Good Friday agreement con- can SDLP tains democratic elements and would lead eventually to a united Ireland.
He also supported what was essentially a January deadline for an IRA hand over of weapons. Yet again he bent the good Friday agreement out of shape and precipitated another crisis.
should W however be clear about the nature of tactical. the crisis. The threat to the agreement comes from right-wing reaction. That reaction is filled with rabid sectarian hatred, Lily. but its recent history is not one of uncompromising opposition to the agreement.
It has been held back by a growing realisation of the massive triumph tor the right that the good Friday agreement represents and the tremendous gains that The restoration of the Stormont executive makes possible.
Nor is it likely that the crisis will provoke a left-wing backlash from the republicans. The republican leadership long ago demobilised its support and tied itself hand and foot tổ the Irish capitalINTO Neither Dublin nor the local SDLP are willing to contemplate the failure a settlement. no matter what concessions nave to be made.
As ever, the British remain in full control.
The official Unionist Party applied. is split into three roughly equal groups. One group the Trimble's current policy unites all of the groups, and, as he claims, makes their current differences mainly Sinn Fein's reaction to all this has been depressing v familiar. Filled with indignation, they have rushed to the arms of the nationalist famThey and their capitalist sponsors would defy Trimble and set up alternative structures. Dublin and the SDLP obligingly arrived, but the nents. price of their attendance was that there be no political challenge to Trimble.
The meeting was Joe O'Connor. downgraded to tea and sympathy with Sinn Fein. By November 3, Gerry Adams was able to announce that sinn Fein would mount a legal challenge to the ban.
In other words, the Trimble ban was in place, and there was to be no real political response.
It might be better to say death. that the standard strategy of nationalist Ireland - lobbying the British - will be This will prove difficult given that Peter Mandelson, British Secretary of SINN FEIN are facing a culminating in pickets designed squeeze. Yet another crisis in to force them from their the peace process means that homes. Speaking from the more concessions will be United States, Gerry Adams required, and there is little left denounced the two as fellow to concede except the humili- travellers of the Real IRA. ating nand over weapons The level of threat should not In one of the most disturbing be underestimated. There have developments or the current been many opportunities to peace process, evidence is draw a line under the affair, but growing of a new republican the Provisional leadership have policy for dealing with their dif- persisted in the campaign, with ficulties. Quite simply it is the an article by a former hunger intimidation and physical sup- striker in the current An pression of their political oppo- Phoblacht directly attacking the waters This has two elements. The There are also indications that first is the killing of military Sinn Fein spokespersons are rivals and was signalled by the ending a policy of routinely murder of Real IRA member The other is the physical and political intimidation of their political opponents. This became evident in the aftercondemning acts of paramilitary force, something that would free the hands of the IRA in the event of further physical attacks.
We should also take into account the level of complicity by capitalist, state and media forces. The killing appeared to be invisible to Sinn Fein allies in Dublin, the SDLP and the Catholic Church.
The media and the state forces accepted without comment Provisional claims of a feud among republican dissidents as the cause of the O'Connor killing.
Protests by the writers and their supporters have been ignored by the media.
There is a clear duty on socialists, civil liberarians and Human Rights activists to oppose this witchunt. A new organisation - Democracy - a campaign for freedom of expression - has been set up. It aims to oppose the harassment and intimidation of political critics of the republicans and to affirm the right to freedom of political expression.
Activists should organise now to make clear to the republican leadership their absolute opposition to the current hate campaign.