BY PAT SHAW
MANCHESTER, England - For the first time David Trimble, the
first minister of the newly elected Northern Ireland Assembly and
leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), met with Sinn Fein
president Gerry Adams September 10. The meeting followed
initiatives by Sinn Fein, the party leading the struggle to end
British rule in Northern Ireland, that removed the excuses
Trimble had previously made for refusing to meet Adams.
Commenting on the meeting, the republican newspaper An Phoblacht/Republican News noted that it represented a "belated and begrudging [acceptance of] the rights of non-unionists to political representation."
Reflecting the weakening and fragmentation of the unionists, four members of Trimble's UUP resigned from the party hours after his meeting with Adams.
In a further advance for Irish nationalists, six political prisoners were released September 11 from Long Kesh prison in Belfast, the first under the "Good Friday" agreement between London, Dublin, and parties in Northern Ireland. Loyalist or Unionist prisoners, those loyal to, or wishing to remain in, a union with the United Kingdom, were the first to be released. British television news showed three members of the Ulster Defence Association trying to shield their identity as they rushed into a waiting car. In marked contrast, the three republican prisoners who were released walked slowly, their heads high, to be greeted by a crowd of supporters.
"It is excellent to be out on this historic day," declared Sean McGuigan, speaking in Irish. The other republican prisoners freed were Henry Louis McNally and Michael Gerard Magee.
A further 200 prisoners are expected to be released by the end of October. All were convicted by a single judge in a non- jury "Diplock" court set up by the British government as part of its efforts to criminalize the struggle to free Ireland from British rule. In the past 25 years one in every six nationalists living in Northern Ireland has been subject to imprisonment.
Among those waiting to greet the republican prisoners on their release, was Gerry Kelly, now a Sinn Fein representative in the assembly. Kelly escaped from Long Kesh - also known as the Maze - in 1983, during a mass break-out. Also attending was Brendan `Bik' McFarlane, who was a commanding officer of republican prisoners during the 1981 hunger strike that won political prisoner status for nationalists. Reacting to the prisoner release, rightist Ian Paisley Jr. of the Democratic Unionist Party complained, "This is a travesty of justice. What we are seeing is the start of the release of unrepentant terrorist prisoners... back into societies which are still awash with weapons."
Speaking on behalf of Sinn Fein, Gerry Kelly insisted that the prisoner release program was moving too slowly. "I am very pleased for the prisoners who got out, but it should be more. Only... six prisoners are being released after five months."
In the week prior to the meeting between Adams and Trimble, the Royal Black Preceptory, a sectarian anti-Catholic organization, was compelled to reroute their march through the nationalist areas of Newry. Their decision came in the wake of the Orange Order's first ever failure to march along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland. Speaking on behalf of the Newry Coalition Against Sectarian Marches, Kevin Byrne described the decision of the Royal Black Preceptory to reroute as a "historic breakthrough."
In Portadown itself loyalists have begun turning on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), who have for decades beaten nationalists off the streets to allow the Orange Order march to pass through Catholic areas. RUC officers were injured by a blast bomb thrown by loyalists taking part in a September 5 "Loyalist Right to March" rally, held in Portadown to protest the decision of the parades commission to reroute the Orange Order march in that city in early July.
The sectarian rally broke up and a loyalist mob descended on the Catholic area with placards that read "No Taigs In Portadown." Taig is a derogatory term used to describe Catholics. Earlier in the day two Catholic businesses were set on fire.
Antidemocratic laws protested
In Britain protesters chanted "British justice: no justice"
outside the British parliament on September 2, as it debated new
repressive laws designed to prop up British rule in Northern
Ireland and curtail democratic rights.
Speaking at a public meeting inside Parliament following the protest, Sinn Fein leader Michelle Gildernew protested that London was still functioning as though "it believed the North was a colony, and a part of the Empire."
Also speaking at the meeting was Rory Herrity. Along with four others he was arrested on July 10. For two days Herrity refused to talk to the police until he was allowed to speak to a lawyer. He explained "under these new laws I could have been considered guilty for exercising my right to silence." Herrity was released without being charged.
Unexpectedly, 88 Members of Parliament voted against the new laws, including former British prime minister Edward Heath. Capturing the nervousness of many British politicians, another former British prime minister, John Major, commented that the new laws "are bound to have loopholes."
In the Irish Republic police used new powers they have been given by the Dail, the Irish parliament, for the first time September 7. They have held, for an extended period of time, a man who they are questioning about alleged "firearms offenses."
Meanwhile, the British army ended its foot patrols in Belfast September 12 and withdrew its troops to barracks. The army will continue to patrol the streets throughout the rest of Northern Ireland. Around 16,000 British soldiers are still stationed there.
Pete Clifford in London contributed to this article.