Reports obtained from:
(1) Daily Ireland (Belfast), (2) Irish Republican News, (3) Danny Morrison (Belfast)
(4) Sunday Business Post (Dublin), (5) Irish Voice (USA)
Wednesday, 3 August, 2005
Sunday-Wednesday, 31 July-3 August, 2005
Sunday, 31 July, 2005
Friday, 29 July, 2005
Thursday, 28 July, 2005
Editorial: Unionist hypocrisy blatantly obvious
By Daily Ireland, Belfast
As well as crimes of brutality and murder, of which all sides to the conflict here have been repeatedly responsible, there are crimes of omission, crimes of silence and crimes of hypocrisy, of which it seems we've seen more in the past four days than we've seen in the past four decades.
How unionist politicians can square their words and actions in recent days with their professed Christian beliefs is something that only they can explain. For the rest of us, their passivity in the face of a bloody escalation in loyalist feuding is in marked contrast to the fire and passion they managed to articulate in response to the IRA's order to its volunteers to dump arms.
To describe as weasel words the response of unionism to the ongoing slaughter on the streets of Belfast would be to do a grave disservice to small mammals - far from turning up the heat on the loyalist paramilitaries, the tepid response of unionism to these continuing acts of barbarism serves effectively as an encouragement.
Which would be bad enough in the normal run of things, but when we view this stomach-turning hypocrisy against the backcloth of the reaction to Thursday's IRA statement, we can see the continuing truth of the words spoken after the IRA ceasefire of 1994 - that peace it just too destabilising for this toxic little statelet for unionists to consider. Compare the shrugged shoulders and the nothing-to-do-with-me-guv reaction to the ongoing loyalist carnage with the thin-lipped, finger-jabbing fury with which they greeted the prospect of the IRA calling it a day, and the chilling conclusion can only be that cold-blooded killings isn't what they object to after all, rather it's cold-blooded republican killing.
The established media, which throughout the conflict acted as cheerleaders for the various armed agencies of the British state and who reacted to the nascent Hume-Adams dialogue with a deafening screech of fury, preferred to look to the past rather than the future. Of course, inviting the relatives of IRA victims to express their anger/outrage at this latest staging post in the peace process is their prerogative, but one wonders if they will extend a similar invitation to the families of the victims of the British and their proxy gangs after the latest round of demilitarisation.
If, as is reported, the spy post on Divis Tower is dismantled, that self-same media establishment will be deaf to the stories of those many, many victims whose lives were taken in the baleful shadow of that station. Its surveillance equipment never once stopped a loyalist murder and, we're told, never once witnessed one.
The reality, of course, is that the Divis spy post gathered evidence that was then passed on to loyalists, and far from defending the community below it, the post cleared the way for killer gangs to get in and out.
Copyright © 2005 Daily Ireland
Sunday-Wednesday, 31 July-3 August, 2005
Time to go
British military reductions underway
By Irish Republican News
The British Army has begun dismantling some of its most infamous spyposts in the North of Ireland as part of a major programme of demilitarisation and troop withdrawal.
The move follows last week's landmark initiative by the Provisional IRA to dump arms and stand down and yesterday's publication by the British government of its long-delayed schedule for demilitarisation.
Republicans have been cheered and unionists outraged by the British government's choreographed response to the end of the IRA's armed campaign.
The phased plan, to be carried through over two years, depends on a peaceful "enabling environment" being "established and maintained".
If completed, it will result in the withdrawal of about half the British military deployment in Ireland, including the partial disbandment of the notorious Royal Irish Regiment [RIR] and the removal of a number of controversial military installations.
One of the first steps in the demilitarisation plan began at the notorious military fortifications on top of Divis Flats, a residential building overlooking Gerry Adams's West Belfast constituency.
DUP leader Ian Paisley thundered: "It is a surrender to the IRA and is further evidence of bad faith on the part of the Government."
In particular, the treatment of the RIR was "a scandalous betrayal" comparable to the reform of the old RUC police into the current PSNI.
He accused ministers of taking a "dishonest and dangerous approach" and warned that the announcement would block the restoration of the Belfast Assembly.
British Secretary of State Peter Hain published the three-phase plan yesterday linking it specifically to the "normalisation" papers released after intensive talks at Hillsborough Castle outside Belfast in March 2003.
Announcing the measures, Mr Hain said: "In April 2003 the [British] government set out proposals to normalise the security profile across Northern Ireland when there was an enabling environment. Following the IRA statement of 28th July, we are now moving quickly to begin that process."
Mr Hain added: "Provided the enabling environment is established and maintained, this programme will be achievable within two years, though if the conditions are right to move more quickly in implementing elements of the plan, the government will do so."
He said the programme "will see the creation of an environment which will allow the return of conventional policing across Northern Ireland".
Other measures outlined include the closure of 26 of the 40 British army sites in the North, and the cutting of troop numbers from 10,500 to 5,000. Defortification of PSNI stations is also to be accelerated, according to the news release.
Spy posts in south Armagh will be dismantled, along with the Masonic base on Derry's walls. There are also plans for the phased withdrawal of troops from counties Fermanagh and Tyrone within the next year, and demolition of the controversial spymast at Rosemount in Derry within two years.
Policing and judicial powers would be brought more into line with those in Britain. In particular, emergency legislation dealing with the special 'Diplock' non-jury courts would be removed.
UDR TO GO
The end of military support for policing should lead -- within two years -- to the disbandment of the three local battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment. The regiment was created in 1992 from the the murderous Ulster Defence Regiment [UDR] and the Royal Irish Rangers.
The UDR, a locally recruited Protestant militia, has a reputation for being ruthless and bigoted. Its existence created tensions in communities where local unionists were effectively policing nationalists.
The reputation of the UDR was further tarnished by the number of loyalist murders in which members of the UDR were involved. The most famous of these, the murder of three members of the Miami Showband, happened 30 years ago almost to the day.
On July 31, 1975, the band members were stopped by a UDR roadblock in Banbridge, Co Down. Loyalists tried to plant a bomb in the band's van but the bomb exploded, killing two of the loyalists.
Three band members were then killed in a hail of gunfire. Two UDR soldiers were later convicted of the murders.
WORK BEGINS
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams celebrated the removal of the Divis military watchtower in west Belfast -- and suggested a possible relocation on the Rev Ian Paisley's church rooftop.
Over the last 30 years the post has been used to photograph, film and spy upon people in the community. INLA Volunteer Matt McLarnon was shot and killed by British troops from the post, while unionist paramilitaries worked with impunity in its shadow. Two men, Thomas 'Toddler' Hughes and Martin O'Prey, were shot dead in full view of the post.
Mr Adams said the removal would be a relief for residents in his constituency forced to endure the British military presence.
The west Belfast MP added that it could be rebuilt at the church in the east of the city where Mr Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party leader opposed to the demilitarisation and disbandment of Royal Irish Regiment battalions, preaches regularly.
He said: "If Ian Paisley wants it to be transferred to the tower of the Free Presbyterian church, to the tower of the Martyrs` Memorial church, that`s a matter for him. But he must welcome the fact that these people (in Divis Tower) are going to be given respite."
But, with leaders of the main unionist party still refusing to enter direct negotiations with republicans, Mr Adams asked if Mr Paisley would have preferred that the IRA had not made its move.
He also challenged British prime minister Tony Blair to advise the DUP it was time to move on with the peace process and restore devolved government.
But as engineers continued to dismantle equipment high above him, the Sinn Fein leader was quick to wish them good riddance.
"I'm and Irish republican and the British army should never have been here at all," he said. "They serve no useful purpose here on Divis Tower. We are told they were there for our protection but people were killed in my constituency office, people were killed in this neighbourhood, all within sight of the squaddies on this tower."
West Belfast MLA Fra McCann, who lives in its shadow, said locals would be happy to see it go under British government plans to scale back its military presence in the North over the next two years.
Mr McCann said: "For 25 years we have lived as a community under surveillance. People will be glad to see the back of it."
Asked about unionist concerns about the pace of demilitarisation, Mr McCann said: "The [IRA] ceasefire has been in place for 11 years.
"The British government promised then that they would move on demilitarisation across the North. Considering it has been 11 years, then I would not consider it too soon."
Sunday-Wednesday, 31 July-3 August, 2005
Paisley blasts British 'surrender'
By Irish Republican News
The Dublin and London governments have been threatened with the "righteous indigination of the unionist population" if efforts continue to restore a local power-sharing administration in the North of Ireland.
Hardline unionist leader Ian Paisley made the comments in the wake of the Provisional IRA declaring end to its armed campaign and the first steps of a demilitarisaton programme by the British government.
Sinn Fein is now seeking its first face-to-face talks with Paisley's DUP party. However, recent peace moves appears only to have outraged unionist political leaders.
Dr Paisley is currently in London for talks with the British Secretary of State Peter Hain today and Prime Minister Tony Blair tomorrow.
He has called the reduction of the British military presence a "surrender" to the IRA and vowed to take unspecified "sanctions" against the British government.
Mr Paisley declared his party had a "veto" on the return of power-sharing in the North and added that the DUP would decide whether "when, if ever" it would set up a devolved administration in Belfast with Sinn Fein.
"The unionist people are not to be duped," he said last night. "It will be my business and the business of my colleagues to lay it on the line to both the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister that there can be no place in any future government of Northern Ireland for IRA/Sinn Fein.
"As the representatives of the majority of the Ulster population, we will not be engaged in any negotiations with that aim.
"The aim of the Belfast Agreement to put terrorists into government will not take place and if the Government, allied with IRA/Sinn Fein and the Dublin Government, press forward with such measures, then they will have to face the righteous indignation of the unionist population."
Ian Paisley has blamed the Ulster Unionists under former leader David Trimble, claiming the demilitarisation policy was drawn up when the UUP was the lead unionist party.
"Although the Secretary of State has confirmed that this is the outworking of an agreement entered into in April 2003 which was negotiated by the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein, he had a responsibility to consult with those who now represent unionism," said Dr Paisley.
"This he has failed to do. The joint declaration negotiated by David Trimble and Reg Empey is now coming back to haunt the people of the province. This bilateral agreement between the government and the IRA will have serious consequences for the political process.
"The government needs to learn that they are no longer dealing with David Trimble and Reg Empey," he added. "The era of pushover unionism is over."
Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey has called for a pan-unionist front to fight the measure. "Despite all these attacks on the UUP, this issue is so important that I am prepared to co- operate with like-minded unionists to seek to fight this irresponsible decision," he said.
Echoing a policy call made earlier yesterday by renegade UUP member David Burnside, he continued: "This would be a better use of our time and energy than an endless blame game between unionist parties that will only allow the government and republicans to get on with dismantling the defences of our country."
Sinn Fein welcomed the start of the operation to scale down security across the North.
Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said: "I think we'll have a fair idea by Christmas how things are shaping up. I think until then we will see the spotlight turning on the Democratic Unionist Party, who really do need to respond to this by adding their own momentum."
POPE STATEMENT
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has welcomed last Thursday's IRA statement, saying it brought "satisfaction and hope" not only to the island of Ireland but to the whole international community.
In an address to crowds at his summer residence Castelgandolfo, near Rome, he described the statement as "fine news that contrasts with the painful events that we witness daily in many parts of the world".
The Pope was speaking during his weekly appearance following the Angelus. "I encourage everyone, without exception, to follow the path set out with courage, and to take further measures to reinforce mutual trust, promote reconciliation and consolidate negotiations for a just and lasting peace," the Pope said.
He said he was echoing a call by the late Pope John Paul II on his visit to Ireland in 1979 to "distance oneself from the paths of violence and return to the road to peace".
NY STATEMENT
A joint statement issued by New York state comptroller Alan Hevesi and New York city comptroller William Thompson said the IRA's decision would open up opportunities for economic growth.
Mr Hevesi and Mr Thompson separately manage two of the largest private pension funds in the United States.
"The IRA's decision to give up armed struggle against Britain and pursue the reunification of Ireland by purely peaceful means is a welcome and extremely significant, historic step," their statement said.
"The end of violence and the surety of peace in Northern Ireland will dramatically improve the lives of all residents.
"It will also greatly improve the investment climate in Northern Ireland by creating a more stable, long-term environment in which businesses can operate.
"It certainly will raise the comfort level of investors in the United States and Europe, allowing for the forging of exciting new business opportunities."
Sunday-Wednesday, 31 July-3 August, 2005
Loyalists kill, maim, burn, bomb
By Irish Republican News
A third man has been murdered in Belfast in the latest upsurge in the feud between unionist paramilitary groups as a wave of sectarian attacks continues.
Stephen Paul, who is reported to have connections with the small Loyalist Volunteer Force, was shot dead on Saturday in north Belfast by the larger Ulster Volunteer Force. Another man was injured in the incident, but he is not thought to be in danger.
He had survived a previous attempt on his life in 1999 when he was seriously injured. His uncle, William Paul, was also shot dead in 1998, in Bangor. He, like his nephew, is understood to have been involved in drug dealing.
The latest murder victim had a substantial criminal record and had served jail terms for serious assaults on his partner.
British Secretary of State Peter Hain denounced the latest killing as "gangsterism masquerading as loyalism".
He said yesterday he believed the unionist groups were "not planning an equivalent statement [to the IRA]". He told Irish television: "But I think they ought to because some of the things that have been happening in unionist and loyalist communities really are an outrage. They are intolerable.
"I think it's now up to the loyalist groups, especially the Ulster Volunteer Force, to do, with the drift of history and the inevitable future that they face, and comply with disarming, and shutting down their activities and stop this tit-for-tat grisly murder feud that is going on all the time."
Progressive Unionist leader David Ervine has already stressed that his party, which has UVF links, is powerless to intervene because it has "no influence whatsoever" over those directly involved.
The latest murder follows a week of rising tension over the turf war between rival unionist gangs, including a British-backed mass eviction of LVF supporters in east Belfast.
Watched over by British troops and police, several hundred men and teenagers took to the streets of the area to ensure that LVF associates evicted from their homes did not return.
Nationalists fear the unionist feud is spiralling out of control and could result in a further increase in sectarian attacks on Catholics.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Reg Empey yesterday said the UVF was ignoring requests to negotiate an end to the current feud.
"This was another appalling murder. But it has appeared for some time the UVF will not be budged. They see a certain parallel on what they are engaged in now and what the UDA did with Johnny Adair's faction in 2003. Their view is: 'Let's get them out of the way.'
"I and others have appealed for mediation, and I know there have been attempts at that but those initial contacts have had a negative response from the UVF," said the Belfast East assembly member.
Mr Empey said the days of gunmen on the streets and of masked gangs driving people out of housing estates in the North had to end.
"The irony is, at a time when republicans are ostensibly making moves towards disarmament, the loyalists are using weapons in a feud," he said.
"They must realise the irony in that and how that must make them look. We know after all these years that going around murdering people does not build the society that we all aspire to live in."
An attack in Ballymena in which a device exploded at the home of a couple and their three children is thought to be linked to the loyalist feud. The couple and their three sons escaped without injury when the device went off at about 4am on Monday morning.
SECTARIAN ATTACKS
A Catholic woman and her son escaped with their lives after an arson attack on their County Antrim home on Monday.
Oonagh Doherty and her 25-year-old son Mark were forced to flee their burning home in the predominately unionist village of Ahoghill after a window in their home was broken and flammable liquid poured in and set alight.
Last month, Mrs Doherty's aunt Kathleen McCaughey quit the Ahoghill home where she had lived for more than 50 years after a series of sectarian attacks carried out over several years.
In north Belfast, a Catholic man almost lost two fingers in a loyalist machete attack. The attack occured in the Ardoyne area in the early hours of the morning.
Two men and one woman emerged from the car before attacking the local man with machetes.
Catholic homes in an interface area of north Belfast were also attacked with breeze blocks and lumps of concrete attack by loyalist youths.
The attackers gained entry to Hillview Enterprise Park, an industrial estate off the Crumlin Road, and climbed ladders to throw the missiles at homes in Antigua Street.
Six houses were struck during the terrifying attack, with gutters, roofs and gardens damaged.
In Ballymena, another Catholic church has been paint-bombed. The Immaculate Conception church on Cullybackey's Ballymena Road was discovered damaged over the weekend.
Wwhite paint was found on Saturday afternoon but it is thought the attack may have been caused at any time over the previous week.
Sunday-Wednesday, 31 July-3 August, 2005
Analysis: Onus is now on both governments
By Danny Morrison www.dannymorrison.com
Obviously, I welcome last week's statement by the IRA. It is the single most important contribution to the peace process and it will do more to bring peace and stability to the north than anything before.
However, the onus is now on the two governments to implement the outstanding tenets of the Good Friday Agreement and it means they no longer have to kow-tow to the demands of the unionist intransigents.
There are still major concerns - nationalists living on the interfaces have concerns, worried that there will be a repeat of 1969.
In this month 36 years ago, nationalists were burned from their homes by the RUC who rampaged through the lower Falls area, followed closely behind by loyalists who set fire to, looted and wrecked nationalist homes.
While morale will be high among nationalists there is always the fear that there will be reprisals, a backlash from concerned loyalists.
In making their historic statement yesterday, the IRA has taken the moral high ground, of that there can be little doubt.
The IRA has placed the ball firmly back in the British and unionist court.
No longer can unionists accuse the IRA of organised criminality, of duplicity or of engaging in politics while orchestrating violence.
Their statement removes any excuse from the unionist camp not to sit with Sinn Fein, not to negotiate the remaining terms of the Good Friday Agreement yet to be implemented but, most of all it removes the obstacles to the peace process.
All that said, this new development represents a challenge to the republican movement and it certainly demands unwielding commitment.
At some stage, republicans are going to have to tackle the thorny issue of policing.
Somewhere down the line they will have to look at the terms of the Agreement and evaluate the role of a police force in the north which is 50 per cent nationalist.
The 1969 pogroms were started by a unionist RUC. There were no republicans in Stormont and nationalists were not represented at any level of public or political life.
Today, that obstacle too, has been removed. No longer can political parties, north or south, deny the electoral mandate of Sinn Fein and if Sinn Fein retain their mandate no party can refuse to sit in government with republicans again.
While morale is high and the mood of the entire country has been lifted by the news of an end to the IRA's armed struggle, yesterday's statement is an emotional time for many in Ireland who have witnessed the cost of conflict.
Since the turn of the century, through a war of independence and a civil war, from 1969 until 1994, people, nationalist and unionist, have suffered.
There is no doubt that everyone in Ireland appreciates the magnitude of the IRA's move and the significance it will make to every life on this island.
Everyone recognises it is a major and significant breakthrough in the struggle for Irish peace.
IRA begins destruction of weapons
By Barry O'Kelly and Pat Leahy, Sunday Business Post
The Provisional IRA is preparing to carry out a major act of arms decommissioning this weekend, according to informed sources.
The act is to be witnessed by two clergymen, a Protestant and a Catholic, and Canadian General John de Chastelain. Sources said it would be the most significant act of decommissioning to date.
IRA leaders are believed to have already begun the process of collecting guns from the organisation's estimated 600 members. This process began five weeks ago, according to republican sources.
Last Thursday's IRA statement, declaring an end to armed struggle, is expected to be reciprocated by the destruction over the next six months of the controversial British Army watchtowers in south Armagh. The joint police and army base at Forkhill is also to be closed. A similar base in Crossmaglen is to be dramatically scaled back, while British Army patrols in the area are to be withdrawn.
However, it is believed that the Garda Special Branch will continue to monitor IRA members around the country." We will still be monitoring the same people as before to make sure they are playing ball," a detective said. "There is also a worry that they could join the dissidents. But the primary focus now will be on monitoring the dissidents themselves."
The Special Branch recently launched a review of its personnel resources in anticipation of the statement winding down the IRA.
About 300 officers are believed to be engaged in monitoring republicans. This figure will remain unchanged in the short term.
"There will be some changes down the road, and resources will be redirected to dealing with Islamic groups," a source said.
Meanwhile, senior Fianna Fáil figures have played down recent statements by justice minister Michael McDowell, which suggested that the Criminal Assets Bureau would intensify its efforts to target the wealth of senior Provisionals.
"McDowell is capable of saying anything," said one government source. Describing his input into Northern negotiations, the source said: "He's a player, but he's not a serious player."
Other Fianna Fáil sources insisted that Northern policy was Fianna Fáil's responsibility, and criticized McDowell for making statements with the potential to derail the painstaking work of the last few months.
"He appears to be unable to control his mouth," said one source.
Government sources suggested that a timetable of events, including decommissioning in several stages, has been put in place, in the lead-up to elections in the North next year and the restoration of the devolved government.
Crucially, sources said the government was satisfied with the response of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to the events of last week. Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, had a telephone conversation with Peter Robinson, deputy leader of the DUP, last Thursday afternoon.
It has also been learned that gardai are unlikely to successfully prosecute members of the gang who took part in the ?37.8 million Northern Bank heist last December.
Copyright © 2005 Sunday Business Post
Irish America won over by Adams
By Niall O'Dowd, Irish Voice, USA
In January, the republican movement appeared to be in major trouble in the US. The killing of Robert McCartney, the Northern Bank robbery and the relentless focus of the US and British and Irish media on criminality appeared to spell gloom and doom.
Suddenly, the collapse of the peace talks before Christmas began to loom large. Questions were being posed as to the true intentions of Sinn Féin, and for the first time some of their core supporters were starting to worry too.
It was a time when supporters were going wobbly, when allegations by Bertie Ahern, in particular, that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness knew about the Northern Bank robbery, had hit home.
The notion of Adams and McGuinness being complicit in a bank robbery was truly shocking to Irish Americans.
It flew in the face of everything they knew about the men, whose integrity has always been unquestioned.
The fact that the allegations had been made by Bertie Ahern and not by 'the Mad Dog', as some referred to Michael McDowell, was all the more troubling.
Several key supporters in the US were wavering. Congressman Peter King, for long the lynchpin of republican support in the United States, was the most prominent name.
King had been changed by the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was now a dedicated partisan of the Bush position, a powerful voice for increased security measures and having no haven for terrorists. As part of his shift he became noticeably more critical of Sinn Féin.
A front page article in the New York Sun confirmed the shift. In it, King came as close as he had ever done to stepping back from his support for Sinn Féin. The talisman of the movement's support in the US was wavering.
There were others. Some quietly stated that they wanted to be dropped from invitation lists. Others decided they would have to be careful about donations.
They were the kind of soft supporters, many of them businessmen, drawn to Sinn Féin in the wake of the IRA ceasefire, as they saw a unique opportunity to help in a small way to bring peace to Ireland.
They were bound to step back at the first hints of criminality against the Sinn Féin leadership which were being widely spread by the Irish government, among others.
At the White House, where even a whiff of involvement in criminality or terrorism spells death, the atmosphere had changed remarkably too. Any connection, no matter how far- fetched, to September 11 and terrorism was anathema.
The welcome flag would not be out on St Patrick's Day for Sinn Féin.
Administration members briefed reporters privately that it was only a matter of time before the party was stopped coming into the US at all. A warning shot was fired when Rita O'Hare, Sinn Féin's American liaison, was denied a visa at short notice.
Senator Edward Kennedy, the catalyst for so much of the early involvement by then US president Bill Clinton in the peace process, made a direct point of distancing himself from the group and refused to meet Sinn Féin on St Patrick's Day.
A sustained effort by the British Information Service to blacken Sinn Féin's reputation in the US had begun to pay off.
A flood of editorials condemned their actions. What 30 years of guerrilla war could not undo, it seemed, the McCartney killing and Northern Bank raid had succeeded in doing.
Into that maelstrom stepped Gerry Adams. He is a less frequent visitor to the US these days than Martin McGuinness, yet he has an amazing connection to many of the key Irish American players, links forged for over a decade since the run-up to the first IRA ceasefire in 1994.
During those tough times Adams delivered on extraordinary commitments, including winning an IRA ceasefire in 1994,which seemed impossible to many at the time.
Clearly understanding that problems had developed in America, Adams flew over to address them. He convened a series of meetings with key players.
Adams took the criminality and other issues head-on. His style, professorial and thoughtful in public, can be very different in private.
He cuts to the chase, often very aggressively; he can by turns be angry and charming.
He is always in command in a meeting, with endless self- assurance, well capable of a barbed put-down of someone's counter-argument.
He made the case forcefully that neither McGuinness nor he knew anything about the bank raids. He also made it clear that the McCartney murders had not been sanctioned in any form by any republican, and that it was the result of a bar-room brawl.
He talked about the breakdown in the peace process and the failed initiative with the DUP.
He understood that republicans were now on the back foot, and that was a dangerous place for them to be.
He left no doubt that they would soon set about regaining the initiative.
Irish Americans had long argued that the only way to do so was to act unilaterally - that instead of always waiting for the Lanigan's Ball version of Irish politics, where one side steps in and the other steps out immediately, a unilateral act would completely confound Sinn Féin's critics and hand the initiative back to them.
Adams was already there.
He understood perfectly what his organisation had to do to seize back the initiative it had lost during that troubled time.
He left no one in any doubt what he would be trying to bring about in the following months.
In a few meetings, he turned the situation around. The chorus of murmurs that the Sinn Féin in leadership was turning a blind eye, and, worse, acquiescing in criminal activities, was silenced.
There was a belief that Adams would succeed in his next massive effort, to have the IRA move unilaterally to end their campaign.
When the first IRA ceasefire collapsed in 1997 and Irish Americans were running for the hills in their droves, Adams steadied the ship by a simple assurance that he felt the ceasefire could be won back. He was as good as his word.
This time, too, with the community and men like Peter King wavering, Adams made another statement, that he would seek every means possible to move the IRA to a unilateral decision to take the political path exclusively. He gave his word on that, which was enough for even the most dubious supporters. He had turned around a potentially disastrous situation for the party in America with a simple promise.
In April, when the Adams analysis recommending that the IRA take the political path was published, the Irish American supporters realised once again that he was as good as his word. Last Thursday they realised that he had once again delivered what many thought impossible.
There are very few nay-saying voices now.
Niall O'Dowd is publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper.
Copyright © 2005 Irish Voice
Optimism in streets of Dublin
By Larry Levin, Daily Ireland
Ashbourne in Co Meath is close enough to Dublin for Mairead Casey to take her accordion and head to The Fox’s Den pub where she plays in her favourite traditional music session every Thursday evening. It’s usually a long night of tunes and talking, with a song or two thrown in for good measure.
This Thursday was different. It was the night of the IRA announcement and the historic nature of the day didn’t go unnoticed, even in the normally non-political setting of The Fox’s Den.
“One person mentioned how significant it all was and a man from Limerick got up and sang Only Our Rivers Run Free. There were other songs about Michael Collins and the situation in the North,” said Ms Casey, a retired teacher from Raheny, North Dublin. “Another person gave a recitation about two young people, one Protestant and one Catholic, falling in love and facing discrimination.
“A lot of it dealt with anti-sectarianism. It was all very unusual.” Unusual or not, Dubliners carried on with their normal frantic routines yesterday. By morning, shops were filled, streets were packed with pedestrians and getting stuck in massive city centre traffic jams was the norm.
At the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, the building that means so much to Irish republican history, 58-year-old Dubliner Patricia Conroy stopped to pick up a few stamps. A few tourists were studying the ten paintings hanging on the walls that dramatically depict the Easter Rising, although several were obscured by a large display promoting new stamp designs.
Ms Conroy believes the IRA statement will have an impact on both sides of the border. “We’re all Irish,” she said. “People I know will be talking about it and will be delighted with it and hoping that it will go ahead as planned and there won’t be any spanners put in the works this time.” She says she’s always felt a lot of concern about the situation in the North. “People in the North have suffered so much,” she said. “We’ve had a few bombs in the South and people suffered, but they’ve had to live with it in the North the whole time.”
Evelyn Gallagher was also passing by the GPO yesterday.The 24-year-old Dublin woman says she never imagined Irish unification becoming a reality but she’s having second thoughts since the IRA statement was released and changed the dynamic. “It’s funny because I never thought I would see the IRA go away,” she said. “It kind of shocks me even though I’m young. “Now unification seems more possible than it was before. “I think that, with the IRA gone now, there is more of a way that it could happen politically.”
Standing outside in the rain, 21-year-old law graduate Catriona Keane from Balagher, Co Offaly, said that the timing of the IRA statement may be related to world events. She said: “I think that the time is right for them to stand down, with everything else going on in the world. “They’ve seen what happened in London, and they don’t want to be seen as being a part of something like that. “ Ms Keane says she hopes for better times ahead. “I’d love to see a united Ireland. The struggle has gone on for so long,” she said. “But I don’t think that is the most important thing right now.
“What’s important is just peace and for people in the North to be able to get on with their lives.”
Geraldine Moroney (50) worries that, without the IRA, unionists will have no incentive to compromise. “In the past, the British and Irish governments put a lot of pressure on the IRA,” she said. “I think the same thing now has to happen to the unionists. For too long, they’ve been dragging their feet.”
Ms Moroney, who lives in Dublin, said she hoped that the South’s economic vitality would prove to be a strong attraction to the North. “I think people in the North have seen the changes within our economy and are asking why shouldn’t they also have the same prosperity, positive changes and cosmopolitan feeling we have in the South.”
Meanwhile, inside the GPO, a few tourists were trying to get a better look at the partially obscured 1916 paintings by pushing around the large postal display blocking the paintings. A security guard orders them to move on. They leave.
Copyright © 2005 Daily Ireland
Great statement but what happens now?
By Gearóid O Cairealláin
To comment: columnists@dailyireland.com
The reporter from the TG4 news wanted to know where they could find a group of republican supporters and nationalists in Belfast at lunchtime yesterday gathered around a television set, eagerly devouring details of the IRA statement and relieving their indigestion with generous dollops of political analysis and grassroots reaction.
I was sorry to disappoint her, but the only document Seán and Seáinín Saoránach were perusing in West Belfast yesterday was the programme for Féile an Phobail.
The IRA statement was truly historic, clear and definite. The armed struggle is now over, and the IRA no longer an active force in Irish politics. So what happens now?
Media interest in the IRA statement may have seriously outweighed the interest shown by the general public by a ratio of ten thousand to one, but that was only because the media have been talking about very little else from the six counties over the past week. And you have to hand it to the republicans, when it comes to manipulating the media they are in a class of their own. For the past three months the main item on the agenda has been when this bally statement was going to appear.
Bertie Ahern seemed to have been particularly confused, revealing that, according to information received by him, the IRA statement was both imminent and unlikely to appear for weeks or maybe months yet.
And while yesterday’s frenzy of activity focused on the actual statement itself and how the unionists may react, no-one was asking the question that has been bothering wiser councils over the past number of weeks – what are Northern nationalists going to get out of it? There is no doubt but that the IRA statement was one element of a carefully constructed plan to re-inject impetus into the flagging peace process here, a process which had been reduced to a snail’s pace by the two main unionist parties. Neither of the two main unionist parties liked the Good Friday Agreement but they were unable to stop it coming about. So the logical step from their point of view was to ensure that nothing happened too quickly: in that respect the eleven years since the IRA ceasefire have been a successful period for rejectionist unionism.
But back to my question: what are Northern nationalist going to get out of it? And I don’t mean out of the statement, but rather out of the overall plan in which the statement is contained.
Let’s start with the easy ones. Seán Kelly was released on Wednesday night. It was obvious that there was going to be no statement from the IRA without Kelly’s release, but the move confirmed that the IRA’s declaration was not to be looked upon in isolation – there would be quid pro quo. It can also be easily imagined that the removal of British army spy posts in South Armagh will be accelerated and that military patrols in those areas will cease.
Sinn Féin seem to be determined to have the political institutions re-established at Stormont – it was the first thing Martin McGuinness said on his arrival in the United States this week. They want to be central to a renewed power-sharing executive as the main plank to their strategy of achieving equality in the North in the short term and a united Ireland of some description at some time in the future. Twenty-sixteen has been mentioned more than once.
For their part, the DUP seem to be opening the door to taking part in this revamped executive. Jeffrey Donaldson has said no - well, not until decommissioning has been verified. And the IRA have already agreed to verification. The DUP have also said no – well, not until a suitable period of time has come to pass following decommissioning. But then the timetable to bring us from here to the re-activation of Stormont will certainly be a period of months, and might even include fresh elections.
Sinn Féin has been pushing for increased responsibility for the reconstructed Stormont executive, with particular emphasis on the portfolio for policing and justice. Let us assume that tentative agreement has been reached with the British government on this issue as well. But the question that blurs the picture for nationalists is this: will the unionists be allowed to continue their eleven-year old policy of obstruction and hindrance, reducing progress on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement to the level of the barely perceptible? Will they be able to use the Stormont assembly and executive – assuming that it does come around again – as an aid to achieving this aim?
Basically, the republican movement has decided to cash in their IRA chips. By moving away completely from armed struggle, and by rejecting the return to armed struggle as an option, they have committed themselves to Sinn Féin as the cutting edge of the republican movement. The IRA statement is clear and unequivocal – today is the first day when there has been no armed resistance to the British presence in Ireland, and all republican effort to achieve their aims will be solely political.
Significantly, we don’t know what has been agreed. Politicians won’t even confirm that a plan does exist, and that agreement has been reached. I believe there is an agreement – an overall plan - but I don’t know what is in it. However, this is what I think nationalists will be looking for: Policing – nationalists need a true police service that embraces the idea of Irishness and that is non-political. The PSNI is still a political force. Ideally there should be a locally recruited, unarmed, community police to prevent crime.
Economic development – the once vaunted peace dividend never materialised. Nationalist areas need major investment to stimulate a new economic era.
Guarantees – the British government must guarantee that the unionist parties will not be allowed to hinder progress in the future. If they refuse to join in the institutions, then the institutions must go on without them. Or else the two governments must come together to find a way of promoting equality and progress without the institutions.
Gearóid O Cairealláin is a journalist, film maker and Irish language activist.
Copyright © 2005 Daily Ireland
Oh so predictable responses to the IRA stand-down
By Robin Livingstone, Irish Republican News
Magnanimity and optimism were the defining characteristics of newspaper coverage of Thursday’s IRA statement. We reproduce here a selection of the most outstanding pieces written in the wake of the IRA order to dump arms.
A journalist writes...
I’ve been covering the conflict in Northern Ireland for over 30 years now and I have to say that it sticks in my craw to think that we’re expected to give thanks to the IRA for not killing people. It’s been hard for me all these years trying to remain detached in the face of such unremitting brutality, but stay professional I did, winning Feature Journalist of the Year twice: in 1972 for my piece ‘Bloody Sunday: about time too’ and in 1987 for ‘Loughgall: that’ll teach them’. Over the years my job has given me the chance to look into the heart of darkness as I probed each latest republican atrocity. Mostly, those insights came in brown envelopes that I used to be given at the bar in the Europa by a bloke called Nigel in a green sweater with patches on the shoulder. Not that I was content to sit all day at the bar drinking gin and swapping dirty jokes with other journalists, oh no. Many’s the time I ventured on to the mean streets of Turfmurphy or Ballydale in Belfast West where I came face-to-face with cold-eyed IRA killers in the keg rooms of social clubs. They told me spine-chilling tales of what they did to informers – or ‘brussels touts’ as they called those who broke the omerta – the centuries-old Irish code of silence. They told me of the horrific punishments they handed out to anyone who wouldn’t pay them protection: the ‘Matt Talbot’ – whipped and chained to a church railing; the ‘King Herod’ – breeze blocks on the shins of first-born boys. I’m happy that down through the years the profession of journalism added to our understanding of a complex conflict and I’m proud that we never took sides and reported what we saw without fear or favour. My proudest possesions are the plaque on my wall which reads ‘Who Dares Wins’ and the watch which never leaves my wrist and which bears the inscription ‘Fishers of Men’ – both presented to me by Nigel at a boozy drinks party in Thiepval barracks.
A unionist councillor writes...
We’ve been duped before and we won’t be duped again. Actions speak louder than words and if it emerges in time that the IRA has handed over all its weapons – witnessed by Ian Paisley with a camcorder – and ceases all activities, including breathing, then we will consider accepting their apology after the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. What we want to see is peace and prosperity in this here province, as I explained to the Mid-Ulster brigadier of the UFF during a coffee break at the last meeting of the Loyalist Commission, which I was privileged enough to chair. He told me that there are tensions within loyalism over the drugs business – I told him I’d put in a word for them at Invest Northern Ireland. I’ve written to the chief constable, Hugh Ward, to complain about the provocative behaviour of his officers at a traditional UVF take-over in Garnerville this week. Despite the fact that the men in scarves and baseball caps were doing nothing except lying on the grass and eating crisps, police sat in their vehicles in an intimidating and provocative manner. Only the restraint and good sense of the paramilitaries ensured that no trouble ensued – well, that and the fact that they were full of skunk and bumble bees. I fully accept the statement of the Ulster Political Research Group this morning that there is no prospect of loyalists giving up their arms in the present political climate. The loyalist paramilitaries have been left uncertain and confused by this week’s events – on the one hand Celtic were beaten 5-0 by a crowd of Slovakian students and postmen; on the other hand they lost fifty grand’s worth of Asian sweat-shop Viagra in north Belfast. Talk about mixed feelings.
A dissident republican writes...
As a republican there’s nothing I hate more than a tout, so it’s important that readers understand that while I earn a few bob writing for English papers and speaking on radio and TV about who’s in the Provos and who’s not, this is in no way analagous to people taking money from British intelligence for doing exactly the same thing. The Provos of today are unrecognisable from the IRA that I joined. For one thing, they don’t wear platforms and flares; for another, we never had to fund-raise as our money came in mysterious bundles that appeared at the end of the cabbage patch. I reckon I could remember the cause of the conflict in Ireland if I really put my mind to it, but I don’t really feel like it, and I will defend my right to express bitterness and personal animus to the last penny of Rupert Murdoch’s News International’s money. Yes, it’s true – journalists like me a lot. And I’ve heard the cruel remark that I’m like an Amazonian tribesman being paraded before a Victorian dinner party. And yes, I’ve often wondered myself why someone like me is flavour of the month with hacks who say they hate the Provos because they’re bloodthirsty savages. After all, I think the Provos are lily-livered sell-out merchants and one more 30-year push would have driven the Brits into the sea. I reckon journalists just like my company and my style. This latest Provo statement is the most craven capitulation to date because it means that Provo Sinn Féin can no longer call themselves republicans, it means that the Provos have surrendered, and, most importantly, it means that my cheques could well dry up.
Reaction to IRA statement
By Irish Republican News
Governments
British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the IRA's decision as "a step of unprecedented magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland".
Mr Blair said today could be the day in which "finally after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland".
He said: "I welcome the statement of the IRA that ends its campaign. I welcome its clarity.
I welcome the recognition that the only route to political change lies exclusively in peaceful and democratic means. This is a step of unparalleled magnitude in the recent history of Northern Ireland.
"The Unionist community in particular and all of us throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom will want to see this clear statement of principle kept to in practice.
"The instruction of the IRA statement that Volunteers must not engage in any other activity whatsoever will be taken as a forthright denunciation of any activity, paramilitary or criminal."
Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Bertie Ahern hailed the statement as historic and said "the war is over".
He said it satisfied the demands of the British and Irish Governments.
"As a statement goes, this delivers what I'd been seeking," he said.
"I had set down in the public domain since the meeting I had with Sinn Fein in January what I wanted.
"I wanted to see decommissioning be dealt with, I wanted to see the IRA as a paramilitary organisation ceasing and I wanted to see that the issues as set out in the [two Government's] Joint Declaration were covered, this statement covers those points, there's no doubt about that.
"The war is over, the IRA's armed campaign is over, paramilitarism is over and I believe that we can look to the future of peace and prosperity based on mutual trust and reconciliation and a final end to violence.
"And that's what people like myself and others have been working for for a long time."
Mr Ahern said that if the IRA words "are borne out by the verified action" it would be "a momentous and a very historic development."
"Our focus now, as is always as the two Governments, is on the complete implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that people voted for back in May of 1998 and that has brought such immense benefits to the country."
Unionists
Democratic Unionist Party MP Jeffrey Donaldson said any possibility of the future resumption of power-sharing would depend on how long it takes the IRA to complete the promised decommissioning of all its weapons and how it is verified.
The Lagan Valley MP said: "That will be determined by how long it takes the IRA to complete the decommissioning process. We've no indication in this statement of when that will be done, they simply say it will be done as soon as possible."
"We need to see that what happens is properly verified and when the IRA talk about enhancing public confidence, how do they intend to do that?"
Mr Donaldson said more clarification of the statement was needed.
Reg Empey, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said his party would be reserving judgment until the IRA's words were translated into actions.
"I can't take any statement from the Republican movement at face value because we have had that many of them in the past," he said.
"After having had so many false starts in the past, naturally people are going to say actions speak louder than words.
"So let us see how this plays out. Let us see what happens to the weapons, let us see what happens on the ground."
Nationalists
Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds said the move was a sensible step into democracy.
He said he had been confident the IRA would make the declaration ever since the first ceasefire was called in August 1994.
"I knew and believed and said it so many times since that we had changed direction in relation to the republican movement and that in time it would be seen as such. This is an historical day," Mr Reynolds said.
Former SDLP leader and Nobel peace prize winner John Hume said today's IRA statement was "a very important step" and it is now up to the British and Irish governments and the Norths political parties to implement the Good Friday Agreement.
He said all true democrats now had to respond to the will of the people.
"I think it is a very important step, given the opposition that was coming from the DUP in particular," he said.
"Now that the road is totally clear, I would be reasonably confident that we would make further progress."
There was no immediate response from the hardline Republican Sinn Fein or the breakaway 32 County Sovereignty Committee.
USA
President George Bush’s special envoy on the North, Mitchell Reiss, described the statement as “very positive and very encouraging”.
He said whether it was truly historic would be determined in the coming weeks and months.
“We will soon see whether these words will be turned into deeds,” he said. “Everybody would like to move as quickly as possible but let’s move ahead clearly and do it in a way which gives reassurance.”
Mr Reiss was briefed on developments in Washington this morning by Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness and said he had been encouraged by what he was told.
Republican congressman Peter King branded the breakthrough “a truly defining moment in Irish history”.
He said it was the “most dramatic step forward in advancing the peace process”.
King, a leading Sinn Féin supporter, said he had been told two large IRA arms caches would be destroyed later in the day, but he said he did not know where.
“I can understand the Unionists having some scepticism, which is why I think it will take several months to go back into government, but there’s no reason negotiations can’t start immediately,” he said.
Statement poses challenge to Irish republicanism
By Tommy McKearney
To comment: columnists@dailyireland.com
Yesterday’s IRA statement signals not just an end to the organisation’s armed, insurrectionary phase but, as Gerry Adams said, poses a huge challenge for Irish republicanism.
In the absence of an insurrectionary wing, the republican grass roots must now assume responsibility for delivering the objective. To do so, there must be an uncompromisingly stringent evaluation of the current situation.
The decision to end the armed campaign in 1994 was taken not because Britain offered the republic or because Sinn Féin had belatedly discovered a better means of obtaining that objective.
In reality, the armed struggle was no longer sustainable. This is not to say that the IRA had been defeated or the republican objective betrayed but that the leadership of the IRA took a pragmatic, albeit difficult decision to cease operations.
Consequently, the union and partition remain solidly in place. In every important aspect, Britain still rules the six Northern counties as Westminster sets the North’s political, social and economic agenda. Moreover, the unionist population is showing little willingness to democratically share the region’s administration with republicans.
Undoubtedly, there have been gains since the ceasefire. Republicans have emerged assertively from the underground into which their enemies had confined them.
It is also possible once again to promote the republican message. Of course, most would also argue that the really important achievement has been the Good Friday Agreement although, as it presently flounders helplessly, its value is questionable.
No matter what view the contending schools of republicanism take on the Good Friday Agreement, it is imperative that the core republican task of establishing an independent, democratic republic be reiterated and a strategy for achieving this made clear.
It must be repeated, moreover, that this duty should not be confused with building and/or strengthening a parliamentary party.
Fuzzyheaded thinking suggesting that it is possible to manipulate the Northern state by subterfuge should also be discarded since it is not possible to transform an existing state apparatus. Quite the contrary, an existing state always swallows up its administrators. Just look at Fianna Fáil if proof is needed.
In the absence of an insurrectionary element, republicans now need absolute clarity about their rejection of the flawed Six-County state and its links to Britain.
This is one of the big challenges being posed as republicans are confronted with questions such as what to do about policing, the judiciary and the civil service and on policy issues such as privatisation, employment and ownership of the means of production.
If ever there was a time for republicans to commit themselves to the concept of encouraging “a hundred schools of thought” to contend, it is now.
It will be incredibly damaging if people uncritically and defensively repeat the party (any party) line. Sinn Féin has not convincingly outlined, for example, how it intends moving beyond the Good Friday Agreement.
The party (and all other republicans) should be asked to answer this issue.
The IRA statement effectively recognises material reality. The current imperative is now for all republicans to address the future with an equal amount of reality and candour
Copyright © 2005 Daily Ireland
Statement from Senator Hillary Clinton
IRA disarmament announcement
By Irish Republican News
“The cause for peace has once again been taken up by the people of Ireland. The announcement by the Irish Republican Army marks an historic forsaking of violence and a call to all parties to engage in the political process so that the tenets of lasting democracy for Northern Ireland, as established by the Good Friday Agreement, will remain firmly in place. Today, all of the people of Ireland have won a victory, for their future path is one of peace. The IRA’s statement is a clear signal to all parties that the political process is the exclusive way to determine Northern Ireland’s future and that will be achieved by the restoration of the devolved government that is representative of all communities.
The Good Friday Agreement envisioned that a day would come when all paramilitary activity would cease. All paramilitary groups, be they nationalist or loyalist, must cease to operate so that peaceful debate about Northern Ireland’s future in the world can begin. Today is an historic day in Northern Ireland and the potential for further progress remains strong. We in the United States should do all that we can to support the Northern Ireland peace process.”