Republican News · Thursday 11 October 2001

Unionists withdraw from process

By MICHAEL PIERSE

The threatened resignation of the UUP's three members of the Six-County Executive by next Wednesday represents another stage in that party's continuing withdrawal from the Peace Process. It also leaves that process is an even deeper crisis.

Citing its abhorrence for silent IRA arms, the UUP enlisted the support of UVF-linked representatives to table an Assembly motion calling for the exclusion of Sinn FÈin on Monday. Both of these PUP representatives have previously stated that the UVF might not even decommission, if the IRA did.

Not content with this blatant, yet under-reported act of hypocrisy, the Ulster Unionists' political gymnastics stretched even further. After announcing their intention to bring down the Executive, straight-faced, feigning concern, they tabled a motion calling on the same Executive to redouble its efforts to safeguard industry in the North.

Trimble's motion to exclude Sinn FÈin from the Executive was lost in the Assembly. The previous Friday, the Appeals Court in Belfast had ruled that Trimble's decision to bar Sinn FÈin ministers from attending meetings of the North/South ministerial council was unlawful. Trimble will not have been unduly bothered by either putdown, however, as he made his decision to disengage from the process and bring down the institutions fully a year ago.

This disengagement by unionism takes place against the background of a continuing campaign of intimidation by the UDA against the nationalist community. At the same time, fundamentally flawed policing legislation which retreats even from the provisions of the Patten Report, is being foisted by the British government on the Six Counties. Furthermore, measures on demilitarisation, equality and human rights simply do not add up to what was envisaged in the Agreement.

Despite all of this, it is the UUP that is walking away from the institutions, from political consensus and progress and fundamentally, from the outside world. Sinn FÈin is not walking away. The party leadership has held talks this week in London with Tony Blair and in Dublin with Bertie Ahern to find a way forward. Gerry Adams described these as "helpful", but said that more work needs to be done.

During the debate on Monday in the Assembly, Adams acknowledged that "the issue of weapons is a huge issue for unionists" but added that progress had been made on the issue. This and other changes in republicanism pointed, if only unionists had the vision to see it, he said, "to a future free of IRA weapons".

The onus now shifts to the governments, particularly the British government, to live up to the commitments it made in the Good Friday Agreement and to act to save the peace process.