BY NAOMI CRAINE
For the first time ever, London's chief minister for Northern Ireland was forced to sit down with the head of the dominant political force in the struggle against British rule in the north of Ireland. The May 24 meeting between Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and British secretary for Northern Ireland Patrick Mayhew took place in Washington, D.C., just before a conference on trade and development in Northern Ireland. Adams had just wrapped up a 12-day tour, during which he addressed thousands of people in 14 cities across the United States and raised an estimated $600,000 for Sinn Fein.
For months, Sinn Fein had been pushing for a meeting with Mayhew as a step toward all-party talks on the future of Northern Ireland. The British government had said it would not carry out such a high-level discussion, let alone consider broader negotiations that include Sinn Fein, until the Irish Republican Army (IRA) "decommissions" its weapons. The pressure on London to back off of this stance is increasing, however, as supporters of the struggle for Irish self-determination stand firm and continue to take the political initiative. Just two weeks before the meeting in Washington, a British government minister, Michael Ancram, met with a leader of Sinn Fein, Martin McGuinness, for the first time in 23 years.
In response to Mayhew's insistence that the IRA disarm, Adams said, "We have consistently underlined our desire to see a complete demilitarization of the situation - that is the removal of repressive legislation, the release of all political prisoners, and the removal of all guns - British, unionist, loyalist, and republican - from Irish politics. To bring about, in the words of the English government, `the decommissioning' of all weapons of war."
`End British rule in Ireland'
"The most urgent and important issue facing us all is to
remove the causes of the conflict, to overcome the legacy of
history, and to heal the divisions which have resulted,"
Adams continued. "Sinn Fein seeks an end to British rule in
Ireland. Our aim is a new and agreed Ireland."
Before the meeting, Adams called for an end to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, "the most repressive piece of legislation in Europe," which London had renewed the previous week. The law allows police to search and detain people on little or no evidence.
To the disgruntlement of the British government, the half- hour meeting between the Sinn Fein leader and Mayhew largely upstaged the three-day economic conference hosted by the White House.
Addressing participants at the conference, U.S. president Bill Clinton urged "American businesses and all others to consider investing in Northern Ireland and the border counties" of the Republic of Ireland. This, he told the 300 U.S. businessmen gathered there, would create more jobs and "lift the despair that breeds violence."
Cheap labor and tariff-free markets
U.S. commerce secretary Ronald Brown reviewed the more
material reasons why U.S. companies might decide to set up
shop in the north of Ireland. By doing so, he explained,
they would gain tariff-free access to the 15-country
European Union market and take advantage of a "large pool of
educated, motivated, and English-speaking workers." The
average hourly wage in Northern Ireland is 36 percent lower
than that paid in the United States, he noted. U.S.
companies that operate in Ireland have averaged a 25.8
percent annual return on investment - the highest in
Europe - because of these factors and tax breaks from both
the Dublin and Belfast governments.
One subject of the discussions at the economic conference was the fair employment laws in Northern Ireland. Discrimination against working people who are Catholic - in housing, education, and particularly jobs - is the cornerstone of British rule in Northern Ireland. The unemployment rate remains twice as high for Catholics as for Protestants, six years after a new Fair Employment Act went into effect. More than 700 cases of discrimination charges are before a court set up under the law - about one for every 2,000 residents of the six counties. Most claims don't even get that far; since they are seldom won, lawyers discourage workers from trying.
While employers can be instructed under the current law to change their hiring practices to employ more Catholic workers, the measure does not include quotas for hiring or promotion. Before the meeting opened, Adams spoke out for "clear and comprehensive laws to end discrimination" in employment.
By hosting the economic conference, Clinton hoped to take maximum advantage of the peace process in Ireland to open the door wider to U.S. capitalism in the region. All of the major political forces in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Britain were compelled to come, although after the meeting between Adams and Mayhew was announced, the two main pro- British parties in Northern Ireland declared they would not send their top leaders. Washington is trying to carve out a direct role for itself, separate from London, in determining the future setup in Ireland, north and south.
In his speech to the conference, Clinton urged all parties in Northern Ireland sit down at the negotiating table and said, "Take the next step and begin to discuss serious decommissioning of weapons." Both Adams and Mayhew argued afterward that Clinton's statements backed their viewpoints.
Clinton also announced plans to travel to Ireland and the United Kingdom later this year, and pledged to ask the U.S. Congress to put more money into the International Fund for Ireland.
The big-business media in Britain were none too pleased with Adams's tour and the fact he was included at the Washington event. The May 27 London Economist complained, "For more than a year [Adams] has brilliantly exploited the support of Irish-Americans, the ignorance of the American media and the sympathies of Mr. Clinton to force the British government to concede to him, inch by inch, the same treatment accorded to Northern Ireland's other political leaders." Nevertheless, the magazine tried to insist, "Sinn Fein's future as a political party looks bleak."
The Guardian tried to gain solace in Clinton's call for decommissioning of illegal weapons, saying the U.S. president "moved significantly closer to the British position on the peace process."
Meanwhile, political actions by supporters of Irish self- determination continue in Ireland. A new campaign, Dublin Against Royal Tour, is planning protests against an upcoming visit by Prince Charles to the Irish Republic. Paul O'Connor, an activist with the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry, Northern Ireland, explained the reason for the protest campaign. "At least 45 unarmed civilians have been shot dead by the Parachute Regiment of which Prince Charles is Colonel- in-Chief," he said. "Only one Para has been convicted of murder in the past 25 years, Pvt. Lee Clegg, and Prince Charles has added his name to the campaign calling for his release."
An all-Ireland conference of Saoirse, the campaign to free political prisoners, will take place in Dublin June 3. Rallies, leafleting, and public meetings in support of the prisoners and against the continued occupation of Northern Ireland are taking place almost daily.