Republican News · Thursday 15 May 2003

Ahern must demand equality, openness and integrity from British

Sinn Féin Dáil Leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has challenged the Taoiseach to provide evidence to support his claim during Taoiseach's Questions on Wednesday that the British government has declared its war in Ireland to be over. Ó Caoláin said it was "disingenuous of the Taoiseach to make claims on behalf of the British government that are frankly untrue".

The TD for Cavan/Monaghan said: "Rather than attempting to pick at non-existent holes in the IRAs recent statements the Taoiseach would do well to pay some attention to the lack of clarity from the British government and the sinister developments that have taken place over the last few days.

"Today, the Taoiseach said 'the British government has made its position very clear - that its war is over.' Where is the evidence to support this? On what information is the Irish government making this extravagant claim? Although the evidence manifestly suggests otherwise the British have never even acknowledged that it was in fact engaged in a war in Ireland. It is disingenuous of the Taoiseach to make such claims on behalf of the British government that are quite frankly untrue.

"Also worth noting is the fact that minutes after he made his 'the war is over' claim on behalf of the British government the Taoiseach went on to say that he often came out of meetings with the British Prime Minister more confused than when he went in, particularly having raised questions about Britain's sinister military activities in Ireland.

"All of this points to the fact that the British government is treating the Irish government with little disguised and patronising contempt. The Irish government needs to take a more forceful stand in this relationship. They must demand equality, openness and integrity from the British side if the nationalist population in Ireland is to retain its confidence in this process and in the Good Friday Agreement.

"The Irish government could make a start by demanding access to and publication of the full Stevens' report into collusion. If Britain has nothing to hide or if, as the Taoiseach claims, that all of this is in its past, then they could show their bona fides by making the full report public.

"Otherwise, judging by the events of the last couple of days and the role played by Britain's Ministry of Defence and MI5, ordinary people could not be faulted for thinking that Britain's sinister war in Ireland was continuing unabated."