Sinn Fein carries message to US
SF Ard Chomhairle members Pat Treanor, Martin Ferris and Joe
Cahill last week briefed members of the Irish Northern Aid
Committee, Clan na Gael and other American support groups about
the latest developments in the Irish peace negotiations. Christy
Ward, Regina Costa and Dennis M. Prebensen report.
Treanor's hopscotch
Pat Treanor's message was simple: Sinn Fein does not agree with
all that is in the Good Friday Document, but, despite its
shortcomings, it was a way forward to the united Ireland
Republicans have been fighting to achieve.
While Joe Cahill and Martin Ferris were making stops along the
east coast, Treanor was hop-scotching across the mid-West on his
way to San Francisco.
His trip brought him to Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday 11 May where
he met with nearly 100 key activists, some traveling from
Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Akron and Youngstown.
He also had an interview with an editorial writer for the
Cleveland Plain Dealer and met for more than an hour with the
newspaper's foreign affairs reporter, Betsy Sullivan, who is
currently in the north of Ireland covering developments for her
paper.
From Cleveland, Treanor travelled to Detroit, Michigan, on
Tuesday 12 May, St Louis on Wednesday and on Thursday he arrived
in Kansas City, Missouri, where he met members of the AOH, Irish
Northern Aid, Amnesty International and local activists joined by
out-of-towners from Omaha, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
In Denver, Tom Burke of the Lawyers' Alliance met Treanor at the
airport at 7.30am with a bagpiper. ``Pat urged us to stay
informed, read, participate, and come to the north of Ireland to
observe. He said, `Don't let the unionists keep getting away with
telling America that same old stuff,' and asked us to continue
helping Republican prisoners and their families in any way you
can,'' Tom Burke said.
Alice Huppert, Congressional aide to Diana DeGette, Democrat,
Colorado, and Joan Fitz-Gerald, vice chair of suburban Jefferson
County's Democratic Party organization, were also at the airport
to greet Treanor.
San Francisco
A crowd of over 100 long-time Noraid and SF supporters crammed
into a meeting room at the United Irish Cultural Center in San
Francisco to hear Pat Treanor.
Supporters, including some who traveled from the far corners of
the state, peppered Treanor with questions about the intricacies
of the document and the strategy being pursued by Sinn Fein.
``The key issue for us is where to take our strategy for moving
the struggle forward,'' he said. ``There is no question but that
Sinn Fein has shifted the struggle to a higher plane.''
Treanor pointed to the success the party has had with its
political strategy. Previously Sinn Fein had 53 councillors. Now,
they have over 70, and two MPs and a TD.
He said the primary short-term objective is to generate the
strongest possible support in the June elections to the Six
County assembly. This election could establish Sinn Fein as the
leading voice for nationalists.
While in the San Francisco area, Treanor took time to meet with
the H-Block 3 political prisoners held in the Federal Detention
Center in Dublin, California.
According to Kevin Barry Artt, the briefing on the Good Friday
Document went well and the three, Artt, Terry Kirby and Pol
Brennan, were encouraged by the visit.
Ferris and Cahill head east
``We are the strongest we have been since 1921,'' Martin Ferris
told the 300-plus people at Rory Dolan's Restaurant on Monday
evening, 11 May.
``More than 200,000 people support Sinn Fein and peace, democracy,
and negotiations,'' he said.
Ferris described the document as ``a transitional arrangement,
which contains elements to achieve our goal'' of a united Ireland.
He told the audience that the work for Sinn Fein has really just
begun.
``We will fight on every issue,'' he said. ``We will fight to
achieve the equality of all people. This document is a vehicle to
bring real change, to help deliver our ultimate objective.''
Joe Cahill, with more than 60 years of activity in the Republican
Movement, described the special Ard Fheis held in Dublin to
consider the document as ``an incredible event. I was as happy as
I have ever been at an Ard Fheis.''
The next evening, a large group of Mid-Hudson Valley residents
heard Ferris in Fishkill, New York. He said 400 Republicans are
still serving time in various jails in England, Ireland, and
American and the issue of prisoners is paramount.
``We are addressing this issue every day,'' said Ferris. ``We want
all our prisoners out as soon as possible. We want everyone home
for Christmas.''
By Wednesday evening the roving discussions moved onto New
Jersey, where the Lawyers' Alliance sponsored a forum on the
peace process.
``I never thought I would be on a platform with Martin Ferris and
actually agree with him,'' said one of the participants, Bill
McGimpsey, a New York resident who supports Unionism.
Ferris said he was ``delighted'' to share the platform with
McGimpsey, whom he called ``a courageous man.''
Martin Galvin, a former publicity director for Irish Northern Aid
who left the organization several years ago, Jean Forrest,
Richard Harvey, and John McDonagh also spoke as part of the
panel. Galvin and, McDonagh, the host of Radio Free Eireann,
opposed the document.
Ferris challenged the opposition to offer an alternative.
``We went to the negotiating table armed only with our election
mandate,'' Ferris said. ``And we won substantial concessions from
the British government on the basis of the force of our
arguments. We never surrendered on a single issue.''
With only a small number of people opposing the document, Ferris
and Harvey impressed on the more than 300 people packed into room
at Grasshoppers Restaurant in Carlstadt, that ``the struggle is
not over. Sinn Fein will never accept any British control in
Ireland and will continue to oppose British rule by whatever
means possible.''
Chicago
On Thursday 14 May Joe Cahill made a special visit to Chicago.
``Think about unity,'' he said. ``We have not achieved all of our
objectives, but those objectives have not changed in the least.
We are continuing to work for a reunited Ireland and to get the
British out of Ireland''.
The 78-year-old Cahill first met with Clan Na Gael and the Irish
American Labor Coalition who were having their annual dinner
dance.
Later in the evening, at the Abbey Pub, he met with Irish
Northern Aid members, the Irish American Unity Conference, the
Irish-American Students' Organization, Friends of Sinn Fein and
others.
Davy Rasmussen, chairperson of the Northside Chicago INA, said,
``We had an impressive turnout of approximately 100 people. Joe
received a lot of support especially since his connections here
go back many years in Chicago, and his many friends and
supporters welcomed the rare opportunity to hear him and speak
with him.''
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