BY PETE CLIFFORD
DERRY, Northern Ireland - "The British government and the Unionists are running scared of the negotiating table," Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness told some 10,000 demonstrators here January 28. McGuinness was referring to London's rejection of the report from an international commission on arms "decommissioning" in Northern Ireland.
John Major's government had insisted that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) disarm before peace talks can proceed; Sinn Fein, the leading Irish nationalist party, disagreed. Headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, the three- person commission was established November 29 at London and Dublin's initiative on the eve of President Bill Clinton's visit to Ireland. The Mitchell commission, as it came to be known, reported January 24. The Financial Times said it "dismissed the British demand that the IRA give up some of its arms."
Instead, the Times reported the commission recommended "the parties should commit themselves to a phased disarmament in parallel with talks, and to abide by six principles setting out their democratic credentials. These included an end to so-called punishment beatings by the paramilitaries, a commitment to non-violent means, and an agreement to total and verifiable disarmament."
Sinn Fein had recommended disposal of arms to be verified by an independent body in the framework of talks proceeding.
Within hours of the Mitchell commission report, John Major announced plans for an elected forum for parties in Northern Ireland. The Guardian described this as a "countermove" which "boldly ignored the six principles."
Speaking to the Derry demonstration, McGuinness charged London with erecting a new precondition. "We're not going to give them a new Stormont," he said, referring to the body through which the Unionist Party ruled Northern Ireland on behalf of London from 1921 to 1972. Through support from the more privileged Protestant majority in Northern Ireland and electoral gerrymandering that often denied the minority Catholics a vote, Stormont had a built-in majority that rejected unification of Ireland and denied civil rights for Catholics. London imposed direct rule in 1972 after Stormont proved unable to quell the rising civil rights struggle.
"Major is buying the votes of the Unionists to remain in power in Westminster," McGuinness told the crowd, referring to the decline of the Conservative Party majority in the British Parliament. "There is also another reason why Major will not move to resolve the issues at the heart of this conflict," he said. "The British Conservative Party have made it quite clear that when the next election comes they intend to fight the Labour Party on the issue of devolution for Scotland, using the argument that this will bring about the break up of their beloved United Kingdom."
Bloody Sunday commemoration
The Derry demonstration was called to commemorate the
shooting dead of 13 unarmed demonstrators 24 years ago by
the British Army. The marchers were protesting the
internment without trial of opponents of British rule. More
than 20,000 joined the 1972 demonstration, which the British
government had declared illegal. As it approached the city
center, British Army paratroopers opened fire on the
demonstrators.
Linda Ruddy, whose brother was among the Bloody Sunday dead, told the demonstrators, "All we demand is that the truth be told and the injustice be acknowledged."
At a rally in Derry's Guildhall on January 26, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said, "The 1972 massacre remained an open wound because the British government had yet to own up to what happened."
This year's demonstration drew an estimated 10,000 participants, which both the Irish Times and the pro- Unionist Belfast Telegraph reported was the largest commemorative march ever for Bloody Sunday. More than 50 buses brought contingents from many parts of the North and from the Republic.
Many had never joined such a march before. A woman from Dublin said this was her first march in the North. She decided to come after hearing of Major's response to the Mitchell commission. A Derry man explained he hadn't been on a march for a few years but now felt he had to fight to save the peace process. A large part of the demonstration were youth.
The demonstration was led by relatives of those killed followed by a banner declaring the theme of the demonstration "Decommission Injustice." The largest contingent marched behind the banners of Derry Sinn Fein Cumann (Branch). Most of those from outside of Derry marched behind banners of Saoirse, the campaign calling for the release of all political prisoners.
A banner near the front of the march read "Don't let Paddy Kelly die in prison. Release him now." Kelly, a republican prisoner, was found in the last week to be terminally ill with cancer.
Toward the back of the march there was a banner from Derry Trades Union Council; the union body has been campaigning for the release of all political prisoners over the last year. As the march wound its way through the Catholic working-class housing areas, almost every lamppost was plastered with posters declaring "All Party Talks Now."
Major's proposal for an elected forum to carry out the negotiations got a cool response. Dick Spring, foreign affairs minister of the Irish Republic, accused London of employing "divide and conquer tactics." John Hume, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MP for Derry, called on Major to set an immediate date for all-party talks "rather than the 17 months you have wasted up until now."
The London Times reported that "Dublin shares the concerns of the SDLP and Sinn Fein that an elected body would hand Unionists a veto over political developments in Northern Ireland."
Support did come to Major from Tony Blair, the Labour Party leader, who the Financial Times reports "underlined his bipartisan approach to the conflict."
London's response also indicated divisions with Washington. The U.S. Congressional ad hoc committee for Irish affairs issued a statement that described Major's call as "detrimental to the Irish peace process."
On January 28, London's Northern Ireland minister Sir Patrick Mayhew defensively claimed, "The proposed new forum would not be a return to a Stormont-style administration," and requested meetings with the leaders of Sinn Fein, the SDLP, and the Dublin government.
Speaking to the Bloody Sunday demonstrators, Martin McGuinness charged, "The failure in all of this is the failure of a weak British prime minister." He argued the last 18 months since the IRA cease-fire have been "a sign of strength of nationalists; we have achieved the moral high ground and the British government found wanting."