Sinn Féin News, 8. October 2004 (for
Irish Voice)
Looking to the Future
by Gerry Adams
Two weeks ago the two governments and all of the parties spent a couple of days in Leeds Castle in Kent. We were there as part of the current efforts to find a resolution to the crisis in the peace process. Regular Irish Voice readers will know that these were suspended by DUP abstentionism over the summer.
At the end of the Leeds Castle talks both governments declared that there was progress towards such an agreement. I saw no sign of that as far as the DUP was concerned and I said so at the time. Since then there has been no evidence to suggest that the DUP has changed its position. Yes, Mr. Paisley travelled to Dublin, and I welcome that, but the fact is that the DUP continues to put unrealistic demands aimed at changing the power sharing core of the Assembly and other fundamentals of the Agreement. It persists with its objectionable refusal to accept Sinn Féin's mandate or the rights of our electorate and the rights of citizens who support other parties.
Since Leeds Castle the Sinn Fein leadership has been involved in intense discussions with the governments in a bid to close the gaps which exist. On Monday we met the Taoiseach in Dublin and in the afternoon Martin McGuinness and I were in London meeting the British government.
Our focus remains constant - the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement - an agreement which promises equality, respect, and parity of esteem for both Unionists/Loyalists and Republicans/Nationalists. There is still a lot of work to do and this is the focus of the ongoing discussions between Sinn Fein and the governments. At the same time it may be useful to reflect on one aspect of what was agreed on Good Friday 6 years ago. How much has British policy been altered to take account of this since?
In the Agreement the Irish and British governments committed to "affirm that whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and shall be founded on the principles of full respect for, and equality of, civil, political, social and cultural rights, of freedom from discrimination for all citizens, and of parity of esteem and of just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos, and aspirations of both communities."
However, the British government has not implemented with "rigorous impartiality" its responsibilities in respect of equality and "civil, political, social and cultural rights"‚ and it clearly refuses to accept that its policy of upholding the Union constitutes an obstacle to harmony and good relations between the peoples of these islands.
British policy tolerates and perpetuates institutionalised inequality and consequently many in political unionism see no imperative to co-operate with their nationalist neighbours, or nationalist and republican representatives. This view is reinforced by the fact that the apparatus of government, the symbols, and senior management of the institutions of the state are predominantly unionist. British policy is also an obstacle to the practice and achieving of equality of treatment and parity of esteem.
The un-elected and unaccountable "Northern Ireland Office" is a particular example of the need for urgent change. The NIO runs the six-counties almost as a private fiefdom. British Direct Rule Ministers fly in for a few hours a week very often simply to rubber stamp decisions pre-formulated by Senior NIO officials. And too often, those who work within and for the NIO, demonstrate an unapologetic devotion to the unionist cause. In addition the hundreds of unaccountable quangos are filled to overflowing with those appointed by the NIO and deemed by that body to be safe hands. The manifestation of Unionist governance for the Unionist people is preserved.
Sinn Féin is intent on achieving the re-establishment of the Executive, the political institutions and the all-Ireland Bodies as a means of ensuring the delivery of the equality agenda, and to finally achieve parity of esteem for all. It is only with locally mandated Ministers that we will be able to remove the influence of the rejectionists and the securocrats in the NIO over every facet of our lives.
However, the Sinn Féin peace strategy is about more than the here and now. It is about the future. The Agreement is the blueprint from which we can map our path to the resolution of the constitutional question and sovereignty. In the here and now we are seeking equality of treatment for every citizen. This is a fundamental right. No section of our people should have preferential treatment or privilege on the basis of religious belief or political allegiance. But it is also true that if we remove the inequalities and discrimination; if we remove the privilege and the supremacist ethos which underpins much of political unionism; then the whole premise on which partition and unionism exist, is gravely undermined.
As Irish republicans we have an additional objective - to persuade a British government to end its policy of upholding the union in favour of a new policy which is based on equality, parity of esteem and genuine self-determination.
The British government must fulfil its own obligations under the Good Friday Agreement, and set the example for unionists. It can also through implementing its commitments change the political conditions for unionism and open up the possibility that society has everything to gain from equality and nothing to fear. This means the British government taking the necessary measures NOW to implement the equality, human rights, justice, policing and other areas of the Agreement which it is compelled to do under the GFA.
There is an onus also on the Irish government as an equal partner to the Agreement to defend all aspects of the new dispensation and to insist that the British government honours its obligations. ENDS