By Richie Walsh
Some six months ago, Irish people and those around the world who wish for and work towards peace in Ireland were astounded to find that the leader of the Social Democratic Labour Party, John Hume, Westminster MP, and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, had been engaging in talks designed to outline a program for peace in Ireland. Eyebrows were lifted for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the SDLP represents middle-class nationalists and does not support the IRA, while Sinn Fein supports the general principle that people have the right to take up arms in the cause of justice, democracy and freedom, when other avenues fail.
Secondly, the SDLP have often refused an electoral alliance with Sinn Fein, allowing Unionists to win seats as a consequence. The British government and the Irish Republic government were far from pleased, as they were busily marginalising Sinn Fein and presenting the SDLP as the voice of nationalists.
The Unionists who said they never had any problem dealing with the SDLP were suddenly gnashing their teeth and talking of a pan-nationalist alliance. Bomb attacks on SDLP houses increased noticeably. (Sinn Fein councillors' houses and families have always been subject to attack, and many members have been murdered by loyalist assassins.)
The Hume-Adams statement, issued after their second meeting, stated that:
1. Everyone had an obligation to move the situation away from conflict and towards a peaceful resolution.
2. The Irish people as a whole have a right to self- determination.
3. The exercise of self-determination is a matter for agreement between the people of Ireland.
4. Both leaders would be concentrating on the means to achieve this agreement.
The British government poured cold water on the initiative, causing John Hume to stand up in parliament and vehemently and trenchantly ask Prime Minister John Major, "Why did you not speak to me first?"
In November, Major said it would turn his stomach to talk to republicans ("terrorists"). However, shortly after that, it transpired that the British and Sinn Fein had been having secret talks for over a year.
Ian Paisley attacked Major for engaging in the talks and called him a liar — for which he received a five-day suspension from the speaker. The British then published their version of the talks, to which Sinn Fein responded and pointed out inaccuracies. As a result, the Direct Ruler of the Six Counties, Patrick Mayhew, admitted to some 20 errors.
These talks were official and involved top British civil servants. The award for quote of the year in Ireland should go to the delegate at the annual convention of Fianna Fail (the main political party in the Irish Republic). He said, in relation to Major's posturing on talks, "There are more terrorists per square inch at a Commonwealth ministers meeting than there are at a Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (Congress)."
Joint declaration
Propelled no doubt by the Hume-Adams talks and the obvious desire of the Irish and British people for peace, the taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Albert Reynolds, and Major got together and issued a joint statement on a peace process for Ireland.
The significant points of the declaration are:
- Sinn Fein will be offered a place at the conference table if the IRA renounces violence. Talks to commence three months thereafter.
- Britain will back the wishes of a majority in Northern Ireland.
- Britain has no selfish or economic interest in the area.
- Britain will facilitate an agreement based on respect for the two main traditions there. That was on the British side.
- Reynolds accepted the right of a majority in north-east Ireland to decide on its future.
- Reynolds undertook to review parts of the Irish constitution which gave concern to the Unionists.
- Both governments committed themselves to establishing a Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.
Clarification
Sinn Fein asked for clarification of certain points. Major refused. Hume said the British government ought to give clarification and that he would act as intermediary. Gerry Adams stated that he had nothing to go to the IRA on, since the declaration still recognised the Unionists' veto.
Joe O'Reilly, a Sinn Fein officer and a member of the National Executive, told me that the Dublin office has been inundated with faxes, telephone calls and letters, urging Sinn Fein to negotiate.
John Hume has requested the IRA to choose the high moral ground and eschew violence. Sinn Fein has decided to hold public meetings and canvass a wide selection of Irish organisations for their opinions. The results from this process and from anyone who wants to make a submission will be considered at a special congress to be held on February 19-20.
Doubts about British sincerity remain, expressed in newspaper articles and letters. Major stated to Jim Molyneaux of the Ulster Unionist Party that the document meant no to a united Ireland or to joint authority involving Dublin and no change to the Unionist veto.
The newspapers largely urge Sinn Fein to negotiate, and the desire of the people for peace is palpable. John Hume is the flavour of the month and is consistently in demand on talkback shows, where he emphasises that negotiations are a beginning. The demand for the release of prisoners was rejected by Major, while Reynolds stated that the issue would be discussed further at a later date.
I believe it would be worthwhile for the IRA to offer a four-month truce, provided that the British contain the loyalist irregulars and guarantee cessation of harassment of residents in nationalist areas.
Negotiations would then demonstrate whether the British were sincere or not. Should events demonstrate that the talks were just a smokescreen used for propaganda purposes by the British, then at least Sinn Fein and the IRA could claim credit for trying and for having gone the distance toward the high moral ground.
Their task will be made that much easier by the recent removal of section 31 of the Irish Broadcasting Act, which banned them from the airways. The most that could be achieved, at present, would be the setting of bounds for settlement. Even a beginning to what will be a long process would be the heartfelt relief to the northern nationalists who constantly face a virtual reign of terror. I remember Yasser Arafat's advice: "Talk, talk, talk". Explore the first step toward a peace with justice.
[Richie Walsh is the information officer of the South Australian branch of Australian Aid for Ireland.]