A week of concerted efforts to wreck peace process
By Mary Maguire
On the 1999 calendar, yet another week has been ticked and still no
progress has been made. The peace process, already described as a
``pace process'', is hitting new obstacles. This week was not only
characterised by an absence of moves to set up the Assembly
Executive. A concerted campaign of actions aimed at wrecking the
Agreement has further clarified David Trimble's politics of
obstructionism.
As David Trimble threatens to ``park'' the process and refuses to
honour his commitments to establish an Executive, allies of
anti-Agreement unionists have attempted to jeopardise the dynamics of
the political process.
The actors of this unholy alliance range from British Tory leader
William Hague, through FAIT and the RUC, to the so-called Orange
Volunteer Force.
Backed by two British Labour MPs, William Hague this week latched
onto the issue of punishment beatings in nationalist areas and
demanded an end to the early releases of POWs. The way in which the
office of the British Secretary of State hyped a meeting that
suddenly solely focused on the issue punishment beatings is another
demonstration of bad faith.
In parallel, the RUC has continued to attempt to recruit informers,
particularly in West Belfast.
A meeting between relatives of the eight men killed by British state
forces and British minister Adam Ingram was also exploited for
political purposes. Unionists who oppose the Agreement attempted to
deny these victims legitimate recognition by calling for the
cancellation of the meeing. The efforts to create controversy by
No-camp unionists was simply unionist propaganda, carried out with
the complicity of the British newswires who ran the story for six
consecutive days in advance of Monday's meeting.
Meanwhile, the parents of murdered teenager Peter McBride are asked
to accept that the two guardsmen who murdered their son benefit from
``exceptional circumstances'' and therefore are perfectly entitled to
rejoin the British Army.
Suggestions by David Jones and the Orange Order that further
demonstrations are to take place around the Garvaghy Road estate are
yet another indication that the Orange Order are not serious about
resolving Drumcree peacefully and no Unionist leader has spoken
against their plans. By failing to stop a siege that has entered its
200th day, the British government is giving a green light to some of
the most bitter opponents Agreement.
While the political vacuum persists, loyalist death squads have
intensifed a campaign of sectarian attacks. The so-called Orange
Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Defenders, whose aim is to wreck the
peace process, have claimed dozens of attacks on ordinary Catholic
families living in isolated areas, of which the attempted murder of
60-year-old Christine Shaw, whose husband was murdered six years ago.
Today, is the nationalist community expected to live with the fear of
sectarian attacks the political process was designed to prevent?
In parallel, threats from the UVF are further proof that loyalist
death squads are using the threat of a return to sectarian murders in
an attempt to impose preconditions on the peace process. In this
context, the comments made by Billy Hutchinson (PUP) that tourists
and livestock in the 26 Co. could be targeted by loyalists are
disgraceful and dangerous. They will no doubt give succour to the
so-called Orange Volunteers and Red Hand Defenders who will interpret
them as vindication for their attacks on nationalists.
The fact that the PUP is engaging in threats without being condemned
also points out to the differences that lie ahead. It is not hard to
imagine the resposne if a senior republican had said something
similar.
In light of the concerted campaign to wreck the peace process, it is
time for the Irish and British government to stand by their
commitment and show clear and resolute leadership. Bertie Ahern and
Tony Blair have to face the reality that they cannot follow the
unionists' gameplan and walk away from the terms and letter of the
Agreement.
Currently, too many aspects of the Agreement are failing to become
reality. In the previous months and weeks, too many deadlines have
slipped and created a sense of fear that the crisis surrounding the
peace process will torpedo the whole Agreement. As the promises fail
to materialise, the nationalist community is subject to a new
campaign of loyalist murder attempts. It is time that David Trimble's
obstructionist tactics be efficiently countered.
The 15 February Assembly meeting will be a crucial moment. As the
Final document on the Assembly departments and All-Ireland bodies is
put to vote, David Trimble must honour his commitment to recommend
the report he has drafted with Seamus Mallon. Bertie Ahern and Tony
Blair must then move in and ensure that the vote triggers the
establishment of an Executive. Whatever problems the governments may
currently encounter, the peace process must stay their priority and
main focus.
Both governments have acknowledged in the past weeks that there is no
precondition to Sinn Féin's entry into an Executive. David Trimble
himself indicated two weeks ago that he was wrong when he stated that
there was ``technically'' no obstacle for the formation of an
Executive.
On the calendar of change, the next weeks must not be empty of
progress. There is no excuse for all the people of the island not to
see their hopes for a new and peaceful future fulfilled.
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