Shaping the Future
The following is an edited version of Sinn Féin President Gerry
Adams' presidential address to the party's 1999 Ard Fheis.
I speak to you today at Sinn Féin's last Ard Fheis in the 20th
Century, a century which, as it draws to a close, has seen Irish
republicans advance our goal of an independent and free Ireland.
It has been a difficult year for us, but in these tasks there is no
room for despondency or complacency. That is why the oldest political
party on this island is also the youngest - in its spirit and very
membership. Idealism is not dead in Ireland while Sinn Féin lives.
Building political strength
Republicans can also look back on the last year with some degree of
satisfaction. We have built our political strength on both sides of
the border.
Last year's Ard Fheisanna saw us making huge changes to our
constitution and taking enormously difficult but important decisions
in respect of the Good Friday Agreement. We also celebrated the
election of Caoimghin O Caoláin as a TD. This followed the election
of two MPs and our strongest electoral mandate for decades in the
North. Since then, our party has scaled new heights with the election
of 18 Assembly members on an increased vote.
Next month, fresh opportunities will arise to confirm and increase
that growth. Sinn Féin's election campaign is up and running. We
believe the local government elections will signal the emergence of
Sinn Féin as a major radical force in Irish politics.
Positive neutrality in action
Elections to the European Parliament will take place across the 32
counties. In many ways these elections are the important contest. We
can make real gains and they provide a clear opportunity to amplify
the republican position on the economy, on neutrality, on European
policy, and on many related issues.
It is of crucial importance that we build a 32-county-wide struggle.
Our country is facing two huge political problems - the North, and
the whole question of the political and economic direction of the
Southern state, particularly our role in Europe.
The key strategic challenge facing Irish republicanism at this time
is to advance our work in the North while at the same time
establishing a capability to mount a real challenge to the central
political and economic line of the southern political establishment
in the coming period so that we can build a real alternative - Irish
unity and independence.
Here in the 26 counties, a cosy, conservative consensus has emerged
among the main parties in Leinster House. For example, on neutrality
Fianna Fáil has reneged on its own commitment through a U-turn on
membership of the NATO-inspired and cynically named Partnership for
Peace.
Sinn Féin believes that there is no role for the European Union in
military and defence matters. These should be left up to the
individual states. International peacekeeping should be under the
auspices of the United Nations. We are totally opposed to membership
of the so-called Partnership for Peace.
This party is for positive neutrality in action. We have a world
view, as well as a distinctly Irish view. We make common cause with
oppressed people throughout the world against economically and
militarily powerful states
Our place in international affairs should be in promoting the
peaceful resolutions of conflicts, for disarmament, protection of the
environment and the fair distribution of the world's resources. We
canot do this if we acquiesce in the creation of a European
Superstate with a military wing.
Sinn Féin is a party which can be trusted to give expression to the
spreading disquiet among Irish people at the perils of Partnership
for Peace and the threats it may pose to the lives and safety of
Irish men and women. There should also be a referendum on the subject
if the government is really intent on membership.
For those who are put off by the conservatism of Fianna Fáil and Fine
Gael, for those who are looking for a radical choice beyond an
increasingly centrist and catch-all Labour, Sinn Féin is that
alternative. This is especially so as Labour is inclined, not to be
the vanguard of the working class, but rather with DL - the
Disappearing Left - to be the mudguard of Fine Gael.
Stop the War in the Balkans
The NATO bombing of Serbia should end. Slobadon Milosevic is a gross
violator of human rights, but other such violators have been
supported and armed by the NATO allies, including the Indonesian
regime, which is still committing genocide in East Timor, and Turkey,
which ruthlessly surpresses the Kurds.
There should be a determined effort for a peaceful negotiated
settlement under the auspices of the United Nations. I urge the
government to call for an emergency meeting of the neutral member
states of the European Union to bring forward a peaceful alternative
to this war.
How sad and tragic it is, as we strive to take all British and Irish
guns out of Irish politics, we are being asked to keep the nuclear
bomb in European politics and to break international law by backing a
war when we should be actively working to bring all war to a speedy
end. By the same token it is amazing how tons of bombs dropped in the
Balkans are morally and politically acceptable while the silent guns
of the IRA, we are told, are a threat to peace.
All of us have been moved by the plight of the refugees. There are
millions of refugees from many parts of this planet and the developed
world needs to do more to help them. The Irish government needs to do
more. And in so doing, the Irish people must extend a genuine céad
míle fáilte. We Irish, who have suffered so much from racism, we who
have sought refuge worldwide from political, economic and social
upheaval in our own country, have to exorcise any trace of racism
from within us.
Challenging Corruption
Many people on this island, particularly young people, are cynical
about politics. Who can blame them? The failure of politics led to
the partition of this island and to almost 30 years of war. Even now
a peace process is being resisted by those who are against the
primacy of politics and who cling even yet to the old agenda. Here in
this state people feel betrayed as scandal follows scandal.
It is against this background that people have caught the smell of
the stench of corruption - the culture of brown envelopes - which
surrounds the bigger parties. This corruption may not always entail
violation of the law, but it is still morally reprehensible, because
by putting money in the pocket of a politician, you put that
politician in your pocket. So out there among the people, side by
side with their cynicsm, there is a necessity and a desire for a wind
of change which will sweep away sleaze and cronyism and restore
respect in politics. People who want this change are seeking a party
which is not comprised of placeseekers, gombeenism and those in
search of monetary gain. Sinn Féin is that party.
The Reconquest of Ireland
Writing in 1915, James Connolly said: ``The conquest of Ireland had
meant the social and political servitude of the Irish masses, and
therefore the re-conquest of Ireland must mean the social as well as
the political independence from servitude of every man, woman and
child in Ireland.''
Sinn Féin stands for the reconquest of Ireland. Decades of emigration
displaced many Irish people. Now the Celtic Tiger is bringing some of
them home. But the Celtic Tiger is partitionist. It has a hard heart.
The Celtic Tiger does not cherish all the children of the nation
equally and the plight of the less well off, the people on the
poverty line, and the conditions of the disadvantaged remains
unchanged.
Empowerment of the nation should be accompanied by empowerment within
the nation. We therefore welcome the proposed insertion of a section
in the Constitution on local government. Furthermore, we would call
for new Local Government Acts, North and South, to introduce a
reformed structure of powerful regional, county and district
councils.
The Good Friday Agreement
The most important political development in the past 14 months, and
probably in recent modern Irish history, was the Good Friday
Agreement and its endorsement in referenda by all of the people of
this island. Clearly, the vast majority of people who voted Yes did
so because they wanted to see a transformation of the situation in
the North.
Sinn Féin decided in an historic Ard Fheis to advocate a Yes vote in
the referendums. This decision caused difficulties for many of us and
it was taken after weeks of intense debate which saw republicans
accept that the Good Friday Document is not an end in itself, but is
a transition towards a full national democracy in Ireland. For Irish
republicans the struggle for full independence and sovereignty is not
over.
We made substantial concessions. We did so in the context of our
overall objectives, and our commitment to the peace process and
because we believed that this would advance the peace process and
move us towards those objectives. It is worth noting that the
concessions made by us have been largely ignored by those who repeat
the propaganda line that republicans have given nothing.
We committed ourselves to implementing the Agreement and we have
participated in the process on that basis and in good faith. This
party has honoured all our commitments. The unionist political
leadership and the British government have not. The Good Friday
Agreement is now in its second year. The Executive, the all-Ireland
Ministerial Council, and the other all-Ireland bodies should now be
functioning with full power. Instead only one institution, the
Assembly, is in partial shadow formation. This is the one institution
most desired by unionists and lest desired by nationalists and
republicans.
Freedom from Sectarian Harassment
Other aspects of the Agreement are in abeyance also. The most obvious
of these is the right to `freedom from sectarian harassment'. and the
`right to freely chose ones place of residence'.This is most sharply
felt by the people of Garvaghy Road. Portadown is the Alabama of
these islands and the killing of Rosemary Nelson is the most savage
and recent evidence of that. In the wider context hundreds of people
have been forced to flee their homes because of intimidation and
violence.
I welcome David Trimble's talks for all of the elected
representatives for Upper Bann. The negative response of some Orange
leaders and of the DUP is not unexpected.
The Irish government has a responsibility to defend the people of the
Garvaghy Road. Since last July the people there have experienced over
ten months of living under siege. The situation for these people has
got worse since the Good Friday Agreement. Their plight is proof of
how far we have to go before there is justice. We stand shoulder to
shoulder with the people of the Garvaghy Road.
I also want to commend all those families, individuals and groups,
who have campaigned on justice issues. In keeping with human rights
organisations across the world, we have pressed for a number of
independent and internationally based investigations and inquiries.
The recent killing of Rosemary Nelson, the Robert Hamill case, and
the release of Lee Clegg all demonstrate the corrupt nature of the
British judicial system in the North and the unacceptability of the
RUC. There is also the Pat Finucane case and the role of Brian Nelson
and other British intelligence agents. People here in Dublin have
suffered also as a result of collusion. Sinn Féin supports the
demands of the relatives of victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings
for a tribunal of inquiry, and I call upon the Irish government to
set this up.
We have pressed the British government and the Irish government on
all these issues at every opportunity and we will continue to do so.
The RUC Must Go
The British government is obliged under the Agreement to publish an
`overall strategy' on demilitarisation. This should tackle among
other things the dismantling of hilltop forts in South Armagh, Derry
and Belfast (Divis Tower, New Lodge flats and RVH property at
Broadway); the standing down of the RIR; the ending of British Army
patrolling; the withdrawal of plastic bullets; action on the 140,000
licensed weapons; keeping the RUC out of sensitive areas; the closure
of the interrogation centres at Castlereagh, Gough and the Strand
Road. This was promised last November. We are still waiting.
While the Patten Commission was set up in June 1998 there has been no
change on the ground in the behaviour and attitude of the RUC. In the
11 months since its establishment, more and more evidence has emerged
exposing the RUC's brutality and sectarianism and reinforcing its
unacceptability. For nationalists policing is a touchstone issue. A
new police service must be established. The RUC must go.
It is also important to point out that there have been no changes to
the Emergency legislation. All such laws in place before the signing
of the Agreement are still in place. In fact more draconian laws have
been introduced since then in both states on this island.
There is also a responsibility on the Irish government to open up
institutions in this state to Irish citizens in other parts of this
island. Sinn Féin has made formal representations to the all party
Oireachtas Committee on Constitutional Reform to extend voting rights
in Presidential elections and referendums. We also want people in the
North to be given the right to representation in Leinster House.
Unionists Block Implementation of Agreement
y sane logical view of the peace process must be that it is in
crisis.
The Agreement is now over one year old. The hopes and relative
confidence of many people in the North comes mostly from the
continuation of the cease-fires and not from any confidence in the
political process, even though there has been some obvious and
welcome progress there.
Progress in the search for peace has been thwarted by those who have
seen the peace process as a party political contest or war by other
means. They ignore - and indeed some may even be involved in or
encouraging the constant campaign of bomb attacks against nationalist
homes and property - including over 120 individual attacks on
Catholic families and at least six deaths since we last met here in
the RDS.
These elements, including securocrats, sections of unionism North and
South and parts of the British establishment refuse to recognise the
significance of the IRA's role in creating and maintaining the
conditions in which peace can be established. Indeed some see the IRA
cessation as the `most destabalising development' in the north since
partition.
Today I want to pay tribute to every generation of IRA Volunteers but
I want to especially commend today's Volunteers. On this, the 12th
anniversary of the killing of the eight IRA Volunteers at Loughgall,
I want to pay tribute to the courage and resiliance and sacrifice of
the families of IRA Volunteers and all of those families who have
suffered.
Honouring Commitments
I know that there is a lot of justificable anger and frustration,
among republicans especially, and nationalists generally, at the
refusal of the British government and the unionists to implement all
aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
Our history and more importantly our own experiences teach us that
thus far this century unionism has exerted a veto and it has been
this veto and British policy towards Ireland which are at the core of
conflict and injustice in our country. I have been challenged and
confronted by this justifiable anger many times since the last Ard
Fheis but particularly since the negotiations at Hillsborough. I know
our party well enough to know that these doubts will not necessarily
be voiced at an Ard Fheis but in private meetings and in one-to-one
conversations activists have made it very clear where they stand and
how they view the British and Irish governments' handling of the
situation and the approach of sections of the SDLP and the unionists.
Notwithstanding this, we have a job of work to do and we should not
be mesmerised by the tactical manourerings of the moment. We need to
have a longer term view - a strategic view - of where we are going so
that we can apply oursleves to getting there.
Recently, I said that I was prepared to stretch our constituency.
Some republicans understandably asked me what that meant. It means us
being far-sighted. It means us working out if and how we can move and
it means most importantly doing all of this in the context and the
terms of the Good Friday Agreement. And it means the governments and
the other participants doing likewise.
The current negotiations cannot go on indefinitely. In Downing Street
this week we urged the British government and the Irish government to
set a dead-line and to bring these negotiations to a conclusion. We
also urged them to reconvene Thursday's talks as quickly as possible.
For our part we will be meeting with the UUP on Monday morning. We
remain in regular contact with the other parties.
At the beginning of this latest round of talks we put a number of
ideas, set firmly within the terms of the Good Friday Agreement,
which we felt could break the present deadlock. Maybe they will not
have this effect. Maybe this British government, despite a good start
when it came into power, is not up to the historic task facing it at
this time because the only way forward is through Mr. Blair asserting
the primacy of the peace process, of the Good Friday Agreement, and
focusing on righting the wrongs that have endured for too long as a
direct consequence of British involvement in our affairs.
Let me tell you what we have been telling the British government and
the Irish government. We have told them that the implementation of
the Good Friday Agreement is the bedrock of this phase of the peace
process. There can be no renegotiation of the agreement; no rewriting
of the agreement by any of the parties to it and no further parking
of its implementation. The various provisions of the agreement are
quite clear. The multiple breaches of the agreement are well known
and have threatened the entire process. This must stop.
Republicans Committed to Peace Process
I want to make it absolutely clear to the people of this island and
to our many friends and allies in the U.S., in South Africa and
elsewhere in the world, that Sinn Féin is totally committed to the
peace process.
Is it too much to expect, for all of us as we walk forward, to ensure
that the century we are leaving behind is the last century the people
of this island will be in violent conflict with each other?
In recent years Sinn Féin has prioritised its work with the unionist
and Protestant people. We have learned much about their perceptions
of us as republicans and their views of the nationalist people. We
have learned much about the state of mind that unionists are in.
It is true to say and we recognise this that they are living in a
siege mentality. They believe they are under attack from many
quarters, from republicans and nationalists and they cannot trust
either the British or Irish governments.
Protestants and Unionists have been in Ireland for four centuries yet
they feel their belonging here to be precarious. That might seem hard
for republicans to understand given the experience nationalists in
the six counties have had under unionist domination since partition.
But if we are to be reconciled with our unionist neighbours then we
must accept how they see themselves and work to change the
circumstances in which they make these judgments.
At present they trust only themselves. As a consequence they are,
euphemistically speaking, circling the wagons, retreating into a
world of their own creation which reinforces their fears and
suspicions.
We are constantly looking for ways of building bridges between us. We
believe the Good Friday agreement is the foundation upon which new
relationships between unionists, nationalists and republicans can be
forged. It provides for new institutions, the Assembly, the
Executive, the all-Ireland Council, wherein we can all work together
for the good of all the people of this island. The sooner these are
established the quicker we can begin the process of national
reconciliation.
It is of course a source of deep frustration that unionist political
leaders have yet to respect the democratic mandate of Sinn Féin and
the rights of our electorate and are not prepared to embrace the
provisions of the Good Friday agreement.
However let me repeat what I have said many times to unionists from
this podium. Republicans have no wish to discriminate against you or
to dominate you, or to marginalise you, or to drive you from this
island, or to make you second class citizens in the land of your
birth.
We want to go forward in agreement with you so that we can all live
in peace, justice and harmony together. This means recognising each
others integrity as well as listening to each other.
But at the heart of this process of national reconciliation there
needs to be an acceptance that there is going to be change. The old
agenda has failed. It cannot work any longer.
The Ireland of the 21st century must celebrate our diversity and all
our people must go forward as equals. There can and there will be no
more second class citizens.
This is a major job for all of us. But it will be particularly so for
the two people chosen by the Ard Chomhairle to be our Ministers in
the new institutions. If and when they are established this will be
an entirely new area of struggle for us. But I believe that our
nominees will do a tremendous job. They will need our full support.
Please acknowledge Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brún who we will
be nominating as Sinn Féin Ministers.
Finally let me reassure republican activists. Sinn Féin's position is
very clear. We understand our obligations under the Good Friday
Agreement. We have also made it clear both privately and publicly,
that Sinn Féin cannot deliver the demand for IRA weapons no matter
how this is presented. Sinn Féin's clear intention is to manage this
phase of the process so that we emerge with real progress in the
search for peace. Let me remind you all once again that the
democratic and republican position will only be advanced by clear
strategic thinking and by intelligent, disciplined and forward
thinking activists. We are about shaping the future. That is our
collective task.
Republican and Labour
Sinn Féin has come through this period not only undiminished but
strengthened. We have proven ourselves adaptable without being
opportunistic. In this, we have been sustained by the enthusiasm,
industry and selflessness of our members and supporters.
Sinn Féin has been and will persevere in being a voice for the
voiceless, a lobby for the marginalised, a champion of the forgotten,
a campaigning party, while at the same time appealing to a broad
range of people on the platform of all-round national democracy and
social equity.
We are conscious not only of defeating discrimination and of the
final ebb of empire. We also want to establish a new brother- and
sisterhood across old divides and throughout this land; we want
people to be proud of all the enriching traditions that Ireland has
to offer; we want to see the flourishing of our culture in every
facet; we want the prospect of peace and prosperity for our children.
As I said to start with, this century opened with the seeds of Sinn
Féin being sown. It closes with our organisation firmly growing
throughout Ireland. The next century will commence with a further
expansion of Sinn Féin. There is business to be completed, the final
establishment of a united, democratic, and progressive Republic of
Ireland, and Sinn Féin is the party to complete it.
We want to shape the future. And we shall.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)