FRFI 172 April / May 2003
Despite the attention to the North of Ireland peace process given by the British and Irish governments in recent weeks they have been unable to restore devolved power to Stormont in time for the scheduled 1 May elections. The election timetable has been changed to June in order to resurrect some semblance of normality in the Six Counties.
The importance for imperialism of maintaining peace and stability in the North of Ireland was reiterated in March. Amidst the build up to war in Iraq Blair put off meetings with the Queen and Russian foreign minister in London to travel to Belfast on 5 March attempting to restore devolved power. The talks had five key areas of discussion: demilitarisation, devolution of policing and justice, human rights and equality, the return of those on Britain’s ‘wanted list’, and a monitoring body for the acts of completion which will oversee eventual IRA disbandment. Meanwhile, further time has been allowed for the parties to sell this to their membership before the June elections.
Days before war on Iraq, the White House was surrounded in shamrock as Bush took time out from planning war and plunder in Iraq to promote ‘peace’ in Ireland as part of the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Conscious of the Irish economy’s dependence on US investment, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern stood alongside Bush. He was silent on the war on Iraq and Ireland’s historic betrayal of its neutrality, where Shannon airport has now been handed over to US military personnel to facilitate the current war on Iraq and imperialist wars to come. Since 1 January over 30,000 US armed forces have passed through Shannon, making Ireland a crucial client state for US imperialism. This is an example of the ‘peace dividend’ for the Irish people.
The White House travel expenses for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations extended to all the main parties from the North of Ireland including Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley’s DUP. The new Chief Constable of the colonial police force Hugh Orde, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI, previously the RUC) attended. Speculation surrounded a possible ‘historic handshake’ between Hugh Orde and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. While this was not forthcoming, it is only a matter of time before Sinn Fein signs up to the police boards, implementing British security policy. Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness outlined his party’s vision on policing when he said ‘We are very determined to bring about the kind of change which would encourage young nationalists to step out of their front doors with their uniforms on, with their heads held high.’
Figures recently released by the PSNI reveal the reality of the so called ‘peace process’ for the nationalist community. Since the year 2000 loyalists have been responsible for over 500 pipe-bomb attacks, an average of one every two days. These figures exclude the hundreds of blast and petrol bombs in daily use and on the increase.
Paul Mallon
