Reid implicated in Ahern's Scotland cancellation
BY FERN LANE
The new Secretary of State John Reid, along with Scottish
Secretary Helen Liddle, continues to be implicated in the fiasco
surrounding the forced cancellation of Bertie Ahern's visit to
unveil a famine memorial at Carfin in Lanarkshire. The incident
has severely embarrassed the Scottish Labour Party and has again
raised the issue of sectarianism in Scotland. Lanarkshire is said
to be the heartland of such sectarianism.
Frank Roy, the Labour MP for Motherwell and Wishaw in
Lanarkshire, who initiated the row, was forced to resign as
parliamentary private secretary to Helen Liddle on Monday when it
emerged that he had consulted both Reid and Liddle about his
intention to ask the Dublin government to cancel the trip to
Carfin. The visit was to take place after Ahern had attended the
Celtic v Rangers match at Parkhead on Saturday. Both the
Secretary of State and the Scottish Secretary have refused to
comment on the matter or clarify their respective roles in the
affair, but their alleged involvement would answer the mystery of
how a local MP could wield sufficient power to persuade the
Taoiseach to cancel such a high-profile event.
The controversy centres on a letter from Frank Roy to the Irish
Consul-General in Scotland, Dan Mulhall, faxed on Friday night,
which is said to have contained an ultimatum. Carfin Grotto near
Belshill has been a peaceful place of pilgrimage for some 80
years, but in the letter Roy insisted that it could become a
flashpoint for sectarian violence if Ahern went ahead with the
unveiling of a celtic cross to commemorate famine victims.
Further, in the second paragraph, Roy specifically mentioned the
fact that he was PPS to Helen Liddell, had been PPS to John Reid
before that, and that prior to contacting Mulhall he had raised
the matter with both of them. The mention of Reid and Liddle is
thought to have been major factor in the decision to cancel the
trip.
However, in a telephone conversation between Roy and Mulhall on
Monday morning, Roy insisted that he had only learned about the
Taoiseach's visit the day before it was due to take place and
that he was independently, as the local constituency MP,
``advising'' Ahern not to attend as there was a danger that the
event would inflame tensions and lead to ``sectarian riots'' in the
wake of the Old Firm match. Roy later denied that he had made his
intervention in a fit of pique at not having been invited as a
VIP guest to the event.
Also implicated is the Scottish external affairs minister Jack
McConnell, who shares a constituency office with Roy. McConnell
has refused to comment on the matter but did confirm that he had
turned down an invitation to attend the commemoration at Carfin.
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