Little time left to save Agreement
BY SEAN BRADY
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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