Peace Process in free fall
BY SEAN BRADY
| |
The current impasse can only be broken by both governments
reasserting the primacy of politics within the process. It is within
the gift of Tony Blair in particular to get this process moving
again.
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Several newspaper editors and leader-writers in the 26 Counties, who
for years condemned Sinn Féin, have returned to their bunker view of
politics of late, drawing succour from the snail's pace of events and
seeking to propagate the theory that we are all bored to death by the
peace process.
The same elements seek also to lay blame on Sinn Féin in particular
for the current situation. They are, however, completely out of touch
with the views of the majority of Irish people, most of whom are
concerned at the current crisis in the peace process, not bored by
it. They are concerned because they know the process is in free-fall.
The remarks of Seamus Mallon this week were particularly
disingenuous, considering that he is fully aware of David Trimble's
refusal to engage with anyone at any real political level, including
Mallon himself as Deputy First Minister.
Seamus Mallon knows as well that the responsibility for the current
situation lies in the refusal of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to
abide by the Good Friday Agreement and the fact that the two
governments allowed themselves to be cornered by unionist
intransigence.
The decision by the governments to offer the Hillsborough Declaration
as a way forward was a clear departure from the Good Friday Agreement
and a move by them directly onto the narrow ground prepared by David
Trimble. Their backing away from this stance since is a tacit
admission that they were in error.
Since Good Friday 1998, the UUP has blocked the establishment of
political institutions on the basis of a demand for IRA
decommissioning.. It was a year in which we could all have made
considerable progress towards lasting peace and the removal of all
guns from Irish politics. But this opportunity was wasted. By
demanding immediate decommissioning, the UUP has closed down a
process which represents the only possible prospect of creating the
political conditions in which guns can be removed from the politics
of this island. The resultant vacuum has been filled by loyalist
violence against the nationalist community.
The current impasse can only be broken by both governments
reasserting the primacy of politics within the process. It is within
the gift of Tony Blair in particular to get this process moving
again. Mo Mowlam has refused to trigger the d'Hondt process which
would establish the intitutions provided for under the Agreement. The
British government is effectively abdicating its
responsibilities.This week, following another round of talks without
progress, Mowlam failed even to announce a date and time for their
recommencement.
Sinn Féin cannot deliver IRA weapons. Such a demand is not part of
the Good Friday Agreement. If it had been, Sinn Féin could not have
agreed to it because it is something which Sinn Féin cannot deliver.
The only way to remove weapons and prevent any recourse to armed
actions is by proving that politics works, by demonstrating the
viability of politics and moving towards a lasting peace based on
equality, justice and freedom.
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