13 May 1999 Edition
Shaping the Future
It hardly seemed like a year had passed since we gathered for a Sinn Féin ard fheis. It was entirely natural that the party members would use this year's ard fheis to take stock of the events over the past year and that many of the contributions to the debates would be in part a reflection on that year.
This led the media to label this year's ard fheis `low key'. They were wrong. Last years's ard fheis was a historic one. Sinn Féin changed its constitution and rules in a very public demonstration of our commitment to securing a lasting peace in Ireland.
If the media attending our ard fheis this year had probed a bit deeper, they would have realised that this year's ard fheis was a reaffirmation of the commitments Sinn Féin made last year. Speaker after speaker outlined the broken promises and the back tracking of the Ulster Unionists as well as the Dublin and London governments.
As the debates progressed, there was a clear consensus emerging from the delegates. The message was that more than a year on from the Good Friday Agreement, we have lived up to our commitments but others had not.
Added to this was the unanswered question of whether the other parties to the Good Friday Agreement are still committed to the declarations they made in April 1998.
Delegates wondered why we were being asked to show more commitment to the peace process when others have shown absolutely none. They wondered why, when others are backtracking, reinterpreting and rewriting the agreement, Sinn Féin are being asked to do more and more.
This was not just the message from the Sinn Féin leadership. It was the message from the vast majority of speakers. The message to Trimble, Ahern, Blair and others was a simple one - ``We are resolute and determined. What about you?''
This led the media to label this year's ard fheis `low key'. They were wrong. Last years's ard fheis was a historic one. Sinn Féin changed its constitution and rules in a very public demonstration of our commitment to securing a lasting peace in Ireland.
If the media attending our ard fheis this year had probed a bit deeper, they would have realised that this year's ard fheis was a reaffirmation of the commitments Sinn Féin made last year. Speaker after speaker outlined the broken promises and the back tracking of the Ulster Unionists as well as the Dublin and London governments.
As the debates progressed, there was a clear consensus emerging from the delegates. The message was that more than a year on from the Good Friday Agreement, we have lived up to our commitments but others had not.
Added to this was the unanswered question of whether the other parties to the Good Friday Agreement are still committed to the declarations they made in April 1998.
Delegates wondered why we were being asked to show more commitment to the peace process when others have shown absolutely none. They wondered why, when others are backtracking, reinterpreting and rewriting the agreement, Sinn Féin are being asked to do more and more.
This was not just the message from the Sinn Féin leadership. It was the message from the vast majority of speakers. The message to Trimble, Ahern, Blair and others was a simple one - ``We are resolute and determined. What about you?''