Republican News · Thursday 1 November 2001

Special Dáil debate on peace process

"A time of renewed hope" - Ó Caoláin

A special debate was held in the Dáil last week in the wake of the IRA initiative and the confirmation from the International Decommissioning body that a quantity of IRA arms had been put beyond use. Speaking in that debate, Cavan/Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called for a swift and positive response from the British and Irish governments and the unionists.

The Sinn Féin TD began by commending the IRA for what he called the "momentous step" they had taken. He described it as a "very difficult decision" which would cause concern for many sincere republicans. Ó Caoláin refuted the argument that the decision had come about as a result of the 11 September events, pointing out that long before that date, the IRA had taken other initiatives to save the political process from collapse. The Sinn Féin TD then set out what needs to happen next:

"We now have a new opportunity to fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement. We need to see long overdue progress on all fronts. Moves on demilitarisation announced today by British Secretary of State John Reid must be part of an ongoing process. We must see all British military installations removed so that the people of South Armagh and all other parts of the Six Counties can live in peace on their land. The British Army never had any right in Ireland and it must be removed, bag and baggage, once and for all.

"The current policing legislation falls short of Patten which was itself a compromise. There must be real accountability, the disbandment of the Special Branch - a force within a force - and the Human Rights Oath for all members and not just new recruits. Plastic bullets must be banned. We need to see the repeal of repressive British legislation.

"We need real action to combat economic discrimination against nationalists, and to regenerate all deprived communities, unionist and nationalist alike.

"The Irish Government must fulfill its obligations and commitments.

We need to see the repeal of repressive legislation in this jurisdiction - the odious Offences Against the State Act which is an affront to civil rights.

"There must be progress on representation in the Oireachtas for citizens in the Six Counties, a measure which has been delayed for far too long. The delay has not been since Good Friday 1998 but, as the record of this House will show, since at least 1951 when a motion seeking right of audience for Six-County MPs was tabled by Seán MacBride but rejected by the de Valera government."

PEACE DIVIDEND

"We need to see a real peace dividend for the Border Counties. That has been promised but there has been little sign of it in the communities in Counties Cavan and Monaghan which I represent.

"I urge the leaders of unionism to embrace this new opportunity for progress. They should renew their commitment to the Good Friday Agreement. They should now participate fully in all the institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement, including the All-Ireland Ministerial Council and the All-Ireland bodies.

"It is in all our interests for the leaders of unionism to defend and promote the Agreement among their own supporters and beyond, harnessing the broad support for it in the North of Ireland.

"Unionist leaders need to give real leadership to those loyalist communities where sectarianism is flourishing, stoked by anti-Agreement politicians and loyalist paramilitaries - Glenbryn Estate for example where protesters are daily terrorising young Catholic schoolgirls. Mr Trimble should stand side by side with the parents and their children. He and others need to actively combat the sectarianism which blames the social and economic problems of loyalist communities on their nationalist neighbours. All of us need to encourage the emergence of real leadership from loyalist working-class communities which have been the political cannon fodder of bigots for decades.

"Contrary to much of the commentary around these developments it is important to point out that the Irish republican tradition is not and never has been static and unchanging. It has always developed and adapted to the times and the political conditions. But the commitment to Irish unity and independence, and to social justice for all our people, has not changed and will not change. The republican tradition, which I am proud to represent, did not end in 1921 and draws no distinction between the Mountjoy Ten and the Long Kesh Ten.

"This is a time of renewed hope. I look forward to working with those of every tradition on this island as we create a new Ireland in which all our children can live together as equals."