Democratic rights must not be thwarted

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday October 11, 2002 14:02 by Doherty

Sinn Féin Vice President Pat Doherty MP addressed a fringe meeting organised by Sinn Féin at the British Labour Party Conference at Rushkin Hotel, Blackpool, on Wednesday 2 October. He urged the British government to immediately make it clear to the unionists that there will be no suspension of the political institutions established by the Agreement. Michelle Gildernew MP, party chair Mitchel McLaughlin and Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD also addressed meetings at the Blackpool conference.

Doherty speaks at Labour Conference

Like a fast approaching comet, the 'Wreckers' Charter' that emerged from the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) meeting on 21 September is on a direct collision course with the institutions that underpin the Good Friday Agreement (GFA).

Since the signing of the GFA, the world has become accustomed to one artificially contrived 'crisis' after another emanating from the inner sanctums of the UUC. This is the ninth UUC meeting since the signing of the GFA. It is also the ninth occasion on which the British government has made concessions to the UUP in advance of these meetings.

Although said to be nominally in favour of the Agreement, the obstructionist tactics of the UUP have been seen by many nationalists and republicans as clear evidence of the Unionist Party's strategy to frustrate, slow down and dilute the process of change towards genuine equality.

In light of the shenanigans at the UUC on 21 September, the view that avowed Unionist Party support for the Agreement was merely tactical and a temporary measure to ward off pressure from the British and American governments has gathered further credence.

The arrogance of the ultimatums and preconditions contained in this latest unionist invention leave no one in any doubt that this unbelievable example of brass-necked hard balling is designed to create a definitive crisis in the peace process.

Not only does the nine-point combined motion from Trimble and Donaldson commit the UUP to an immediate breach of their obligations under the Agreement but it also establishes three preconditions outside the terms of the Agreement.

The vast bulk of political unionism has given up the pretence and is now unashamedly and vehemently anti-Agreement. It wants Sinn Féin, the largest nationalist party, excluded from the Executive. It wants the Good Friday Agreement dispensed with and renegotiated. It wants a unionist controlled and dominated police force. In short, it aspires to the return of a political order that they can dominate.

The clear message to nationalists is that the vast bulk of political unionism cannot and will not countenance the concept of equality with nationalists because to do so would undermine the raison d'�tre of their political philosophy, which has historically been based on exclusion and supremacy.

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Unionists need to know that they can be part of managing the necessary change but that they cannot stop the changes that are coming. People's rights and entitlements cannot be filtered through how much unionism is prepared to tolerate - Pat Doherty
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SINN FÉIN FOCUS

This is a dangerous time. For our part, Sinn Féin has given leadership. We argued for collective initiatives from pro-Agreement parties to bring calm to our streets and confront sectarianism. The First Minister failed to respond. The reasoning is obvious. He has already decided on a collision course. He had set out his stall on this at the UUP AGM in March. Having first sought sanctions against Sinn Féin and then having adopted a course for political collapse, he can hardly join with us, even if he knows it is the right thing to do.

At the core of all this is, of course, very basic principles of democracy and equality. Sinn Féin has a democratic mandate. We recognise unconditionally the mandate of other parties and governments. They have an equal responsibility to recognise ours.

Some unionists clearly resent this. They resent the fact that equality discriminates against privilege; against a failed status quo. Respect for democratic mandates and treating those mandates with equality is indispensable to a successful peace process. This is not optional or conditional. The two governments, and especially the British government, have a particular responsibility in this regard.

However, this is not a time for republicans to knee jerk. We intend to stay focused on making the Agreement work - on seeing its many outstanding elements implemented. But Irish republicans are but one element of the body politic. There is a shared responsibility. Those of us interested in conflict resolution, those of us interested in building on the work of the past ten years, must ensure that we minimise the damage that will result from Mr Trimble and his colleagues abandoning the political institutions in January.

Sinn Féin will do what we can to achieve this. We will continue to engage with the two governments. We will continue to engage with the other pro-agreement parties on the island and we will seek to meet with political and civic unionism. This rightward lurch in political unionism has left a large section of pro-agreement people within the unionist community voiceless. We must not only seek out and encourage the articulation of this voice but also encourage its political manifestation.

Pandering to rejectionist Unionism must end

The roots of this crisis can be traced to the constant pandering to every unionist whim by the British government. Time and time again crises were manufactured, UUC meetings held and goodies outside the terms of the Agreement were offered by the British government to be pocketed by Mr Trimble. And we moved along until the next artificially created crisis.

This is no way in which to manage a process of conflict resolution or a process of political change. The most recent UUC meeting shows what the real agenda is. And this is very understandable.

The British government's behaviour gave political unionism the green light to believe that they could stop the change promised in the Good Friday Agreement. Their constant threats to the political institutions and constant threats to stop political progress on equality, human rights, criminal justice, policing, the all-Ireland agenda and a whole range of other issues was continually.

The British government's pandering to rejectionist unionism was always going to result in this situation.

The political instability generated by the last four years of continuous political crisis has encouraged anti-Agreement loyalist paramilitaries to fill such a vacuum with violence. For the past two years they have been involved in a sustained sectarian campaign which has seen hundreds of bomb attacks, scores of shootings, several deaths and thousands of other attacks and threats against the nationalist people across the north of Ireland.

The Good Friday Agreement is a binding international agreement between the Irish and British governments. They are obliged to implement the Agreement and have a joint and co-equal responsibility for the implementation of its terms. The process must be moved forward through resolute and speedy action by both governments, but particularly the British government. It should immediately make it clear to the unionists that the implementation of the Agreement will proceed and the two governments should call a meeting of all pro-Agreement parties

Unionists need to be know that we are not giving up on this process, that we have invested too much time and energy over ten years and more, that we are not going to abandon the desire for equality, democracy and partnership. They need to know that we want them to be part of managing the necessary change but that they cannot stop the changes that are coming. People's rights and entitlements cannot be filtered through a unionist prism. This is not acceptable.

The thrust and dynamic created in this peace process must be sustained. The implementation of the Agreement, even if unionist opposition pulls down the Assembly, must proceed. Political, democratic, peace process and legal imperatives, not to mention good common sense, requires this approach.

In short, the democratic rights and entitlements of the overwhelming majority of the Irish electorate north and south must not be thwarted or denied by the those who have set their face firmly against a lasting settlement based on equality.