Having to seek equality in grief
Last Sunday, in the annual republican lecture in Sligo in memory of
IRA Volunteers Joe McManus and Kevin Coen, Sinn Féin President Gerry
Adams MP hit out at those who seek to criminalise the IRA by denying
the grief felt by the families of dead IRA Volunteers
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There are 355 republican activists on the Roll of Honour. Most of
those are IRA volunteers who were killed in action. We grieve for
them. And we share that grief and sense of loss with their families
and friends. Because they were decent people, selfless people,
honourable people. And because what they sought to achieve for the
people of Ireland was decent, noble and just
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There are those, many of them in this part of Ireland, who like to
pigeonhole the conflict in the north as `religious' or `tribal'.
While there is undoubtedly a sectarian element involved it is
impossible to understand the events of the past 30 years, or 300
years, or the clashing political allegiance of unionism and
nationalism, imperialism and republicanism, unless they are placed in
the context of England's invasion and conquest of Ireland.
For much of this time Britain and its unionist allies have dominated
Ireland, and for all of this century until now they have dominated
the north. It is often said that the victor writes the history, and
in this instance not only has that often been true but they have also
withheld from nationalists and republicans the legitimacy of our
political aspirations, beliefs and goals.
Specifically, in the context of today's lecture at which we remember
two courageous young IRA volunteers, the British state denies any
equivalence between its military forces and the IRA. One person's
freedom fighter will always be another person's terrorist.
It is worth remembering this as we face up to the difficulties ahead.
Many of these difficulties are created and sustained by the refusal
of the British, until now, and by the pro-union side to accept as
legitimate the opinions of those who oppose partition and British or
unionist rule, while at the same time insisting that British rule in
Ireland is in some way legitimate, or that the unionist one-party
state which existed until now, was in any way democratic.
Through this peace process we are trying to face up to these
multiple, deep and serious divisions, which British involvement in
our country has created. There is no magic wand or simple solution to
this. We are seeking through this process to remove the causes of
conflict, and the many symptoms of conflict which are all around us;
the need for a new policing service; an end to inequality and
discrimination; guarantees of justice and human rights; including
democratic and national rights; and new laws which are fair and
impartial.
But in all of this we have to remember the human consequences of a
conflict, which for the most part has been borne by ordinary people.
Republican communities are proud of those IRA Volunteers, and Sinn
Féin activists who gave their lives in the struggle for Irish
independence. We also remember those family members and friends who
were killed. These republican activists gave everything they had to
give with no thought or expectation of personal reward. Indeed they
received none. Rather they endured all sorts of hardships and
privations along the way; poverty, vilification, anxiety for their
families, brutality and torture at the hands of their interrogators
and jailers.
There are 355 republican activists on the Roll of Honour. Most of
those are IRA volunteers who were killed in action. We grieve for
them. And we share that grief and sense of loss with their families
and friends. Because they were decent people, selfless people,
honourable people. And because what they sought to achieve for the
people of Ireland was decent, noble and just.
The reactionaries will reject this of course but it is this which
they, and until now the British government, has forever sought to
deny. It is around these issues of legitimacy and equivalence which
the British have fought a constant propaganda battle. Because they
understand the importance of popular support and the need to dominate
and isolate an enemy.
The events of the 1970s, leading to the hunger strikes of 1980 and
1981, illustrate this point well, but also the strength of character
and commitment of IRA volunteers, and of the public support which the
IRA enjoys.
Looking back over this century of struggle and the various phases of
IRA struggle, it is clear that apart from perhaps the Black and Tan
war, this phase of struggle is very different from all others. What
has particularly characterised this phase is that the IRA has fought
within the occupied area and existed cheek by jowl with the British
forces, which have at their disposal a vast array of technological
resources, personnel, and money.
Against such odds and against such a formidable opponent the IRA was
undefeated when in 1994 it called its complete cessation of
hostilities in a genuine effort to advance a democratic peace
settlement.
To get to that point the IRA had to survive decades of psychological,
as well as real warfare from the British. All aimed at demonising
republicanism. For example, the British criminalisation policy
introduced under Merlyn Rees was a denial of both legitimacy and
equivalence to republican resistance. Its goal was, in the first
instance, to persuade nationalists living in the north to reject
republicans. It was also very obviously directed at people living in
the south, and at the international audience watching events
unfolding in that part of Ireland. To achieve success the British
spent tens of millions of pounds on propaganda ads, press tours for
foreign journalists, pamphlets, videos and much more. At the same
time Republican activists and innocents alike were tortured and
beaten in interrogation centres as a conveyor belt of legal
institutions was created to arrest, interrogate, charge and imprison
political opponents quickly.
A new vocabulary was created around `godfathers', `mindless
criminals', `pathological killers' and criminality. Even today as we
develop a conflict resolution process the media refers to the British
crown forces as the `security forces' - the IRA remain `terrorists'.
Privately, the British understand that all of this is a lie. For
example, a secret British internal assessment, `Document 37', was
produced by British Army Brigadier James Glover. contradicts
Britain's public position. It says: `Our evidence of the calibre of
rank and file terrorists does not support the view that they are
merely mindless hooligans drawn from the unemployed and
unemployable'.
Around the same time a study by lawyers of defendants appearing in
Diplock Courts on political offences also gave a contrary view of
republicans: `We are satisfied that the data establishes beyond
reasonable doubt that the bulk of the republican offenders are young
men and women without criminal records in the ordinary sense, though
some have been involved in public disorders of the kind that
frequently took place in the areas in which they lived. Both in this
respect and in other records of employment and unemployment, they are
reasonable representative of the working class community of which
they form a substantial part... They do not fit the stereotype of
criminality which the authorities have from time to time attempted to
attach to them'.
It is also important that we remember that around 3,500 people have
been killed during the past 30 years. The IRA itself has been
responsible for 50% of those deaths. Of these almost 70% were British
forces, loyalists and British political figures. Another 100 were IRA
volunteers killed accidentally. The rest were civilians.
I recognise that the death of a British soldier or an RUC member
causes great trauma and grief for their families and friends. No
matter about their role in the conflict the loss at a personal level
is massive and regrettable. If we are to have a real healing process
then anti-republican sentiment in this country will have to recognise
that the families of IRA volunteers go through exactly the same pain
and grief and all of us have to recognise that the families of non
combatants have an extra special burden to bear. No section of our
people has a monopoly on suffering.
If we are to have a lasting peace there can be no restrictions
imposed on fact, grief, sense of loss or shared responsibilities.
There must be no grief more worthy than any others
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In war all sides do terrible things. The IRA have done terrible
things.
That is the nature of war but it does not excuse the awfulness of
some incident. But at least the IRA has acknowledged its actions. The
British Army and RUC have not. The securocrats have managed to
cover-up British forces' direct involvement in the killings of almost
400 people.
They have also successfully covered up their complicity in the
murders of hundreds of others through collusion between loyalist
groups and British military intelligence and other intelligence
agencies. The Brian Nelson case is probably the most notorious. A
British agent, with the crucial role within the UDA, Nelson decided
who was targeted for death and he worked from files supplied by his
British intelligence handlers. He was also the key player in the
importation from apartheid South Africa of hundreds of rifles, guns,
hand grenades and rocket launchers, which were used and are still
being used, to kill nationalists.
These are the realities of conflict which we must deal with if we are
to ensure that our past never again repeats itself. The running sores
of this conflict have to be addressed in an honest and forthright
fashion.
The Good Friday Agreement covers much of these matters but the truth
around Bloody Sunday; the Brian Nelson Affair and collusion; the
beating to death of Robert Hamill; the siege of the Garvaghy Road;
the Dublin and Monaghan bombs - that truth must be also uncovered.
If we are to have a lasting peace there can be no restrictions
imposed on fact, grief, sense of loss or shared responsibilities.
There must be no grief more worthy than any others.
This will not be easy. The negotiations were not easy. Getting to
this point in our history was not easy. For republicans it meant
taking enormous political risks.
Sinn Féin is an Irish republican party. Our primary goals are about
the reconquest of Ireland by the people of Ireland.
From our strategic viewpoint the Good Friday Agreement is part of the
transitional process toward these goals. It represents what is
possible at this time; not the preferred option of any of the
participants - certainly not Sinn Féin's. That is the political
reality. The Good Friday Agreement is the essential compromise for
this phase of the peace process. That is the political reality. An
equal political reality is that the potential and all future
possibilities rests on the implementation of the letter of the
Agreement. The Agreement is not a pig in a poke. What you see is what
you get. That applies across the board; to the two governments , to
the SDLP, to Mr Trimble and his party, to Sinn Féin, Alliance, PUP
and the Women's Coalition. That is what 85% of the electorate of this
island cast their votes for last May.
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If we are to have a real healing process then anti-republican
sentiment in this country will have to recognise that the families of
IRA volunteers go through exactly the same pain and grief and all of
us have to recognise that the families of non combatants have an
extra special burden to bear. No section of our people has a monopoly
on suffering
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The Agreement represents a bridge out of conflict. Its implementation
is an indispensable requirement for the development of a new
political culture involving all Ireland policy and co-operation,
inclusive and co-operative political institutions, equality, justice,
human rights, demilitarisation and a policing service in the north
which can enjoy and secure widespread support.
The Agreement is part of a process. Its implementation in all its
aspects is part of a process. These are realities which have to be
dealt with in this phase of that process.
It is also a reality that the causes of conflict remain intact and
the issues of political allegiance and legitimacy remain in
contention. The British Army remains in the north at numbers which
have remained largely unchanged over the past five years. The RUC is
intact. The RIR is intact. The loyalist paramilitaries are intact,
and some of them are still trying to kill Catholics. Ulster
Resistance, which retains its share of the South African weapons,
remains intact, and for the most part ignored by the media and
governments. There has been little change in the number and size of
military bases and the British government has yet to publicise its
strategy for demilitarisation. Scores of thousands of licensed
weapons remain in the hands of the unionist population.
The Agreement has addressed some of these matters. It has not
resolved them. But it did lay down a template by which a resolution
of all of these matters can be found if the political will exists on
the part of the participants.
For our part Sinn Féin is fully committed to the full implementation
of the Agreement. The decisions taken at last week's Assembly meeting
have cleared the way for the establishment of the Shadow Executive
and the all-Ireland Ministerial Council. Only Mr Trimble stands
between progress and impasse. He must honour his commitments.
I do not expect him to be enamoured by what I have said today. I do
not expect him to agree with me. This is an issue on which we can
agree to disagree. If these remarks are publicised perhaps Mr Trimble
may be tempted to seize upon them and to knee-jerk in response. That
would be to miss the point.
My commitment and the commitment of Sinn Féin is to build a lasting
peace - my commitment and the commitment of Sinn Féin is to remove
the causes of conflict - our commitment is to do our best to create a
future free of conflict and armed organisations - a future of justice
and peace for all the people of this island. The process of achieving
that has to include an understanding by all political leaders,
especially at a human and humanitarian level, of the suffering of all
sections involved in this conflict.
d that means facing up to the fact that attempts to criminalise the
IRA's armed struggle is even more a waste of time now than it was
before the IRA cessations, and that this notion is now mainly pursued
by those who have not accepted that we are in a new era with real
possibilities to build a new and inclusive future.
It means facing up to the fact that however difficult it may be for
those who oppose the IRA or who have suffered because of the IRA, the
reality is that the grief and loss of the families of dead IRA
volunteers is as real and as worthy of acknowledgement as the loss of
any other family.
d finally the veil has got to be lifted on the dirty tricks
activity of the British crown Forces, its involvement in
assassinations, summary executions, collusion and other covert
activities. When that veil is lifted, as surely it will be, then the
many decent people within anti-republican sentiment in Ireland and
Britain will be ashamed of what the securocrats did in their name in
our country.
It is obvious from the controversy created by tomorrow's meeting
between the families of those killed at Loughgall and the British
Minister Adam Ingram that some of these truths are hard for some
people to accept.
They are protesting that a British Minister is meeting these
families. The real issue is that the families are meeting the British
Minister. That shows a remarkable generosity of spirit by those
families who have been bereaved by the actions of the British forces.
Their loss is a grievous one but their preparedness to meet a
political representative of those who did the killing should be
acknowledged. What do the families want? They want the truth.
There are numerous other families in the same situation. Other
families of dead IRA volunteers, as well as hundreds of non-combatant
victims of British crown forces killings, and hundreds of victims of
British collusion with loyalism deserve to know the truth also. That
is a necessary part of the peace process, a necessary part of a
healing process and of a process of national reconciliation.
I commend the families of the IRA volunteers killed at Loughgall.
Their young men were not terrorists. They were good and decent
patriotic Irishmen. Not everyone will accept that. Fair enough. But
we will have to accept the right of their families to grieve and to
know the truth. I express solidarity with the family of Mr Hughes who
was an uninvolved civilian caught in the British killing grounds at
Loughgall. The Hughes family also deserves to know the truth.
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