Britain's hidden hand remains as Direct Rule ends
BY SEAN BRADY
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Gerry Adams demanded British government action on demilitarisation.
Adams said there was a ``huge onus on Peter Mandelson to deliver and
deliver big time on the obligations and the commitments of his
government. What we need now is action on the ground, pronto.
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At midnight on Wednesday, 1 December, power was devolved from
Westminster to the Six-County Executive, ending 27 years of direct
British rule in the north of Ireland and introducing an entirely new
set of political arrangements, opening the way to a peaceful future.
But the discovery this week of a sophisticated electronic listening
and tracking device attached to a car used by the Sinn Féin leadership
during the Michell Review has shown that the hidden hand of the
British state security services remains an unwelcome feature of
political life in Ireland.
Securocrats within the British system have opposed the peace process
from the beginning and at critical points in its development have
sought to bring the process down. The discovery of the bugging device
is extremely damaging to the building of trust that is needed beween
all sides in Britain and Ireland if the momentum for change and faith
in the political process are to be maintained.
The development also represents nothing less than an offensive action
against the Sinn Féin leadership. It comes at an extremely delicate
juncture in the development of a political path out of 30 years of
conflict.
On the same day that power was devolved to the Executive, a shadow
meeting of the all-Ireland Ministerial Council was held at Stormont as
part of the formalities required to establish new all-Ireland
implementation bodies. The meeting was attended by 26-County Justice
Minister John O'Donoghue, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Liz
O'Donnell and Six-County First Minister and Deputy First Minister
David Trimble and Séamus Mallon.
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The discovery of the bugging device has shown that the hidden hand of
the British state security services remains an unwelcome feature of
political life in Ireland.
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At a ceremony in Iveagh House the following day, the Irish Minister
for Foreign Affairs David Andrews and the British Secretary of State
for the North Peter Mandelson, signed the commencement orders for the
implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Following this ceremony,
the 26-County Cabinet met to give effect to the revised version of
Articles Two and Three of the 1937 Constitution.
Also on Thursday, a meeting of the Six-County Executive took place at
Stormont. The meeting was jointly chaired by David Trimble and Séamus
Mallon. While the eight ministers representing the UUP, SDLP and Sinn
Féin attended, the two ministers representing Ian Paisley's Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) boycotted the meeting.
The IRA, in a statement on Thursday evening, confirmed that it was
appointing a representative to enter into discussions with General
John de Chastelain and the Independent International Commission on
Decommissioning, despite deep concern at new conditions which the UUP
have introduced to the situation.
The IRA statement read:
``On Wednesday, 17 November, the IRA leadership announced that,
following the establishment of the institutions agreed on Good Friday
last year, they would appoint a representative to enter into
discussions with the IICD.
``We have since expressed our concern at the conditions which the
Ulster Unionist Party have introduced to the establishment of these
institutions.
``The implications of this serious development are being carefully
considered.
``Despite this we will honour our committment. We confirm that a
representative has now been appointed to enter into discussions with
the IICD.''
On Sunday, Óglaigh na h-Éireann confirmed that its representative had
met with the IICD. Meanwhile, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams demanded
British government action on demilitarisation in the North. Adams said
there was a ``huge onus on Peter Mandelson to deliver and deliver big
time on the obligations and the commitments of his government. What we
need now is action on the ground, pronto.'' Adams added that a
statement from Mandelson announcing his intention to launch an initial
review period on demilitarisation lasting until next year was ``not
good enough''.
``I'm saying they need to move and move quickly and bring about big
change on these issues as speedily as possible,'' said Adams, who
particularly criticised the enduring presence of British military
installations in nationalist areas such as South Armagh and West
Belfast.
The Six-County Assembly met on Monday, 6 December and passed a salary
increase for Assembly members against resistance from Sinn Féin, which
opposed the increase as a matter of social justice
Voting against the move, Gerry Adams said: ``It concerns me that the
first order of business to be considered today is a substantial
increase in salaries for members.
``I would point out that the increase suggested is almost three times
more than the income of a single person on Income Support.
``As with the present salary, any increase voted through this house
today will not personally benefit any member of our party. We will
argue against this substantial increase but if approved then, as with
the bulk of remuneration presently being paid, it will be invested in
building our constituency services, to provide better facilities and
access to representatives for constituents.''
A number of politically-inspired protests around the appointment of
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness as Education Minister took place at
schools in loyalist areas of the Six Counties on Tuesday of this week.
McGuinness suggested the protests had been orchestrated by elements in
the DUP. ``The older people out there who are clearly instigating
these protests need to consider whether or not they are doing these
children any favour at all,'' he said.
Sinn Féin had convened a press conference at Stormont on Wednesday, 8
December to launch the party's Programme for Government, but the
launch was cancelled with the discovery of the listening device in a
car used by Gerry Adams during the Mitchell Review.
Adams pointed out that he had specifically used the car at a time when
he and Martin McGuinness had persuaded the IRA to appoint a
representative to the de Chastelain Commission and said it was a very
serious example of the securocrat agenda.
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