Governments failing Peace Process, not standing up to ‘orchestrated violence of loyalism’, Adams says in US

‘While I don’t believe that there will be a return to conflict, nonetheless the current political impasse in the North is not sustainable’

THE Irish and British governments are failing the Peace Process and are not standing up to the orchestrated violence of loyalism, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD told the annual ‘Friends of Sinn Féin’ dinner in New York on Thursday.

Both governments have also failed to demand that the DUP honour its commitments in government, the Irish republican leader said.

“And they themselves have failed to implement key elements of the Good Friday and subsequent agreements.

“There is no Bill of Rights for the North to protect citizens; there is no Acht na Gaeilge; there is no North-South consultative forum, and the British Government has reneged on the commitment to hold an inquiry into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane.

“The Irish Government is failing to effectively challenge the British Government on any of this. Instead of acting as a co-equal guarantor with the British Government, the Irish Government is acquiescing to British policy.

“This is unacceptable. It is also dangerous. While I don’t believe that there will be a return to conflict, nonetheless the current political impasse in the North is not sustainable.”

The Sinn Féin leader also spoke of the need to deal comprehensively with the issue of the past.

“One week there is controversy over events during the conflict which involved the IRA; the next week it is events which involved British forces or their lethal allies within unionism and loyalism. This bound to be traumatic for victims.

“All of these events need to be dealt with and Sinn Féin has proposed an independent process to do this. 

“But the British Government has refused to sign up for this and the Irish Government and other parities in Dublin have limited themselves to political point-scoring instead of serious engagement.

“Sinn Féin wants all these legacy issues dealt with and we are also determined that the past cannot be a pretext for not dealing with the present and the future.

“This requires the two governments delivering the outstanding elements of the Good Friday and subsequent agreements, and insisting that all agreements – including those signed up to by the DUP – are implemented.”