From Unity, 21 March 2009

Talking moved the Provisional movement from balaclavas to bespoke

by Pearse McKenna

In the current crisis facing the peace process, is this the right time for political parties to be tinkering with the Agreement?
     Rejecting Father Aidan Troy’s call for dialogue with the Real and Continuity IRA factions to prevent future loss of life, Security Minister Paul Goggins said that dissidents had no role to play in politics. “There is a political process in Northern Ireland, and those who believe in democracy have joined it,” he stated.
     Mr Goggins recently gave loyalist paramilitaries an extension of a year to decommission their weapons.
     Mr Goggins must believe that these dissidents have a role to play in politics and that they believe in democracy.
     No dissident group can operate effectively in areas without some level of disaffection with the process.
     Minister Goggins is reverting to the old Thatcher order of “we don’t talk to terrorists, it puts lives at risk.”
     He should remember that it was talking that moved the provisional movement from balaclavas to bespoke.
     Disaffection is not confined to nationalists and republicans. The Agreement forces the Stormont Executive to exist within the UK budget, set by New Labour.
     The DUP’s Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds, has said that Treasury plans to cut back on public spending are a “clear breach of the financial settlement.”
     He added: “The move could have disastrous consequences in Northern Ireland.
     “Under the comprehensive spending review settlement back in 2007 we were given a three-year budget and all money was allocated on that basis.”
     With the Conservatives and Unionists aiming to renegotiate power-sharing if they win the next general election, their goal is to move to a voluntary coalition.
     Nationalists interpret this as a move back to majority unionist rule.
     Sinn Féin, who have always insisted that the Good Friday Agreement is sacrosanct, moved along with the DUP to give the Alliance Party the Ministry for Policing and Justice, denying the SDLP this Ministry, which would have been their right under the Good Friday Agreement.
     No party in the Assembly has called for the reinstatement of the Civic Forum.
     Hugh Orde said last week: “The PSNI are hunting 300 dissident IRA members, who are intent on destroying the peace process.”
     The question is, are they on their own ?

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