BY NELL WHEELER
NEW YORK - "The foundation stone of peace in Ireland is universal agreement on self-determination. Sinn Fein stands for a united, open, secular, representative democracy in Ireland." This was the message delivered by Gerry O'Hara at the first-ever debate between representatives of Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), held at Fordham University here May 8. No such public meeting between a Sinn Fein representative and a prominent unionist has ever taken place - in Britain, the United States, Ireland, or anywhere.

O'Hara is a city councilor in Derry and chair of Sinn Fein's Six-County Executive. His opponent in the debate, Christopher McGimpsey, is a Belfast city councilor in the Shankill Road District and former honorary secretary of the UUP.

"It's very sad that I have to travel 3,000 miles to debate someone from Northern Ireland," O'Hara said in his opening remarks. He called upon all parties to negotiate.

McGimpsey opened his presentation by talking about Irish Republican Army (IRA) "death squads," and claimed that the real British presence is not the troops but "the over 1 million people who feel themselves British." Throughout the debate, the unionist continued to demand that the IRA decommission arms as a precondition to negotiations.

'We want equality'
"There is no solution that does not include all of Ireland," O'Hara said to the overflow crowd of some 1,200 students, workers, and others. "We have lived as second- class citizens. But no more. We don't want privilege, we want equality."

O'Hara also said that to demand the IRA decommission arms was "a serious distraction." Moreover, he pointed out, "Sinn Fein is a political party and we don't have any weapons."

Demilitarization, he said, must start with the occupying British army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). "The police force is part of the Orange state," O'Hara said. "The RUC are not acceptable in our community. They are 93 percent Protestant and 100 percent unionist."

O'Hara likened the Emergency Powers Act that restricts democratic rights in Northern Ireland to repressive legislation under apartheid in South Africa. He said there has been an increase in RUC attacks on opponents of British rule, and said it was due to the British-backed police force realizing that their days are numbered. "The RUC has to go - they have to be disbanded," he said to applause.

The Sinn Fein official described the discrimination imposed on Catholics in the north of Ireland under the British partition, from the gerrymandering of voting districts that lasted until the 1970s or later, to the segregated school system that exists today. "There's a bell that still rings at 9:00 p.m. every day in Derry," he said, "a symbol of when Catholics had to be out of town."

For his part, McGimpsey talked about "self-determination for Northern Ireland," commenting, "I doubt that California would join Mexico just because some Mexican politicians said it belonged to them." He maintained that Irish people in the north are "better off as part of the liberal, multicultural, multinational democracy of the United Kingdom."

During the discussion, O'Hara spoke about the Irish political prisoners, who "are the ultimate scapegoats. There are over 600 prisoners who wouldn't have seen the inside of a jail if it hadn't been for the British in Ireland."

One participant asked the debaters whether they would be willing to speak at a similar event in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein "will talk with anyone, any time, anywhere to advance the peace process," O'Hara replied.

McGimpsey said, "Formal debate with Sinn Fein happens in Belfast in council chambers. But the UUP won't talk with them outside of chambers in Northern Ireland until decommissioning."

Support for Sinn Fein
A large portion of the audience supported the Sinn Fein leader's views. Many others were like Melissa Fredrickson, a Fordham University student who said, "I had no idea about what is happening in Ireland. I heard this was a historic event and decided to come to learn more." A smaller number backed McGimpsey.

"It would be a great shame if the IRA or any other force felt compelled to go back to arms. It's either peace or war," said Philip Wright, a Fordham student and member of the Gaelic Society, which co-sponsored the event. He said he supported Sinn Fein's position on pressing for negotiations.

John Francis, a student attending the meeting, said, "The British are always saying it's the IRA that causes all the violence. But it's been months now since the cease-fire and they're still stalling, and they still have their troops there. Ireland is the last foothold for the British, and I think they're just trying to hold on." Francis will be traveling to Ireland this summer to participate in Gay Pride marches "from Belfast to Dublin," he said. "Ever since the cease-fire, it's kind of like a new wave of people acting on their own, out in the streets. It's very positive."  
 
 
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