BY PAUL DAVIES AND DEBRA JACOBS
MANCHESTER, England - "We want you to be the last British prime minister with jurisdiction in Ireland," Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams told British prime minister Anthony Blair. The exchange took place October 13, during the first meeting between a British prime minister and a Sinn Fein leader since London imposed the partition of Ireland in 1921. "From our point of view the biggest cause of the conflict is British government involvement in our country," Adams went on to explain.

Following the meeting Blair was jostled by Unionist supporters, angry that he had met with Adams. The prime minister had to abandon his planned walk through a predominantly Protestant area in east Belfast.

Despite the claims of the Unionist protesters that Blair is a "traitor," the British government makes clear that it will try to use the all-party talks to bolster the "union" of Britain and Northern Ireland. In an interview in the Irish News Adams stated, "For the British government `consent' [of the Unionists] is the last refuge; a camouflage behind which it is attempting to conceal the reality.. the legislature, courts, and Armed Forces Act in every conceivable way to maintain the Union."

Evidence of this reality can be seen in the stepped-up harassment by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) of nationalists and the expansion and reinforcement of army bases. This has been met by resistance of Sinn Fein Youth, who have organized hundreds of young people to demonstrate outside RUC barracks in Belfast in recent weeks. The demonstrators demanded the release of Irish political prisoners and the disbandment of the RUC. Sunday drivers and mass goers honked their horns in support, as youth climbed the barracks's metal guards and placed Irish tricolors on them.

Going into the talks, the British government presented a "framework document," signed jointly with the Irish government, that clearly reflects its determination to cling onto Northern Ireland. The document proposes the election of a new Northern Ireland Assembly and commits the Irish government to changing its constitution to renounce its territorial claim to any part of Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein documents argue that ending the union is the only way "to create viable conditions in which the people of Ireland can find agreement on the exercise of national self-determination without external interference... An internal six-county arrangement cannot work."

During the meeting with Blair, Sinn Fein negotiator Martin McGuinness demanded an inquiry into the killing of 14 unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry in 1972 by the British army. The British government has begun to hint that it may issue an apology for Bloody Sunday. Tony Doherty of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign said, "It appears that the British government is happy to follow the apology option. We have never campaigned for an apology, nor never will. How can you apologize for murder? We are campaigning for justice."

"Despite new evidence which emerged last year, successive British governments have failed to admit responsibility for Bloody Sunday," said Enda Finlay of the Bloody Sunday March Organising Committee. By pointing to the findings of the whitewashed Widgery inquiry carried out at the time, "they have actively suppressed the truth," she declared. The opinion of some ruling class politicians towards British rule in Ireland was reflected in comments made by Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Alan Clark. Speaking at a side meeting at the Conservative Party conference Clark said, "The only solution for dealing with the IRA is to kill 600 people in one night - let the UN and Bill Clinton and everyone else make a scene - and it is over for 20 years."

Sectarian killings such as those Clark advocates have been put into practice, over years by British governments and loyalist paramilitaries. This was recently brought to public attention by the transfer request of convicted murderer Jason Campbell. Campbell was convicted in 1996 of the sectarian murder of 16-year-old Mark Scott outside a football match in Glasgow. Scott was wearing the colors of the Celtic team when Campbell slit his throat. Many Celtic supporters identify with the national struggle in Ireland. The transfer to a prison in Northern Ireland where loyalist prisoners are held, had been requested by the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Fighters. The transfer had been part of attempts by the British authorities to placate loyalist groups. Scottish Nationalist Party MP Roseanna Cunningham condemned the proposed move, saying, "Campbell is a thug who was jailed for a brutal and repugnant murder with no motivation other than senseless bigotry. "The government eventually reversed its decision to make the transfer.

Meanwhile, the British army and its officer caste faced further dents to their credibility, following revelations of several cases of racism against soldiers who are Black. The Guardian published reports of a number of Black soldiers who had resigned as a result of racism instigated in many cases by officers. "Whether we like it or not, there is a perception that the army is a racist organization," said Chief of General Staff Roger Wheeler. Major Eric Joyce is expecting to face a court martial following public accusations he has made about "snobbery, racism and sexual discrimination" in the army.

In Ireland nationalist fighters are taking to the streets to press for the release of Irish political prisoners. Several thousand republicans traveled to Coalisland in early October to support the demands of Saoirse, the prisoners support organization, for the release of all political prisoners.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home