Wednesday-Friday, 1-3 December, 2004
By Irish Republican News
Wednesday-Friday, 1-3 December, 2004
Swallowing a deal
By Irish Republican News
The prospects of a comprehensive deal involving the IRA and Ian Paisley's DUP were boosted tonight with just four days remaining before the Dublin and London governments bring the current process to a close.
Negotiations on a deal to end paramilitary activity and secure a local power-sharing administration to Belfast have been edging forward slowly for months.
Proposals by the London and Dublin governments for bridging the gap between the two parties have been the subject of intense negotiations since they were drafted two weeks ago.
Mr Paisley again said tonight he was ready to do a deal -- provided the Provisional IRA ceased to engage in illegal activities. His comments to the media tonight were as strident as ever, but contained suggestions that he was contemplating a successful outcome.
Although he aggressively denounced Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as "bloody and deceitful men", he said he would have to recognise their electoral mandate if they "give up their arms and give up their criminal acts".
He also insisted that he was delivering "an ultimatum" to Sinn Fein.
"This is not negotiations with Sinn Fein. It's an ultimatum to Sinn Fein. Are you going to continue to be terrorists or are you going to quit your terrorist path," he said.
His message was more nuanced than his comments to a party meeting in Ballymena last weekend, when he declared that he wanted to "humiliate" the IRA.
Tonight, he spoke of his difficulty at coming to an agreement to share power with people he blamed for the death of his 'kith and kin'. He was speaking after a meeting with the chief of the PSNI police on proposals for British Army demilitarisation of the North.
"I will have to do a good deal of swallowing," he said. "I will have to do a good deal of biting my lip in future days. But I'm prepared to do that provided they cease to be terrorists."
Mr Paisley's meets with Tony Blair in Downing Street on Monday, and he will give his response to the final draft of the governments' proposals on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Gerry Adams said Sinn Fein had made its final representations on the proposals.
He called on Mr Paisley "face up to his responsibilities to join in the collective challenge of peace making", particularly his refusal to engage in direct talks with his party.
"The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever," Mr Adams said. "If the DUP want to be part of a new and shared future, they will have to replace the mindset of humiliation with a new psychology of accommodation and generosity."
However, the DUP has sought the publication of symbolic photographs of the IRA destroying its remaining caches of weapons. Sinn Fein has looked to the existing IICD arms body to supervise the decommissioning process.
Other Paisleyite demands threaten gridlock in any new Six County administration and undermine the principle of equality set down in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. They are alleged to allow unionists to veto the election of nationalist ministers and restrict the powers of cross-border bodies.
The issue of how the First and Deputy First ministers are elected also remains in dispute.
Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have given just four more days for a breakthrough.
Mr Ahern said tonight that ongoing negotiations had been an "exhaustive effort" but that the work was now done and decisions had to be made by the parties involved.
"Tony Blair and myself have to call it, to be precise, in four days," he said.
He said the Good Friday Agreement provided the framework to achieve republican objectives through consent, harmony and friendship.
"No deal is perfect," he said. "But what is in prospect is truly historic. It is also fair and reasonable."
Wednesday-Friday, 1-3 December, 2004
Feature: A defining moment
By Irish Republican News
The following is the edited text of an address by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams in Navan, County Meath earlier this week.
We are at a defining point in the peace process. The last months, weeks and days have seen accelerating discussions, involving the DUP for the first time, about a comprehensive agreement which would see all outstanding matters dealt with and the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. The discussion of the issues has been detailed, thorough and exhaustive. In my opinion these discussion can go no further - it is now time for a decision.
The two governments are absolutely clear about Sinn Fein's view of their draft outline of a comprehensive agreement. Our party made our initial response when we received the document from the Taoiseach on 17th November. We gave our response in writing to them the next day. The criteria for our judgement on this document were also made clear. That is, that the proposals need to be bedded in the Good Friday Agreement and capable of delivering the Agreement in full.
As far as we are concerned we have made our final representations on the governments' text. We look to both governments to make sure that it is in line with their own stated position, that it upholds the fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement.
The DUP leader, Ian Paisley, also needs to face up to his responsibilities to join in the collective challenge of peace making.
His refusal to talk to Sinn Fein makes this very difficult. His recent remarks compound these difficulties. They also explain his refusal to embrace the power sharing, all-Ireland and equality fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement.
A DUP demand for the humiliation of republicans is not only unacceptable, it will not happen and it has no place in a process of peace making. The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever. If the DUP want to be part of a new and shared future, they will have to replace the mindset of humiliation with a new psychology of accommodation and generosity.
Unionist leaders have set out concerns about the issue of IRA weapons. Sinn Fein believes that this matter can be dealt with to the satisfaction of all reasonable people in the context of a comprehensive agreement and under the remit of the IICD.
Under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, parties have to vote for the nominees for the joint office of the First and Deputy First Ministers. At this point in the negotiations one of the most important issues to be resolved is the DUPs refusal to do this. This unwillingness to share power with Sinn Fein, to accept Sinn Fein's democratic mandate, and to respect the rights and entitlements of our electorate is a block on efforts to move forward. The DUP have not only refused to declare their willingness to accept the power-sharing core of the Good Friday Agreement, but their refusal to share power in Ballymena, Lisburn, Castlereagh and other local councils is the most practical evidence of their position.
The DUP demands are not acceptable to Sinn Fein. They should not be acceptable to the two governments.
Sinn Fein is determined to defend the Agreement and to ensure that any deal is entrenched in the principles of powersharing, inclusivity and equality, and the all-Ireland institutions which are the bedrock of the Good Friday Agreement. Ian Paisley says he wants a fair deal. So do we. The Good Friday Agreement is that fair deal.
Mr. Paisley's recent remarks, including his desire to "humiliate' republicans" to have republicans "wear sackcloth and ashes", and his party's constant use of offensive language, particularly in describing republicans as criminals and gangsters, is not the language of peace making. Republicans can find a lot to object to about being in government with the DUP. Both our party and Ian Paisley's have a lot to do to make this process a success. But the prize of a just and lasting peace demands that of all responsible political leaders. In this spirit it is worth remembering that the least said, the soonest mended.
So there are clear difficulties for Ian Paisley in coming to terms with the principles and ethos and commitments contained in the Good Friday Agreement and which underpin current efforts.
I rehearse all of this tonight not as an obstacle to finding an agreement with the DUP - nor as a rebuttal to his remarks against republicans - but to remind everyone of the journey which the DUP has to make, in a very short time, if we are to achieve a comprehensive agreement and I do so also because I am looking for continued support from republican Ireland for Sinn Fein's efforts to secure this.
Going into government with the DUP will be a huge challenge for republicans. Republican patience with how unionism deals with the political institutions, and with key issues like equality and human rights, will be tested because, obviously, there will be a battle a day on these matters. So lets face up to all of this with our eyes wide open.
But this phase of these discussions has to be brought to a conclusion. If the DUP is not up for a deal then the two governments have to come forward with proposals to move the process forward, if the DUP refuses to engage properly, then the two governments must move ahead without them. The process of change cannot be frozen because rejectionist unionism refuses to come to terms with the new political realities. Political unionism cannot be allowed to veto the fundamental rights of citizens or to veto other changes necessary for the development of a peaceful society.
In this context the British and Irish governments will have to promote a new, imaginative and dynamic alternative in which both governments will share power in the north. The Good Friday Agreement and the basic rights and entitlements of citizens that are enshrined within it must be defended and actively promoted by London and Dublin.
In my view all of these outstanding matters can be resolved if the governments are genuinely committed to the Good Friday Agreement. A deal is still possible. But an accommodation - a partnership of equals - cannot be built through a process of humiliation. Our focus is on achieving a deal. In every negotiation there is a time when you have to call it. For Ian Paisley that time is now."