BY JANE HARRIS AND MARK GILSDORF
HARTFORD, Connecticut - "On behalf of all the people who have depended on you - the prisoners, the people at the receiving end of repression, the people on the front line - a very, very hearty thank you," Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams told some 300 people here at Irish Northern Aid's Annual General Meeting, held here May 30. "You people deserve not just our heartiest thanks for what you have done but our congratulations."

Adams referred to the agreement on the future of Northern Ireland, known as the Good Friday Agreement, which was negotiated in talks that included Sinn Fein earlier this year. It was approved by a large margin in referenda held May 22 both in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic.

Describing his meeting with President William Clinton the day before, he told the audience, "We pointed out that from Sinn Fein's perspective, the Good Friday Agreement is only the beginning. All of the issues need to be resolved speedily and urgently." Those issues include recent British army raids in South Armagh and the "demilitarization" of the conflict.

Adams called for the British occupation troops in the North "to be off the streets and back home as soon as possible," receiving thunderous applause. "The RUC is unacceptable. It would be as if the NYPD [New York Police Department] had killed 5,000 New Yorkers, and as if the NYPD in collusion with secret death squads had killed another 10,000," he said. We don't need a paramilitary force. We don't need death squads. We need a policing service.

"We believe that the 5 million people who live on the island of Ireland have the right to be free. We believe that whether or not we're unionists, nationalists, or republicans, we can do a better job than any English minister," the Sinn Fein leader stated.

"I said to President Clinton," Adams told supporters, "when things settle down, when [Ulster Unionist Party leader] David Trimble has been stabilized, the North cannot be left in a state of limbo. He compared the situation to a couple in a relationship. "It doesn't take two people to end it. It takes one. And the British have said the relationship is over but that the children have to grow up. They have to wait for the majority in the North."

Referring to the tasks ahead for supporters of Irish freedom, Adams continued, "We expect people here to let Britain and the U.S. government know that pressure must be put to get rid of partitions. There will be resistance to this. The role you people have played is an example to everyone," he said, urging all in attendance to redouble their efforts on behalf of the Irish prisoners held both in the United States and in Ireland, as well as defending those Washington seeks to extradite.

He warned of the hurdles that lie ahead, referring to "that section of the English establishment that still sees Ireland as its empire-they're very slow learners."

The Good Friday Agreement is "only the beginning. That is why we [Sinn Fein leaders] were so quick to get to the U.S. after the referendum. I implore you to go back and do what you do best," he said referring to the work by members of Irish Northern Aid. "We would not have gotten where we are today without you people in this hall."

He added, "I don't want to give you a bum steer, but it has been my conviction for a very, very long time that we are going to get freedom for the people of Ireland."

Adams also expressed his thanks to Sen. Christopher Dodd of Massachusetts, who spoke before his arrival.

Socialist Workers candidates Andrea Morrell, running for U.S. Congress in the 8th District in Massachusetts and Ryan Kelly, a candidate for New York state comptroller, attended the meeting and received a warm reception to their written statement calling for British troops out of Ireland, disbanding the RUC, releasing imprisoned Irish freedom fighters, and stopping the deportations of republican fighters from the United States.

At the plenary session, Rosaleen Doherty, the head of the Political Prisoners Department of Irish Northern Aid, told activists that the two years' time for the release of political prisoners in the Good Friday Agreement "is not a guarantee-we must put it high on our agenda. There is much, much more to be done," she said, pointing to the 262 prisoners who remain behind bars.

Only 12 prisoners have been released from Irish jails, with six repatriated from England, and zero released from England.

Attending the meeting were relatives of Richard Johnson, who has spent nine years in prison in the United States. Johnson was arrested in 1989 by the FBI for "conspiracy" to violate the Arms Control Act. Greetings by Johnson were read from behind the wire in Allenwood Prison in White Deer, Pennsylvania, by his brother.

Francine Broderick, an activist and wife of Irish activist Matt Morrison , urged members to get on campus with speakers and reach out to young people, and to step up efforts in defense of the prisoners known as the H-Block Three.

The Clinton administration announced last September that it was suspending deportation proceedings against Morrison and five other Irish activists.

Tim Cotton reported on the organization's membership, which has grown 42 percent since 1996. He proposed a membership drive.

Carissa Zall, from the Political Education Department of Irish Northern Aid, reported that INA will be helping to organize delegations to the north of Ireland over the course of the loyalist summer marching season to act as observers.

Concluding the day's sessions, Irish Northern Aid chairperson Paul Doris told the membership, "It's the wrong time to say all the prisoners are going to be released. The Brits are saying that," referring to the fact that the British government not yet released Irish prisoners.

"We'll stop raising money when the Brits are out of Ireland."

Those at the gathering decided to hold the organization's next annual general meeting in Detroit the weekend following Memorial Day.

Those interested in joining the Irish Northern Aid Committee can contact the organization at 363 Seventh Avenue, Suite 405, New York, NY 10001. Telephone (212) 736- 1916 or visit their website at www.inac.org  
 
 
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