Republican News · Thursday 7 May 1998

[An Phoblacht]

Political strength is the key

BY MICHEAL MacDONNCHA

For the second time in a month one of the largest ever gatherings of Sinn Féin activisits will convene in Dublin this weekend to make momentous decisions on the future of the struggle for freedom in Ireland. Everybody is conscious of the gravity of the occassion. Events have been moving so fast of late that the word `historic' has become hackneyed but, in its true sense, it applies to the reconvened Ard Fheis of 1998.

This has been a period of intense political thought and debate among republicans. During the negotiations themselves, at their conclusion, and in the weeks since Good Friday, there has been much heart-searching and brain-teasing by all who have committed themselves to the freedom struggle. For many it has been a painful time; for many also a time of tremendous hope and a will to fulfil the full potential of Irish republicanism.

It is the will to win through to our ultimate objectives that unites republicans. Whatever shade of opinion they express, those who gather in Dublin this weekend will advocate their positions on the basis of what is best for the struggle. They will accept the democraitc outcome of their deliberations and work hard to ensure the success of whatever course of action is decided.

At no time has there been a more united and a more politicised republican struggle. The determination of republican activists has been redoubled through years of struggle with deadly enemies and remorseless opponents. The political consciousness of republicans has been honed as they evolve new strategies and tactics to reach our objectives of Irish unity and independence and the social, economic and cultural transformation of Ireland.

The Good Friday document is far from the final settlement we seek. There is much in it that disappoints. The core constitutional issue of British jurisdiction and the unionist veto has been affected - but not enough. The British government has yet to make the vital leap to becoming a pro-active promoter of Irish unity and of its own disengagement from Ireland.

At the same time it can be said that this document represents a further weakening of the ties that bind the Six Counties to Britain. And it has the potential - not in the text itself but in the political scenario it creates - to provide new fields of struggle for republicans where real gains, and real advances towards our objectives, can be made.

If Sinn Féin had been politically stronger then obviously a much better outcome to the last phase of negotiations would have resulted. But that phase is over and new phase has begun. We must increase our political strength in this phase as we did in the last. Increasing political strength is the key.

Even opponents of Sinn Féin now openly admit that the party is the fastest growing in Ireland and has more young people in its ranks than any other. Of course these same opponents would love desperately for Sinn Féin to buy into their kind of politics. The politics of graft. The politics of short-termism. The politics of personal advancement. The politics of the establishment. Some of them even believe that this is the logic of the republican peace strategy. Now, as at the height of conflict, they underestimate the determination of republicans to reach their ultimate goal, and they misunderstand fundamentally the nature of their struggle.

Whatever direction Sinn Féin takes on Sunday, its integrity as a republican party will remain the absolute priority for all activists. United in that view they will go on to further and greater successes in the period ahead.


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