Sunningdale for slow learners' I think of the wee unionist
woman who said recently that it was in fact a `United Ireland for slow
learners'.
But we must be sure that the Council is got up and running, that it has
the real powers and functions that have been designated to start with,
and that it is not frustrated by unionist obstruction or undermined by
British vacillation. Moreover, it needs to be developed and expanded.
And that brings me to future British policy. The British say they will
not disengage from the north unless a majority there wants them to.
However, that is no reason why the British should not state a positive
position, on behalf of the British people, on the issue of Irish unity
and its desirability.
We believe that the British Labour Party should at least endorse such a
policy which, as an opposition, it adopted in 1988 and, indeed, when one
of the signatories to it was Marjorie Mowlam. It should also be an
objective of the Irish government to encourage such a step and we would
hope that the American Administration, if only behind the scenes at
first, would urge to that end as well. In the event of British policy
being so formulated, the Council offers the opportunity to progress in
the right direction and should be underpinned, as suggested in the
Document, by a parliamentary tier.
In addition it is obvious that Northern nationalists willingly and
consciously share in the sovereignty of the Irish people. This needs to
be given recognition and accommodated at this time as part of the
forward momentum of a transitional process. Accordingly we have
advocated that Irish citizens in the north be entitled to return
representatives to the Dáil and to participate as fully as possible in
the political life of the nation. We have also proposed that Irish
citizens in the north be entitled to vote in presidential elections and
relevant referenda.
I welcome the Taoiseach's referral of this matter to the Commission on
Constitutional Review and urge that the processing of this be expedited.
I would also invite individuals and organisations and other political
parties throughout Ireland to actively demonstrate their support for
these proposals.
The Irish government have a responsibility to develop the citizenship
right of those in the north to its fullest extent.
NO SLIDING BACK
Yet, for all that there is expectation, there is also danger. The
unionist attitude of recalcitrance and intransigence, of resentment and
minimalism may still manifest itself in an obstructive and wrecking
mode. The sad history is there of a sort of `Twilight of the Gods'
mentality whereby they would prefer to bring down the whole show with
them rather than share power and justice with their nationalist fellow
citizens. Some unionists would have us all echo words from a poem by
Robert Frost:
d nothing to look backward to with pride, And nothing to look forward
to with hope.
That must not be allowed to happen. For our part? Our aim is
rapproachement and co-operation; but we also demand out rights. We will
therefore go forward with reconciliation on the one hand and
determination on the other.
d solely on the basis of our mandate and the democratic integrity of
our electorate. We will not be denied our just entitlements.
It is frankly worrying that, since the Document was signed, there are
already signs that the British government is buckling under unionist
pressure to depart from what was concluded at Stormont. This appears to
be taking place in regard to what is called decommissioning. All
sensible persons wish for a demilitarisation of society in northern
Ireland.
We don't want any more shootings or bombings; we don't want sectarian
assassinations; we don't want heavily armed police and army on the
streets, especially when they harass and brutalise people; and we don't
want weapons of war, licensed or otherwise, forever in the hands of
citizens.
DEMILITARISATION
Maintaining a ceasefire - and an all-round one - is the first necessary
condition of this. Next, political progress is vital to build
confidence. Then agreed procedures can be utilised to advance
demilitarisation - on all fronts. That is the reality, and not only for
republicans.
It has to be understood that there are communities which naturally
detest war but still fear for their lives an safety. And some of that
fear is directed towards the British forces, which have been suspected
of colluding with death-squads, such as when Belfast lawyer Pat
Finucane, was murdered.
Although Amnesty International has called for that case to be re-opened,
the authorities have refused. British intelligence has even been
implicated by British journalists in the bombing of the capital of
Ireland - Dublin - in 1974. People still have vivid memories of the
burning out of nationalist homes at the start of the troubles, while the
RUC watched, and therefore feel a need for defence; it is not a question
of retaining a capacity to attack.
There is also a psychology of dignity which has to be taken into
account.
Some unionists want decommissioning, not to ensure security, but to
humiliate through an image of surrender. Or to block progress or
attempt, as in the past, to prevent change. And many nationalists can
perceive this and, not surprisingly, react accordingly.
The most crucial thing is not some ritual of decommissioning but that
the guns remain silent. Ordinary people know that and get angry at times
at politicians who use the question as a political football, but who
weren't there when the guns were firing and the bombs exploding. As for
the question of `is the war over?' I think that republicans are working
for that because we believe that a set of conditions is being brought
into existence which, if worked by all in good faith, will mean that
there will not be a return to violence by any of the armed groups.
The immediate task, therefore, should be not to make a big issue of
taking away what some see as an assurance of self-protection, and could
easily be replaced anyway, but to convince them that this is no longer
required. If that process is inverted, in contravention of the Good
Friday Document, we will be back to the days of John Major where the
engine of progress stalls with a subsequent danger of crashing. That
must not occur and the British government must not be permitted to let
it occur.
DIALOGUE AND CO-OPERATION
It should be appreciated that Irish republicans have come a long
distance to reach this point. Many difficulties have had to be
surmounted. Traditional ways of viewing the conflict have had to be
re-evaluated. Treasured positions have had to be modified. We have had
to distinguish between principles and tactics, and it was not always
easy to do so.
We opposed the Belfast Assembly, but we will sit in it and will demand
our place on the Executive deriving from it. We will strive to work with
unionists towards constructing a fair society where nobody lords it over
anybody else. We want to understand their fears and aspirations. We want
to dialogue with them. But as yet, they will not even speak to us. Hurt
has been inflicted on everybody and we recognise that. Do they?
Does the British government yet fully comprehend the trauma that Britain
has thrust upon Ireland? Only now, are they re-investigating what the
forces of their State did in shooting down innocent civil rights
marchers in Derry on Bloody Sunday in 1972. In all sincerity, we have
extended the hand of friendship. It remains to be grasped by David
Trimble and his associates.
At the end of the day what we are looking for in Ireland is what was
established in these United States as a principle over two centuries ago
- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Here, in the first fully fledged democracy of the modern world, where
republican and representative government preceded the French Revolution
and the Great Reform Acts in Britain, I appeal to you to back us in our
endeavours to create a land for our children wherein fear is a distant
memory, death and suffering a thing of the past, and injustice an
inconceivable part of the present. We would not have reached the
juncture we are at had it not been for Irish-America and other
democratic forces in this land displaying interest, showing solidarity
and giving support. We will never forget how the most powerful
politician on earth, Bill Clinton, sat up through the night into Good
Friday and kept in touch with the peace talks to help them on to an
equitable conclusion. We need that concerned interest, cohesive support
and steadfast solidarity to continue and to lobby the American
Administration, and the British Government and its representatives - at
all levels; State, Federal, diplomatic, international business, labour
union and professional contacts, and publicity.
The Multi-Party Talks are over, but the Peace Process is not. There is a
lot which still has to be done. If the situation which now exists in
Ireland is not consolidated and developed, if promises decay into
rhetoric, it will not just stagnate, it will deteriorate. And all that
is required to prevent this, in summary, are; civil and human rights
(which must include national democratic rights), equality of treatment,
and plain justice. Permit me to conclude with some words of Abraham
Lincoln spoken 133 years ago which yet seem appropriate to this moment
in Ireland's history:
``With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the
right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the
work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves,
and with all nations.''
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