A new course for the future
On Tuesday Gerry Adams told the Tribune Rally at the British
Labour Party Conference in Blackpool that British policy towards
Ireland must change
The relationship between Ireland and Britain has been a tragic
one based on domination of one by the other. It has caused much
pain and grief and anger. It is built on centuries of injustice
and inequality and repression, and resistance to those.
It is a history of failure. It has led to division and hatred and
great wrongs.
We want to right that. We want to work in partnership with this
British Labour government, the people in this room and in this
Labour Party, to overcome the fears, the suspicions, the legacy
of our past. Our task is to chart a new course for the future;
for the new millennium.
That means removing the causes of conflict. It means fulfilling
the ideals and dreams, the expectations and hopes, that have been
encouraged by the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. It
means bridging the distrust which exists. It means ensuring that
our children never have to go through what we in this, and in
previous generations, have experienced. It means being prepared
to reach out and grasp each other's hand in friendship as we must
grasp the opportunity for a lasting peace which now exists.
Since Labour won the general election there have been enormous
changes - popular changes - but these changes have only scratched
the surface of what is necessary. As Irish republicans our goal
is clear. We want an end to the Union. An end to partition. And a
new relationship between the people of Ireland, and between our
two islands based on mutual respect and tolerance and democracy.
Immediately, we want equality and justice for every citizen,
irrespective of race, creed, gender, political views or
disability. This will not be easy. We face extraordinary
challenges. This is an unparalleled period of transition in our
collective history.
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The current impasse in the peace process and the UUP's refusal to
implement the Good Friday Agreement is not about the guns or the
decommissioning issue.
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The starting point for Sinn Féin is the Good Friday Agreement. It
took many years of hard work on our part and that of others, like
John Hume and Albert Reynolds, to create the conditions for the
peace process.
The process of negotiations was enormously difficult. Made more
so by the refusal of the unionists to talk directly to
republicans or to hold bilateral meetings with us. But eventually
on 10 April we succeeded in constructing an Agreement which
subsequently won the overwhelming support of the people of
Ireland through referendum, and then again in the north, in the
Assembly election.
Are there still problems? Of course. There are many. But in
seeking to overcome them there is a principle involved, and this
cannot be dodged or its importance underestimated, and that is
the need for everyone involved to keep their word. All political
leaders need to keep the commitments they made. Trust can only be
created by keeping promises not renegotiating them.
The Good Friday Agreement was not a draft. It is the real thing
and it is the basis for the building if this phase of the peace
process.
Sinn Féin recognises that there are problems within unionism. In
my opinion it is the unwillingness of sections of unionism to
embrace change which is at the core of their difficulties. They
may deny this but I believe that no matter about the rhetoric
they may use the resolve of the DUP and the UKUP, and of elements
within Mr Trimble's party, is still to wreck the Good Friday
Agreement.
The current impasse in the peace process and the UUP's refusal to
implement the Good Friday Agreement is not about the guns or the
decommissioning issue.
It is about the unionists' refusal to fully embrace the kind of
changes which are required if a genuine peace settlement is to be
built. The divisions within unionism thus far are tactical. It is
between those who won't countenance a new dispensation based upon
equality and those who are prepared to do a deal, but only on
their terms.
That is what is underpinning the UUP's current position. Mr
Trimble has skilfully utilised the difficulties within unionism
to point up decommissioning as a make or break issue for his
leadership even though this involves a complete revision by him
of the Good Friday Agreement. He knows that Sinn Féin have an
automatic right to ministerial positions and in my view he is
reconciled to that.
But unionism historically has worked on the basis that it is in
charge and it finds it difficult to embrace change and the notion
of equality among all citizens. For many unionists their sense of
being more equal than the rest of us is what makes them what they
are.
Mr Trimble leads the more enlightened sections of unionism but
even they find it difficult to give up their veto, even though it
has been reduced to a mere shadow of its former self.
I have already made it clear that I can and that I will do
business with Mr Trimble. That remains my position and my
intention. The real question is whether Mr Trimble will do
business with me, or anyone else for that matter. None of us can
do this entirely on our own terms.
That my be hard for unionists to accept but it is the reality. Mr
Trimble cannot say that he wants `a pluralist Parliament for a
pluralist people.....' except for the republicans. That is the
politics of the past - the old script.
The Good Friday Agreement is the first chapter - it is Act 1 of
the new script. It must be implemented in full and within the
clear timetable and chronology which it sets out in respect of
establishing the Executive, the departmental structures, a fully
functional all-Ireland Ministerial Council and the Civic Forum.
Unionists of all hues want the Assembly. But they cannot cherry
pick or rerun the Good Friday Agreement or the referendums.
Under the Agreement there can be no Assembly without these
interdependent and interlocking institutions. In other words
there needs to be no further delay in forming the Executive and
the other structures. This must be done within the timeframe set
out by the Agreement.
To raise decommissioning now as a precondition is a clear breach
of the Agreement. All parties are obliged to fulfil their
commitments in all respects. Sinn Féin will fulfil its
commitments. The two governments and the First Minister designate
David Trimble must fulfil theirs.
It is about the unionists' refusal to fully embrace the kind of
changes which are required if a genuine peace settlement
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The role of this British Labour government will be particularly
critical. A lasting peace in Ireland will only be established if
Tony Blair and his government are committed to that objective and
to building it on a solid foundation of justice and freedom.
Mr Blair's generation of political leaders may feel little
responsibility for the historic and contemporary state of affairs
in Ireland. But if we are to build a partnership for peace which
ushers in a new era for the people of Ireland and Britain then
this British government must face up to that responsibility with
absolute honesty.
British governments uphold and defend or promote British policy
in British national interests. British policy towards Ireland at
this time is to uphold the union. It is to uphold the partition
of Ireland. There is no such thing as a neutral British
government. It is not a referee. But to uphold the union that
means using repression, denying civil and human rights, and
defending inequality and injustice.
If there is to be change there needs to be new thinking within
Labour. Just as in recent years Irish republicans have had to
look hard at our politics, reflect on our mistakes and seek new
ways of advancing our goal of Irish unity, the British Labour
government must also look beyond current policy and encourage new
thinking leading to a change in that policy.
The aim of democratic Irish opinion, democratic opinion in
Britain and internationally must be to seek a change in British
policy from one of upholding the union to one of ending the
union. The working out of this policy change and the transfer of
sovereignty should be done in co-operation with and consultation
with the Irish government and the parties in Ireland. This is the
main challenge facing Mr Blair and the rest of us. It is about
doing the right thing by Ireland and the people of our island.
The future of the union is not the only issue which we must deal
with. There is a need for the equality agenda to move beyond
aspirational rhetoric into a programmatic approach which seeks to
right the wrongs which are part and parcel of the political,
social and cultural life in the north of Ireland.
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Mr Blair's generation of political leaders may feel little
responsibility for the historic and contemporary state of affairs
in Ireland. But if we are to build a partnership for peace which
ushers in a new era for the people of Ireland and Britain then
this British government must face up to that responsibility with
absolute honesty.
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The equality agenda lies at the heart of this peace process and
of the peace settlement which we have yet to secure. Equality
cannot be an illusion. It must be a fact. And we must ensure that
equality underpins the decision making process and the delivery
of services.
Equality means civil and political rights for unionists as well
as nationalists.
Of course, Mr Blair will come up against resistance to change and
resistance to the equality agenda. For those leading comfortable
lives there is a perceived choice between something which they
believe threatens their livelihood and the status quo which does
not.
I see this as a false choice. If properly handled the equality
agenda will help bind people together and will produce benefits
for everyone. Irish republicans do not want to replace one form
of injustice with another.
What is required here is change. Change in the short term. Change
which is sustainable. What is required are the goals and
timetables for that change. What is required is an end to
discrimination and the provision of equality of opportunity.
Change is also required in the field of justice. This means an
end to repressive legislation. It means a new, unarmed,
democratically accountable policing service. But it must also
involve investigating the almost 400 killings involving British
forces which are described as `disputed'. Inquiries into these,
information about them, and criminal charges against those
involved, have all been subject to a process of cover-up and
legal protection which has sought to shield the state and its
military wings from the legal consequences of their actions.
Since the creation of the northern statelet there has been
collusion between those `official' forces tasked with protecting
it and a variety of loyalist organisations who killed, butchered
and terrorised nationalists.
This collusion has become particularly sophisticated during this
period of conflict as British Intelligence put the counter-gang
strategies of past colonial wars into effect.
There is an enormous amount of information and evidence available
to this British government on this issue. Probably the best known
is the case of Brian Nelson, a self-confessed and acknowledged
British agent who plotted the deaths of Catholics, including that
of civil rights lawyer Pat Finucane.
In addition Nelson was involved in a combined effort by the UVF,
UDA and Ulster Resistance, with the knowledge of British Military
Intelligence, to import arms illegally into Ireland. Little
wonder the British Attorney General - at the time Sir Patrick
Mayhew - authorised a `deal' during Nelson's trial which saw
murder charges dropped and Nelson given a minimum sentence.
Collusion, which saw hundreds of Catholics killed by loyalists
and the role of British intelligence and elements of the RUC,
UDR/RIR and British Army provide information for loyalist death
squads must be thoroughly examined. Those responsible for this
must be made publicly accountable for their actions. An
independent, internationally based judicial inquiry, with
wideranging powers of investigation, is essential.
This British government, through its Foreign Secretary Robin
Cook, has taken on to itself the mantle of international
protector of human rights. It should remember that those in glass
houses shouldn't throw stones. In this case its moral indignation
at human rights abuses in Kosovo or Bosnia or Burma or elsewhere
in the world, however correct, would take on a greater and more
believable import if it tackled human rights abuses closer to
home.
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This British government has taken on to itself the mantle of
international protector of human rights. It should remember that
those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. In this case its
moral indignation at human rights abuses in Kosovo or Bosnia or
Burma or elsewhere in the world, however correct, would take on a
greater and more believable import if it tackled human rights
abuses closer to home
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Britain created the problem in Ireland. British policy has
sustained the conflict and divisions. This British government
therefore has the major responsibility and role in initiating a
strategy which will bring a democratic resolution and a lasting
peace.
This must involve the British government joining the ranks of the
persuaders in seeking to secure agreement between all sections of
our people.
To achieve that we need a contract for peace between the parties
in the Assembly, the people of Ireland and the two governments.
We need a partnership which requires the active participation of
all sections of our people; which seeks to consolidate the peace
process; which plans the process of transition; and which manages
the transformation of Irish society.
To secure this transformation we must seek and win a society of
peace - a society in which people live together in mutual respect
and work together in mutual regard for each other - a society in
which peace is not a mere interlude between wars, but an
incentive to the creative and collective energies of all of the
people who live on this island.
In truth, this peace process is a journey, a journey of hope and
discovery. A journey in which we must make real the promise of
democracy; in which we must rise above the darkness of what has
gone before. For Oscar Wilde democracy meant simply; `the
bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people'. That
cannot be for us. The future is not what we inherit but what we
create.
WB Yeats wrote:
I have spread my dreams under your feet,
tread softly, tread softly
because you tread on my dreams
The dreams are the dreams of the men and women and children
represented by Irish nationalists and republicans and unionists,
and by this British Labour Party. It is time to set aside our
prejudices, to acknowledge the difficulties which exist and to
lift our heads above the barricades of fear and suspicion which
have been part of our history for too long. It is time to fulfil
those dreams.
This is a shortened version of the speech Gerry Adams made on
Tuesday night at the Tribune fringe meeting at the British Labour
Party Conference in Blackpool.
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