Republican News · Thursday 12 June 2003

All parties must demand elections

The Good Friday Agreement, endorsed in referenda throughout Ireland, was achieved after long and arduous negotiations. It is an International Treaty between the British and Irish governments, not a British or a unionist Agreement that can be changed unilaterally and without the consent of the majority of people on this island.

But despite the enormous democratic legitimacy of the Good Friday Agreement, the 26-County government, as a supposed co-equal partner with Britain and a guarantor of the Agreement, could not or did not prevent the British government suspending the Assembly on four occasions and effectively cancelling the Assembly elections in an arrogant and arbitrary manner.

This was an Agreement that the nationalist political establishment described as the greatest act of Irish national self-determination since 1918.

Sinn Féin rejected this interpretation and events since then have vindicated the party's position. If it really was the people of Ireland exercising self-determination, then how could the British government, at the stroke of a pen, wipe it out? And why is there not a concerted campaign by all of the political parties in this state demanding that the British respect democracy and reverse the decision to cancel an Irish election?

Failure to demand to be treated as a co-equal partner with the British government, or refusing to respect and defend the democratic decision of the Irish electorate, as happened following the first Nice Treaty referendum, is not the action of a government that is a co-equal partner in the family of nations.

There needs to be a concerted campaign from the political parties here demanding that the elections take place immediately. The term Irish republican is often used in a narrow sense to describe members and supporters of Sinn Féin,

but a broader definition is required which embraces all those who share a commitment to the complete freedom of the Irish people.

The vision of the Irish Republic that we seek encompasses all of Ireland and its people. It involves social and economic equality, as well as political, religious and cultural freedom. It values the Irish language and culture while embracing cultural diversity in Ireland and internationally. For this new Ireland to be achieved, we need to build a real coalition in the broadest sense of the word, with all those campaigning for real and lasting change in our country.

When we deliver an effective strategy for re-uniting the territory and people of Ireland, we will be able to take our place among the nations of the earth.