The following is excerpted from a speech by Sinn Féin president GERRY ADAMS on the eve of the republican cease-fire announcement.
The British government damaged itself badly in the eyes of many who expected better of it when the Orange march was forced down the Garvaghy Road on July 6.
It was the anger and the disciplined mass mobilisations of nationalists which prevented it from doing the same thing on the Ormeau Road and on other contentious march routes on the 12th, and which led to the Orange Order's postponement of marches.
The harsh reality is that nationalists living in the six counties are not equal citizens under British law or in the eyes of the institutions of this statelet.
Nationalists in the north still live in a society in which the cancer of inequality and injustice pervades all aspects of daily life, and in which basic human, political and civil rights are denied.
What is required to achieve real and measurable change towards equality, and what has been absent on the part of the British government to date, is the political will to do what is right and implement what is required. Equality should be at the heart of government decision-making in London — it isn't.
A refusal to bring in change — a minimalist approach — dominates the mind set within the corridors of power at Stormont and Westminster. This adherence to the status quo influences all aspects of British policy.
This approach must be confronted and changed.
There must be full accountability for equality measures; transparent and testable procedures governing their implementation; genuine and full participation to ensure that citizens feel their concerns are taken into account and reflected in decisions which affect them; goals and timetables for their implementation; and regular review and assessment of progress and impact.
To achieve that we need: equality in employment opportunities; equality in economic investment into areas of high unemployment; equality for the Irish language and culture; equality in the provision of resources for education; equality for political representatives.
We also need: to tackle the difficult issue of cultural symbols, of flags and emblems; an end to repressive legislation; a new unarmed policing service under democratic control; and speedy progress on the issue of political prisoners, their conditions, transfer and release;
These and much more are matters for the British government — not for negotiation. These are matters of policy — not negotiation.
These are rights, civil and political rights, which every citizen in every democratic state should be entitled to.
Equality means civil and political rights for unionists as well as nationalists and republicans. Whether it is the right to march, or the right to worship or the right to vote or the right to seek their consent — these are civil and religious and political rights which must be guaranteed and protected.
I freely acknowledge that northern Protestants have fears and that there is a huge gulf of distrust and misunderstanding and suspicion between republicans and unionists. I know that bridging that gulf will not be easy, but republicans want to try.
What we seek are political conditions in which for the first time the people of this island can reach a democratic accommodation in which the consent and agreement of both nationalists and unionists can be achieved, and in which a process of national reconciliation and healing can begin. Unionist participation in this is essential.
We want to make peace with unionists, to work with unionists so that when we achieve a democratic settlement we will be able to accommodate and celebrate our diversity as equals.
Inequality and social exclusion are the enemies of peace. We need a partnership, based on equality, which will empower and improve the quality of life of citizens by being open, inclusive and democratic.
The imperative now must be to intensify the work of building a meaningful and credible negotiations process. Sinn Féin will not be deflected from this task. There is a common responsibility on all of us, but especially the two governments, to remove the obstacles which still stand in the way of real peace talks.[From Irish Republican News.]