13 May 1999 Edition
Little time left to save Agreement
BY SEAN BRADY
The political vacuum created by the lack of progress in implementing the Agreement is steadily being filled by loyalist terror and as we go to press it is reported that another nationalist civilian has been shot and wounded.
Gerry Adams has warned that the continuing political vacuum in the Six Counties may allow rejectionist loyalist elements to deliver a coup de grace to the peace process in the coming weeks. The Sinn Féin president's stark warning came after a meeting with British Premier Tony Blair at Downing Street on Tuesday, 11 May.
Adams said that the onus was on Tony Blair to recreate a context in which David Trimble can be reassured to enable the process to move forward once again. He urged both Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to reconvene talks this Friday and warned that only a short space of time remained in which to rescue the situation before events took over. The European election campaign and the start of the Orange marching season are due to begin over the next few weeks reducing the scope for political agreement.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble emerged from his meeting with the British Prime Minister with a pessimistic assessment of the prospects for progress and again blamed republicans for the lack of movement.
Over a year after the negotiation of the Good Friday document, the Agreement faces the greatest threat yet to its survival. The unwillingness of the unionist leadership to engage realistically in the process is the primary cause of the current situation. The way out of the impasse can be achieved by both governments taking the lead, and the greatest onus now rests with the British government.
For 78 years, those who have run society in the Six Counties have mastered the art of not budging a political inch while maintining their grip on power and privilege. Unless these people are challenged head on by the two governments, then the Good Friday Agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on.
The problem has been that both the British and Irish governments are applying the wrong political logic not just to the unionists but to the entire entity that is the Six-County state.
The normal logic, based on their own experience either in Leinster house or Westminster and which is essentially a consensus approach to solving political problems, does not work when applied to the Six Counties. The application of such logic is easily subverted by those in the various unionist parties and the hidden people in the system who want to hold onto power exclusively for the unionists.
The governments need to realise that they are not dealing with a normal democracy in the Six Counties but with a highly militarised, artificial, undemocratic and unaccountable system. The evidence is not just to be found in unionists' refusal to engage with the peace process. Further examples are to be found in the mounting evidence of collusion between official British forces and the loyalist death squads.
For 78 years, those who have run society in the Six Counties have mastered the art of not budging a political inch while maintining their grip on power and privilege. Unless these people are challenged head on by the two governments, then the Good Friday Agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on.
For its part, Sinn Féin has done and is doing all within its power to move the situation forward. Gerry Adams reiterated at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis his willingness to stretch the republican constituency within the context and terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He also told the ard fheis that at the start of the last round of talks Sinn Féin had put forward a number of ideas which it felt could break the current deadlock. It still remains unclear whether these proposals will lead to any breakthrough.
Gerry Adams also condemned Ian Paisley's attempts to run the European election campaign as a second referendum on the Agreement: ``That is nonsense. In the referendum last year the majority of people, in massive numbers, voted for this Agreement. ``The UUP should move forward on the basis of the Yes vote and not be unnerved by Ian Paisley,'' he said.
The political vacuum created by the lack of progress in implementing the Agreement is steadily being filled by loyalist terror and as we go to press it is reported that another nationalist civilian has been shot and wounded. The outrageous siege of the nationalist community of Garvaghy Road in Portadown continues, and things are likely only to get worse as we approach the Orange marching season.
The only way now to avoid catastrophe is for both governments, and Tony Blair in particular to vigorously assert the primacy of the peace process and push ahead with the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
The political vacuum created by the lack of progress in implementing the Agreement is steadily being filled by loyalist terror and as we go to press it is reported that another nationalist civilian has been shot and wounded.
Gerry Adams has warned that the continuing political vacuum in the Six Counties may allow rejectionist loyalist elements to deliver a coup de grace to the peace process in the coming weeks. The Sinn Féin president's stark warning came after a meeting with British Premier Tony Blair at Downing Street on Tuesday, 11 May.
Adams said that the onus was on Tony Blair to recreate a context in which David Trimble can be reassured to enable the process to move forward once again. He urged both Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to reconvene talks this Friday and warned that only a short space of time remained in which to rescue the situation before events took over. The European election campaign and the start of the Orange marching season are due to begin over the next few weeks reducing the scope for political agreement.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble emerged from his meeting with the British Prime Minister with a pessimistic assessment of the prospects for progress and again blamed republicans for the lack of movement.
Over a year after the negotiation of the Good Friday document, the Agreement faces the greatest threat yet to its survival. The unwillingness of the unionist leadership to engage realistically in the process is the primary cause of the current situation. The way out of the impasse can be achieved by both governments taking the lead, and the greatest onus now rests with the British government.
For 78 years, those who have run society in the Six Counties have mastered the art of not budging a political inch while maintining their grip on power and privilege. Unless these people are challenged head on by the two governments, then the Good Friday Agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on.
The problem has been that both the British and Irish governments are applying the wrong political logic not just to the unionists but to the entire entity that is the Six-County state.
The normal logic, based on their own experience either in Leinster house or Westminster and which is essentially a consensus approach to solving political problems, does not work when applied to the Six Counties. The application of such logic is easily subverted by those in the various unionist parties and the hidden people in the system who want to hold onto power exclusively for the unionists.
The governments need to realise that they are not dealing with a normal democracy in the Six Counties but with a highly militarised, artificial, undemocratic and unaccountable system. The evidence is not just to be found in unionists' refusal to engage with the peace process. Further examples are to be found in the mounting evidence of collusion between official British forces and the loyalist death squads.
For 78 years, those who have run society in the Six Counties have mastered the art of not budging a political inch while maintining their grip on power and privilege. Unless these people are challenged head on by the two governments, then the Good Friday Agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on.
For its part, Sinn Féin has done and is doing all within its power to move the situation forward. Gerry Adams reiterated at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis his willingness to stretch the republican constituency within the context and terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He also told the ard fheis that at the start of the last round of talks Sinn Féin had put forward a number of ideas which it felt could break the current deadlock. It still remains unclear whether these proposals will lead to any breakthrough.
Gerry Adams also condemned Ian Paisley's attempts to run the European election campaign as a second referendum on the Agreement: ``That is nonsense. In the referendum last year the majority of people, in massive numbers, voted for this Agreement. ``The UUP should move forward on the basis of the Yes vote and not be unnerved by Ian Paisley,'' he said.
The political vacuum created by the lack of progress in implementing the Agreement is steadily being filled by loyalist terror and as we go to press it is reported that another nationalist civilian has been shot and wounded. The outrageous siege of the nationalist community of Garvaghy Road in Portadown continues, and things are likely only to get worse as we approach the Orange marching season.
The only way now to avoid catastrophe is for both governments, and Tony Blair in particular to vigorously assert the primacy of the peace process and push ahead with the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.