8 January 1997 Edition
Governments must push process forward
By Marcas Mac Ruairí
Unionist intransigence cannot be allowed to condemn the people of Ireland to a future of inequality, division and conflict
THE urgency of movement in the peace process was finally highlighted in the media over the Christmas period by the death of loyalist killer Billy Wright in Long Kesh and the subsequent attacks on nationalists resulting in the murders of Seamus Devlin and Eddie Treanor.
The deaths brought a violent end to a year which had witnessed a steady rise in LVF murder attacks on members of the nationalist community, a trend which painfully exposes the inaccuracies of media reports suggesting loyalist attacks are retaliatory. Indeed, even the LVF itself admitted the Dungannon murder had been planned up to a year earlier.
Media commentary on the execution of Wright focused on how the shooting would make life difficult for the political representatives of the loyalist paramilitiaries. We were told how we were staring into the `abyss.' That loyalists might end their ceasefire and launch a campaign of violence against the nationalist community of a ferocity not witnessed before.
But signs that the loyalist parties were becoming disillusioned with the talks process were evident well before Christmas and before Billy Wright's demise. The week before Christmas, Billy Hutchinson was threatening that his party would leave the talks.
Unionists have argued that the peace process is biased in favour of nationalists and that republicans have benefited from a serious of concessions from Tony Blair's Labour government.
And while the Unionist Party refused to enter purposeful negotiations during the Autumn, a vacuum was created only to be filled by the death of nationalists at the hands of the sectarian death squads.
Trimble, Maginnis, and the loyalists focused on imagined concessions to republicans. But what are these concessions? If basic human rights have been conceded in the prisons, loyalists have benefited from them also. And they should never have been denied in the first place anyway.
The ridiculousness of the loyalist anger over not being informed in advance of the release of republican prisoners from Port Laoise could be compared to an expectation that the British government might consult Sinn Féin before releasing loyalist prisoners. The contradictions are all the more obvious - and farcical - when it is remembered that it is republicans who have been most vociferous in the demand for all political prisoners to be released.
Outside the prisons, the RUC continues to harass nationalist youths; hoods and petty criminals continue to have a free hand to rob, wreck and ruin nationalist areas with an apparent sanction from the RUC; the British army continues with its fortification and strengthening of military posts along the border.
State support for Irish culture remains well below that provided for Welsh and Scottish culture;.and in employment there remains the stark fact that nationalists are still twice as likely to be unemployed.
The list can go on, but one thing must be made clear. Questions of justice and equality are not negotiable and must be dealt with from outside the peace process.
While the nationalist community continues to suffer from the effects of decades of discrimination, it, and not the unionist community, suffered a concerted murder campaign in 1997.
There are a number of foundation stones on which peace will be established, one of which is truth and honesty. But, with the complicity of the media, the public has been bombarded with nonsense about loyalist retaliation, concessions to republicans and the need for nationalists to offer confidence building measures.
They may not acknowledge it ever happened, but the Unionist Party and David Trimble know that in five decades of rule from Stormont they structured a state of institutionalised inequality. Twenty seven years of direct rule by English Ministers has never comprehensively addressed this. It is therefore the nationalists which should be asking for confidence building measures.
It has been said that unionism is actually afraid of equality, afraid of an end to old certainities. Equality would stand in contradiction to everything it has ever stood for. But a stronger and confident Irish nationalism is now demanding equality, it is not a negotiating counter. If Unionists find the confidence in themselves, they will discover that standing with their fellow Irish people as opposed to against them will serve their own social, cultural and economic benefit to the better.
Coming as at does after a litany of stalling tactics deployed by the Unionists since the IRA announced its ceasfire of August 1994, the only undestanding that can be taken from what is being said by them now is that it is a further attempt at creating the conditions to prevent progress. Unionism, it would appear, does not have the self-confidence to meet nationalists as equals.
No one ever believed that the peace process was going to be easy, and fraught with the difficulties it has, it may teeter at the `abyss' for some time to come.
But Unionist intransigence cannot be allowed to condemn the people of Ireland to a future of inequality, division and conflict. There are new political realities to be addressed - Unionists must realise that Stormont rule will never return and that the days of inequality are numbered.
It is only through real and tangible progress with a sustained momentum that the peace process can be kept alive. That requires urgent action from the two governments, but particularly from the British. They can do what they have always done - play the Orange card and turn their back on equality and justice.
Or they can face down Unionist intransigence and push the process forward. It is a stark and historic choice.
As the talks reconvene next Monday, the governments should take the opportunity to get down to business with an open agenda. It is now time for fundamental constitutional change.
The `abyss' which commentators are so partial to referring to has been created by British involvement in Irish affairs. And the onus is now on Tony Blair to ensure that this opportunity for a lasting peace in Ireland is not squandered.
Stagnation will lead inexorably back down the road of conflict. Unionism cannot be allowed to veto the negotiations, and if its leaders prove incapable of rising to the challenge presented by the peace process, the two governments, and in particular the British government, must take the initiative and move to introduce measures without them. History demands it.
Unionist intransigence cannot be allowed to condemn the people of Ireland to a future of inequality, division and conflict
THE urgency of movement in the peace process was finally highlighted in the media over the Christmas period by the death of loyalist killer Billy Wright in Long Kesh and the subsequent attacks on nationalists resulting in the murders of Seamus Devlin and Eddie Treanor.
The deaths brought a violent end to a year which had witnessed a steady rise in LVF murder attacks on members of the nationalist community, a trend which painfully exposes the inaccuracies of media reports suggesting loyalist attacks are retaliatory. Indeed, even the LVF itself admitted the Dungannon murder had been planned up to a year earlier.
Media commentary on the execution of Wright focused on how the shooting would make life difficult for the political representatives of the loyalist paramilitiaries. We were told how we were staring into the `abyss.' That loyalists might end their ceasefire and launch a campaign of violence against the nationalist community of a ferocity not witnessed before.
But signs that the loyalist parties were becoming disillusioned with the talks process were evident well before Christmas and before Billy Wright's demise. The week before Christmas, Billy Hutchinson was threatening that his party would leave the talks.
Unionists have argued that the peace process is biased in favour of nationalists and that republicans have benefited from a serious of concessions from Tony Blair's Labour government.
And while the Unionist Party refused to enter purposeful negotiations during the Autumn, a vacuum was created only to be filled by the death of nationalists at the hands of the sectarian death squads.
Trimble, Maginnis, and the loyalists focused on imagined concessions to republicans. But what are these concessions? If basic human rights have been conceded in the prisons, loyalists have benefited from them also. And they should never have been denied in the first place anyway.
The ridiculousness of the loyalist anger over not being informed in advance of the release of republican prisoners from Port Laoise could be compared to an expectation that the British government might consult Sinn Féin before releasing loyalist prisoners. The contradictions are all the more obvious - and farcical - when it is remembered that it is republicans who have been most vociferous in the demand for all political prisoners to be released.
Outside the prisons, the RUC continues to harass nationalist youths; hoods and petty criminals continue to have a free hand to rob, wreck and ruin nationalist areas with an apparent sanction from the RUC; the British army continues with its fortification and strengthening of military posts along the border.
State support for Irish culture remains well below that provided for Welsh and Scottish culture;.and in employment there remains the stark fact that nationalists are still twice as likely to be unemployed.
The list can go on, but one thing must be made clear. Questions of justice and equality are not negotiable and must be dealt with from outside the peace process.
While the nationalist community continues to suffer from the effects of decades of discrimination, it, and not the unionist community, suffered a concerted murder campaign in 1997.
There are a number of foundation stones on which peace will be established, one of which is truth and honesty. But, with the complicity of the media, the public has been bombarded with nonsense about loyalist retaliation, concessions to republicans and the need for nationalists to offer confidence building measures.
They may not acknowledge it ever happened, but the Unionist Party and David Trimble know that in five decades of rule from Stormont they structured a state of institutionalised inequality. Twenty seven years of direct rule by English Ministers has never comprehensively addressed this. It is therefore the nationalists which should be asking for confidence building measures.
It has been said that unionism is actually afraid of equality, afraid of an end to old certainities. Equality would stand in contradiction to everything it has ever stood for. But a stronger and confident Irish nationalism is now demanding equality, it is not a negotiating counter. If Unionists find the confidence in themselves, they will discover that standing with their fellow Irish people as opposed to against them will serve their own social, cultural and economic benefit to the better.
Coming as at does after a litany of stalling tactics deployed by the Unionists since the IRA announced its ceasfire of August 1994, the only undestanding that can be taken from what is being said by them now is that it is a further attempt at creating the conditions to prevent progress. Unionism, it would appear, does not have the self-confidence to meet nationalists as equals.
No one ever believed that the peace process was going to be easy, and fraught with the difficulties it has, it may teeter at the `abyss' for some time to come.
But Unionist intransigence cannot be allowed to condemn the people of Ireland to a future of inequality, division and conflict. There are new political realities to be addressed - Unionists must realise that Stormont rule will never return and that the days of inequality are numbered.
It is only through real and tangible progress with a sustained momentum that the peace process can be kept alive. That requires urgent action from the two governments, but particularly from the British. They can do what they have always done - play the Orange card and turn their back on equality and justice.
Or they can face down Unionist intransigence and push the process forward. It is a stark and historic choice.
As the talks reconvene next Monday, the governments should take the opportunity to get down to business with an open agenda. It is now time for fundamental constitutional change.
The `abyss' which commentators are so partial to referring to has been created by British involvement in Irish affairs. And the onus is now on Tony Blair to ensure that this opportunity for a lasting peace in Ireland is not squandered.
Stagnation will lead inexorably back down the road of conflict. Unionism cannot be allowed to veto the negotiations, and if its leaders prove incapable of rising to the challenge presented by the peace process, the two governments, and in particular the British government, must take the initiative and move to introduce measures without them. History demands it.