By Sean Healy
The British government back down on a Unionist march has led to an outpouring of anger by the Catholic community in Northern Ireland and threatened to destroy the talks process in the North.
The march in Portadown, County Armagh, was to proceed through the village of Drumcree and the strongly-Catholic Garvaghy Road. Initially, the Royal Ulster Constabulary stopped the march from passing through Garvaghy Road. But after five days of siege by the 5000-strong Unionist crowd, the RUC, under orders from London, allowed the march to proceed.
July is the traditional Unionist "marching season" in Northern Ireland. Ostensibly, it commemorates the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II in 1689. But it is just as much an attempt by the most right-wing sections of the privileged Protestant community to underline their dominance in Northern Ireland. The annual marches, many directly through Catholic areas, serve to intimidate the Catholic community.
This year has been no exception with Unionist politicians seeking to bolster their positions in the Northern Ireland talks through appealing to anti-Catholic bigotry. The "marching season" has seen attacks on Catholic areas across Northern Ireland, including the burning down of several churches and schools and the murder of a Catholic man in Lurgan, near Portadown.
Catholic communities throughout the North have been under siege, blocked in their houses by the RUC. On the Ormeau Road, a Catholic area in Belfast, the RUC sealed off the area, refusing to let residents leave their homes, in order to allow a Unionist march to proceed directly through the area.
The reaction by Catholic youth was instantaneous with rioting and demonstrations in Belfast, Derry and other centres. In the republican newspaper An Phoblacht/Republican News, Micheal Mac Donncha wrote, "Rarely has there been such a depth of anger in nationalist Ireland. It was felt in August 1969 ... it was felt after Derry's Bloody Sunday in 1972; it was felt during the hunger-strikes of 1981. But it is doubtful if in any of these crises the sense of outrage ... were so unanimous."
In contrast to its reticence with Unionists, the RUC and British army was brutal in its response, using CS gas, plastic bullets and armoured cars on the protesters.
On July 11, a Catholic man, Dermot McShane, was killed, run over by an armoured car driven by the British army through a group of protesters. At the same time, RUC forces raided Altnagelvin hospital in Derry, attacking those wounded in casualty.
Irish Prime Minister John Bruton accused British PM John Major of caving in to Unionist pressure. And Social-Democratic and Labour Party leader John Hume walked out of the Northern Irish talks.
The hypocrisy of Britain's handling of the situation deals a major blow to Britain's plans for imposing "peace" in the North. It makes the British argument that the IRA is the major obstacle to peace look ridiculous.
On the talks themselves, Gerry Adams again made Sinn Féin's position clear: "The success of Unionist violence over nationalist rights has destroyed the peace process. It needs to be re-built. The primary responsibility for doing so lies with the British government."