13 November 1997 Edition
Connolly Association conference warns against complacency
This year's annual conference of the Connolly Association will reaffirm the organisation's belief in the benefits of a united Ireland and discuss the possibility of an interim settlement as the most likely outcome of the current peace process.
The conference, which will be held on Saturday 15 November in London, will open with a public meeting at 11.30 am addressed by Kevin McCorry of the Belfast-based Campaign for Democracy and the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, and chair of the Britain and Ireland Human Rights Centre, John McDonnell. The theme of the meeting will be the talks process and the respect for a negotiated settlement to the crisis in the North.
The business section of the conference, which is open only to CA members and invited guests, will discuss the organisation's response to the latest developments in the peace process, including the IRA ceasefire, the inclusion of Sinn Féin in multi-party talks by the British government and moves towards the implementation of a range of confidence-building measures.
Connolly Association general secretary, Enda Finlay, said: ``Whilst we welcome the measures taken by the new Labour government since the May election, which have gone some way to facilitate constructive negotiations towards a settlement to the Irish crisis, we believe that much more still needs to be done.
``There is simply no room for complacency. The repeal of emergency legislation, demilitarisation, policing, employment discrimination and disputed killings are all important areas which must be addressed if we are not to run into some of the same difficulties which dogged the last abortive phase of the peace process under the Tory government of John Major. The Connolly Association will continue to campaign for the dismantling of in-built structures of discrimination and inequality in the North.''
The conference, which will be held on Saturday 15 November in London, will open with a public meeting at 11.30 am addressed by Kevin McCorry of the Belfast-based Campaign for Democracy and the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, and chair of the Britain and Ireland Human Rights Centre, John McDonnell. The theme of the meeting will be the talks process and the respect for a negotiated settlement to the crisis in the North.
The business section of the conference, which is open only to CA members and invited guests, will discuss the organisation's response to the latest developments in the peace process, including the IRA ceasefire, the inclusion of Sinn Féin in multi-party talks by the British government and moves towards the implementation of a range of confidence-building measures.
Connolly Association general secretary, Enda Finlay, said: ``Whilst we welcome the measures taken by the new Labour government since the May election, which have gone some way to facilitate constructive negotiations towards a settlement to the Irish crisis, we believe that much more still needs to be done.
``There is simply no room for complacency. The repeal of emergency legislation, demilitarisation, policing, employment discrimination and disputed killings are all important areas which must be addressed if we are not to run into some of the same difficulties which dogged the last abortive phase of the peace process under the Tory government of John Major. The Connolly Association will continue to campaign for the dismantling of in-built structures of discrimination and inequality in the North.''
