THE NORTHERN IRELAND WOMEN'S COALITION VIEW

The following article was submitted to An Phoblacht by the Women's Coalition with a view to fostering debate towards resolving the latest crisis in the peace process


This is a time of deep frustration. Devolved government in Northern Ireland, hard won, has been suspended yet again against the wishes of many of the parties represented in the Assembly. The Women's Coalition argued against both motions of exclusion and suspension - we are committed to seeing politics in Northern Ireland taking responsibility for itself.

Over the past four years we seem to have staggered from ultimatum to crisis, and from confrontation to blame. Yet despite it all we have had the positive experience of a multi-party Executive working in practice, and some of the threads of principle that went into the weave of the Good Friday Agreement emerging as the basis for new policies and agencies. All has not been perfect. There have been disappointments and there are still many areas where there must be improvement and effective implementation. But on the whole, politics has been seen to be working. And now this.

The Women's Coalition has been active since 1996 in arguing consistently for political inclusion; in helping to craft the Good Friday Agreement; and since 1998, in working for its acceptance and implementation. We have exercised our share of the collective responsibility that has been called for by Sinn Féin, by being proactive advocates of the Agreement as agreed. We have argued for ongoing collective dialogue and discussion rather than bilateral crisis management. And as Gerry Adams suggested to the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in May 1999, we believe that if we are to be reconciled with people who hold different political perspectives to ourselves, then we must understand how these people see themselves and, if necessary, work to change the circumstances in which they make their judgements.

However, the Coalition would add that we also have to be prepared to moderate our own certainties given the views of others. The preparedness to see things differently is an essential element of conflict resolution.


THE DEMON DE-WORDS


Republicans seem to think that the steady march of the peace process has been constantly undermined by unionist, and at times British government, preconditions and demands. Decommissioning (pre, post and simultaneous), demilitarisation, disbandment, declarations of remorse or that 'the war is over', have been a litany of unquiet issues that have fanned a constant series of crises. On the other hand, there has been the growth of anti-Agreement sentiment within unionism, leading to suggestions that the prejudices of the old Stormont regime still hold sway. The Women's Coalition also has difficulties with the shifting sands of some of the unionist demands, and particularly with the tone and content of the demands from the most recent Ulster Unionist Council meeting. Nevertheless, we still accept that unionism is not homogeneous, and that there are many who are firmly convinced that the Agreement is the only perceivable basis for a shared society in Northern Ireland.

We are equally conscious that there is a genuine fear of the spectre of the IRA, and a worry that guns that have remained largely silent since the mid 1990's will not necessarily remain so if republicans become disillusioned, or if the IRA have a change in leadership. Unionists point to the previous breakdown of the ceasefire, and argue that if Sinn Féin cannot speak for a heavily armed IRA, then what guarantee is there that the ceasefire will hold. There is a continuing fixation on the IRA that even the most reassuring tones of Gerry Kelly or Martin McGuinness cannot lay to rest. It is a fear rooted in the experience of the years of the Troubles. And unlike the situation at the end of the Border Campaign in 1962, it is an apprehension based on the strength and presence of republicanism in the politics of the peace process.


THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STRENGTH


P O'Neill has constantly reminded us that the IRA will not bow to pressure or ultimatums. Well and good, but past action has been taken by the IRA in the interests of breaking the various logjams in the peace process. The problem is that the staccato approach that has served to avert past crises runs the risk of leaving people both cynical and confused. There is now a general agreement that the IRA can make concessions when it has a mind to. There is a concern that grudging decommissioning gestures are simply Sinn Féin bargaining counters to wrest more 'gains' from a reluctant British government.

The question is increasingly being asked as to whether this is all a zero-sum game of tactical manoeuvring. Then, to add insult to injury, other political parties are told in patronising tones to 'hold steady' - while the game plays out. From experience we can say with feeling that this is neither the politics of confidence-building nor of conflict resolution.

The Women's Coalition has never argued that decommissioning should be a precondition for political acceptability, but we do recognise the total and verifiable decommissioning of all illegally held arms is explicitly stated in the Agreement as part of the implementation of the overall settlement. We want to see the decommissioning of all illegally held weapons, and indeed of as many legally held weapons as possible. We want to see all paramilitary organisations working with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, and we believe that the strongest paramilitary organisation - the IRA - must lead the way.

As Regis Debray argued, armed struggle is an instrument, and the instrument cannot replace the overall strategic political and social objectives. He also suggested that there can be an unspoken idealization of 'clandestinity', rather like 'the vow of chastity'. It is important not to become a prisoner to immutable forms of past actions. And perhaps this is the real question for republicanism at this point in time, not the fork in the road posited by Tony Blair. To what extent is current republican strategy served by an IRA unwillingness to decommission arms or indeed its insistence on maintaining a clandestine army? Would P O'Neill find a more strategic role in becoming a Sinn Fein Communications Officer? We can only pose the question as part of our collective responsibility in promoting the peace process.


WHAT WE WILL SEEK FROM OTHERS


The Coalition also asserts that it is essential that the Ulster Unionist Party not only accept the structures of the Agreement, but also the policies and concepts that give it content. Human Rights and Equality are not negotiable; victims of violence cannot be regarded in terms of a hierarchy; and reform of policing must not be rolled back. Unionism, as a whole, has benefited from the Agreement and they must not be allowed to luxuriate in self-perpetuating myths of victimisation. Sectarianism, from whatever quarter, must be named and confronted.

Similarly, the Coalition has demands to make of the British government - the most basic being that the Agreement must be implemented in full and with a will. Security and policing must move from a war footing and philosophy towards more normal democratic approaches as levels of violence reduce. And if shades of Kitson continue to make security read like the plot of a second rate novel, then they must be brought under control. Targeting and information gathering on all sides must end if our peace process is not to be characterised as a hollow sham.

The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition support Debray in his argument that the day of the hero must give way to the era of the political organiser. In implementing our collective responsibility, we will all feel the benefit of it.