Breach of faith
Sinn Féin had intended this week to launch its radical and ambitious
programme for government for the Six Counties. This plan to set out
the party's stall as a positive contribution to the early days of the
new administration was frustrated, however, by an all too familiar
example of British duplicity.
The people of Ireland voted last year for a new political
dispensation. The political parties have finally managed to strike a
deal to allow the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement to
finally begin in earnest. The IRA has continued to show good faith and
give tangible support to the peace process.
All these are signs of hope, but the bugging device found in a car
used by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness serves notice that for some,
the war is far from over. The British intelligence services have been
singled out as the most obvious culprits, given the level of
sophistication of the device found.
The discovery highlights the fact that, amid the furore over IRA
decommissioning that has bedevilled this process, the British have
failed to keep their Good Friday pledge to demilitarise.
If progress is to be made, and there is good reason for hope in that
regard, then Tony Blair must act speedily to call off his dirty tricks
brigade and keep them under a tight rein in the future.
The best way he can achieve this and show good faith is to start the
process of military withdrawal.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif)