Republican News · Thursday 15 July 1999

[An Phoblacht]

Blair's blunder

It appears as if Tony Blair's efforts to pander to unionism by excluding Sinn Féin will founder on the rock of unionist intransigence.

On Wednesday evening, David Trimble threw Tony Blair's concessions back into his face proving that the policy of continually caving in to unionist pressure does not work and will never move the political process forward.

The Ulster Unionist leadership has attempted to accomplish in the past few days what it failed to achieve during the negotiations of Good Friday 1998 and in the most recent Stormont discussions. The amendments put into the legislation by British Prime Minister Tony Blair undermine the Good Friday Agreement. The legislation itself is a sop to unionism and clear evidence that the Orange card is once again being played with considerable success.

On the basis of ever-more strident unionist demands, Tony Blair headed down the path of exclusion. But even Blair's best efforts at appeasement may once again not to be enough for the insatiable no men of unionism.

The election of the new Labour government in Britain saw the beginnings of a change in British government policy in Ireland. What we witnessed this week was a return to Conservative policies, as Tony Blair went back to something which had already been proven not to work.

Mo Mowlam has pledged that d'Hondt will be triggered today, but the prospect of a working Executive and the other institutions contained in the Good Friday Agreement remain as far away as ever. By capitulating to sectional interests, Tony Blair has weakened his standing as British prime minister by jumping to the unionist drum and has undermined his credibility with all parties to the peace process.


Contents Page for this Issue
Reply to: Republican News