The Irish American Unity in Action Committee sent the following open letter
regarding recent events in the North of Ireland to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair
and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Managed impasse
an open letter from the Irish American Unity in Action Committee
Irish American Unity in Action Committee c/o Frank Durkin
52 Duane Street,
5th Floor New York, New York 10007
9 February 2005
Dear Prime Minister Blair and Taoiseach Ahern:
We the undersigned, national Irish American organizations write
to express our deep concern over recent events which undermine
the peace process in northern Ireland .
The present breakdown in the peace process is based upon
official and unofficial speculation and bears all of the marks
of managed impasse and political manipulation that have plagued
past negotiations.
For the third time in as many years, those opposed to sharing
power with the Catholic/nationalist population have made
unsubstantiated charges against Sinn Fein aimed at causing a
reversal in the peace process and preventing the seating of the
Northern Ireland Assembly.
When this is spearheaded by elements in the government, police
and military intelligence, heightened by innuendo and reckless
speculation in the press and by rival political parties, it is a
grievous offense against the principle of political equality and
democratic rights.
All political parties that possess an electoral mandate to
represent their constituents in the northern Ireland and
elsewhere in the world, have the right to participate in the
democratic process free from governmental and police slander and
unsubstantiated charges.
The internationally acknowledged principle of the separation of
functions within the judicial process -- unbiased police
investigation, balanced by an independent judiciary with proper
roles for prosecution and defense, free from political influence
-- is being grossly violated.
No Chief-of-Police in a democratic state would publicly declare
the outcome of an investigation BEFORE it was concluded or even
fairly begun. Certainly this denial of basic rights should never
have been allowed to happen in the unstable and volatile climate
of the present Irish peace process.
It must be remembered, that three times in the past three years,
when unionist political parties unilaterally obstructed or
walked away from seemingly agreed upon political solutions, it
was "official" police and/or military intelligence operations
based on neither legal nor evidential substance, that
manipulated blame where it didn't belong.
It threw the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement into
chaos. When past police allegations and prosecutions in concert
with media and political attacks against Sinn Fein proved
baseless, the peace process was nonetheless derailed.
There were no apologies afterwards, neither was the assembly
restored. We further note Sinn Fein's progressive role and
fairness in negotiations over the past ten years. We have
complete confidence in the commitment of the their leadership,
to the goal of removing the gun permanently from Irish politics.
The Sinn Fein leadership have made monumental strides to make
the Good Friday Agreement work, including helping to influence
the Irish Republican Army to make historic commitments, only to
have everything rejected because of unsubstantiated accusations
time and again.
We would respectfully urge those who are disseminating these
charges against Sinn Fein to ask themselves if we are any nearer
to that goal as a result of their actions.
We all believe in peace, democracy and permanent disarmament and
demilitarization. Isolation of large groups of voters; financial
sanctions based on dubious, secret briefings; and government
sanctioned police innuendo and speculation will deliver none of
these things.
We urge the Irish and British governments to follow
international principles of jurisprudence regarding
investigations, set their minds to moving the peace process
forward free of partisan politics, and implement the Good Friday
Agreement.
The South African experience shows that two things are vital to
conflict resolution: adversarial groups in conflict must meet
face-to-face around the same table and there can be no winners
and no losers.
Sincerely,
Paul Doris, Chairman, Irish Northern Aid
Ned McGinley, President, Ancient Order of Hibernians
Judge Andy Somers, President, Irish American Unity Conference
Joseph Jamison, President, Irish American Labor Coalition
Frank Durkan, Esq Chairman, Americans for a New Irish Agenda
Sean Crowley, Esq, President, Brehon Law Society
Sean Cahill and Stephen M McCabe Irish Parades Emergency
Committee
Ed Lynch, Lawyers' Alliance for Justice in Ireland
