6 December 2001 Edition
Cardiff Troops Out conference
A first ever one day Welsh Troops Out of Ireland conference was held on Saturday 1 December in Cardiff. It was a brilliant success, despite political sabotage by officers from the Labour controlled Cardiff County Council. Rooms had been booked months earlier in South Glamorgan County Hall; but when the secretary went to finalise the details for the day she was told that because we had not complied strictly with procedures, the booking had been cancelled and the room was no longer available.
We pointed out that we had booked months in advance, had been in constant contact with the letting officer, and no mention of these conditions had been made. Arguments were to no avail; we met with a blank wall, and , worse than that, our secretary was escorted out of County hall by Security as if she were a terrorist suspect. It was patently obvious that a political leadership did not want an Irish peace conference with senior members of Sinn Féin to be held in County Hall.
Thousands of pounds had been invested in the conference and we would not let blinkered politicians and bureaucrats beat us. By Wednesday, we had booked accommodation in the high profile Holiday Inn at great extra cost. The conference was opened by myself and fellow Labour councillor Sue Lent (Cardiff City Council). The first session dealt with the racism which still exists in the Six Counties, citing the case of Robert Hamill, beaten to death in Portadown in front of four RUC officers who refused to intervene, despite pleas from passers-by who witnessed the attack. Parallels were drawn with the Stephen Lawrence case. Stephen Lawrence's family won a public inquiry, but despite overwhelming evidence, the British government is still refusing an inquiry into the Hamill case, on the basis that the matter is still under investigation.
The session "Where is the peace process now?" was led by a panel headed by Sinn Féin national chair Mitchel McLaughlin and included Sinn Féin Assembly member Gerry Mac Lochlainn, Robert Griffiths, National Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain - wrongly jailed in Cardiff for 'terrorist' activities in the 1980s - and myself as a Labour councillor. The large audience heard a detailed account of the 1981 hunger strike from former republican prisoner Seanna Breathnach. Mitchel McLaughlin gave an insight into the current state of the peace process. He described the Good Friday Agreement as a step along the way to achieving a united Ireland.
During the lunch break, Mitchel McLaughlin met with ex-Welsh Secretary Ron Davies, Cardiff Central MP Julie Morgan and myself. He pointed out that the Good Friday Agreement was a process and needed the full support and cooperation from everyone to win a lasting peace for both unionists and republicans. Ron Davies suggested that the way forward should include full cooperation with the Welsh Assembly and that of the Western Isles and the Scottish Parliament. These links, he suggested, should be followed through the European Union.
In the final session, Robert Griffiths said Sinn Féin should be warmly congratulated on their courageous step forward in the Good Friday Agreement. For those of us in the Troops Out Movement and other peace groups there can be no going back to the conflict which has killed thousands of Catholics, Protestants, British soldiers and civilians. To sign up to the peace process was easy; to finally win the peace and a united Ireland is the real challenge - an opportunity that we must grasp with all our might.
BY CAERPHILLY BOROUGH COUNCILLOR RAY DAVIES
We pointed out that we had booked months in advance, had been in constant contact with the letting officer, and no mention of these conditions had been made. Arguments were to no avail; we met with a blank wall, and , worse than that, our secretary was escorted out of County hall by Security as if she were a terrorist suspect. It was patently obvious that a political leadership did not want an Irish peace conference with senior members of Sinn Féin to be held in County Hall.
Thousands of pounds had been invested in the conference and we would not let blinkered politicians and bureaucrats beat us. By Wednesday, we had booked accommodation in the high profile Holiday Inn at great extra cost. The conference was opened by myself and fellow Labour councillor Sue Lent (Cardiff City Council). The first session dealt with the racism which still exists in the Six Counties, citing the case of Robert Hamill, beaten to death in Portadown in front of four RUC officers who refused to intervene, despite pleas from passers-by who witnessed the attack. Parallels were drawn with the Stephen Lawrence case. Stephen Lawrence's family won a public inquiry, but despite overwhelming evidence, the British government is still refusing an inquiry into the Hamill case, on the basis that the matter is still under investigation.
The session "Where is the peace process now?" was led by a panel headed by Sinn Féin national chair Mitchel McLaughlin and included Sinn Féin Assembly member Gerry Mac Lochlainn, Robert Griffiths, National Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain - wrongly jailed in Cardiff for 'terrorist' activities in the 1980s - and myself as a Labour councillor. The large audience heard a detailed account of the 1981 hunger strike from former republican prisoner Seanna Breathnach. Mitchel McLaughlin gave an insight into the current state of the peace process. He described the Good Friday Agreement as a step along the way to achieving a united Ireland.
During the lunch break, Mitchel McLaughlin met with ex-Welsh Secretary Ron Davies, Cardiff Central MP Julie Morgan and myself. He pointed out that the Good Friday Agreement was a process and needed the full support and cooperation from everyone to win a lasting peace for both unionists and republicans. Ron Davies suggested that the way forward should include full cooperation with the Welsh Assembly and that of the Western Isles and the Scottish Parliament. These links, he suggested, should be followed through the European Union.
In the final session, Robert Griffiths said Sinn Féin should be warmly congratulated on their courageous step forward in the Good Friday Agreement. For those of us in the Troops Out Movement and other peace groups there can be no going back to the conflict which has killed thousands of Catholics, Protestants, British soldiers and civilians. To sign up to the peace process was easy; to finally win the peace and a united Ireland is the real challenge - an opportunity that we must grasp with all our might.
BY CAERPHILLY BOROUGH COUNCILLOR RAY DAVIES