Sinn Féin impressed by South African experience
By Brian Campbell
Martin McGuinness has described last weekend's conflict
resolution conference in South Africa as ``one of the most
memorable experiences of my life''. He told An Phoblacht that
``none of the parties who took part will be unaffected by it''.
The conference was organised by US academic Professor Padraig
O'Malley and hosted by South Africa's Ministry of Constitutional
Development. Its aim was to see if there were any lessons in
South Africa's conflict resolution for parties from the Six
Counties.
Nine party delegations attended, including Ulster Unionists
(headed by David Trimble), DUP (Peter Robinson), SDLP (Mark
Durkan) as well as the UDP, PUP, Alliance, Women's Coalition and
Labour. The Sinn Féin delegation included Martin McGuinness,
Gerry Kelly, Rita O'Hare and Siobhan O'Hanlon.
The Unionist delegations insisted on being kept separate from
Sinn Féin at all times - an ironic demand in the land that
invented apartheid. Their wishes were respected and there were
separate travelling, accommodation and conference arrangements
provided.
``What most impressed me,'' said Martin McGuinness, ``was how the
conference was organised. There was an absolute commitment by the
South African government to share their experiences. They invited
people who were once their bitter enemies - like Inkatha and the
old South African Army generals - and it was clear that there was
a warmth between them even after all they had been through.''
The conference included a number of in-depth workshops in which
the Irish participants were taken through aspects of how the
conflict was resolved and questioned the South Africans. Three
South African government ministers attended as well as conference
hosts Roelf Meyer and Cyril Ramaphosa, the two men who played a
leading role in negotiating the settlement which ended the
conflcit in South Africa. Nelson Mandela attended one workshop
and spoke, without notes, for twenty five minutes. ``It was a
highlight of the weekend,'' said McGuinness. ``He stressed that you
don't negotiate with your friends. You negotiate with your
enemies.''
Rita O'Hare said that one important lesson which everyone will
have taken from the conference is that ``it doesn't mean you have
given up your political views when you sit down and negotiate
with your political opponents. That was clear from the weekend.
We met people who five years ago were bitter enemies and they
talked together about how they got negotiations started and came
through them. The fact that everyone there heard that message is
very important. It will have implications, maybe not immediately
but further down the line.''
One important point that was stressed was that an inclusive
process was absolutely crucial to a successful outcome. ``When I
came back to Ireland,'' said Martin McGuinness, ``I heard that John
Bruton and the British government were thinking of stopping
contact with Sinn Féin. I would say to them: for many people
Nelson Mandela is the man of the century and if he has no problem
meeting with Sinn Féin, then John Bruton and the British
government should have no problem meeting with Sinn Féin.''
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)