Drawing battle lines for peace?

national | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Saturday February 12, 2005 18:47 by Keith Harris - NMN newsmedia at eircom dot net Limerick, Ireland 00353 61 316657

Northern Ireland and the way forward

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“The leadership and rank and file of Sinn Féin need to make the choice between continued association with and support for PIRA criminality and the path of an exclusively democratic political party. The real issue is not the expression of condemnation through the imposition of particular penalties. It is that the ending of all illegal activity by PIRA and indeed by all paramilitary groups is fully and permanently addressed. Only in that way can trust be restored and the objective set us in Article 35 – which we believe all law abiding people share– thereby advanced. Until this happens it is hard to see how further useful progress can be made.”
So reads the final paragraph of the International Monitoring Commission’s report into paramilitary involvement in the Northern Ireland bank robbery. The report directly blames the IRA.
The swerve away from adherence to standard lawfully permissible action in making public accusations of criminal guilt is a matter of concern. Blame for a criminal act has now been publicly directed against a named organisation but no arrest warrants have been issued. No individual has been named.
Apportioning of such blame without any lawful follow-through only confuses the issue and does not encourage confidence in any of the involved parties.
Paramilitary activity should have no place in any free democratic government or within any free society. But that would be as it perhaps could be in an ideal world.
Sinn Féin has consistently denied involvement with criminal activity and has built its political manifesto on visions of moving forward towards a better and so presumably a more ideal world.
Regardless of the issues involved, Sinn Féin must now respond to the accusations made against its members and its status as a political party if it is to retain credence and integrity in the broader world. It matters little what Sinn Féin thinks of itself if the majority view of the party by others is one of doubt.
It would be an enormous task to list the negative aspects that have been thrown into the path of the peace process over the course of the past few months.
Yet one highly positive aspect has been presented and that is the giving to Sinn Féin of the opportunity to publicly and demonstrably reaffirm its true idealism.
Frustration was a major instrumental factor in the violence of the past. It is unthinkable that there could be regression to such dark chapters.
IMC Report : http://www.nio.gov.uk/fourth_report_of_the_independent_monitoring_commission.pdf