27 February 1997 Edition
Unionists and Tories hand in hand to Drumcree 3
If Drumcree again this year becomes the triumph of Unionist supremacy over the rights of nationalist communities, blame will be put squarely at the door of the Ulster Unionists and the British Government.
This week has all the evidence of why these malign allies will be blamed for Drumcree 3. David Trimble has let it be known that there will be no compromise or no dialogue over Drumcree. And the British government seems happy to do nothing to influence him otherwise. It is all nice and cosy with the Unionist MPs in the run-up to the Westminster election.
Meanwhile, for the residents of Garvaghy Road and the Ormeau Road, their call remains that dialogue is the only way to resolve the issue. They are ill-served by a government which has long ago lost all moral right to preach to anyone about democracy or the rule of law.
We are only weeks away from the first Orange marches of the year. The Unionists and the Tories believe they can sit and do nothing until last year is repeated. Nationalist residents cannot afford to wait for that. Their campaign for dialogue must continue and it deserves every support.
Last week Edward Heath let the cat out of the bag over Bloody Sunday. Heath was the Prime Minister when the Paras shot dead fourteen people in Derry. Irritated by a question on Newsnight about his old friend, Deng Xiaoping's responsibility for the massacre of students at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Heath replied by comparing it to Bloody Sunday.
He did not say both were examples of blatant state murder. Rather, in defending Deng, he spoke of how both followed weeks of defiance against their respective states.
Heath should now be called to explain his comments. Did he approve of Bloody Sunday? Did he, as Deng did with Tiananmen Square, order his troops in to shoot unarmed demonstrators?
This week has all the evidence of why these malign allies will be blamed for Drumcree 3. David Trimble has let it be known that there will be no compromise or no dialogue over Drumcree. And the British government seems happy to do nothing to influence him otherwise. It is all nice and cosy with the Unionist MPs in the run-up to the Westminster election.
Meanwhile, for the residents of Garvaghy Road and the Ormeau Road, their call remains that dialogue is the only way to resolve the issue. They are ill-served by a government which has long ago lost all moral right to preach to anyone about democracy or the rule of law.
We are only weeks away from the first Orange marches of the year. The Unionists and the Tories believe they can sit and do nothing until last year is repeated. Nationalist residents cannot afford to wait for that. Their campaign for dialogue must continue and it deserves every support.
Heath condones Bloody Sunday
Last week Edward Heath let the cat out of the bag over Bloody Sunday. Heath was the Prime Minister when the Paras shot dead fourteen people in Derry. Irritated by a question on Newsnight about his old friend, Deng Xiaoping's responsibility for the massacre of students at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Heath replied by comparing it to Bloody Sunday.
He did not say both were examples of blatant state murder. Rather, in defending Deng, he spoke of how both followed weeks of defiance against their respective states.
Heath should now be called to explain his comments. Did he approve of Bloody Sunday? Did he, as Deng did with Tiananmen Square, order his troops in to shoot unarmed demonstrators?