Irish peace process must be restored

[The following is the editorial from the February 15 issue of An Phoblacht/Republican News.] What we hoped would be unthinkable when the IRA's historic and generous cessation was announced in August 1994, has come to pass. It took over 17 months of begrudgery, delays and preconditions, but the British government has managed to waste the best chance to build a lasting peace in decades. The London bomb claimed two civilian lives and republicans extend their sympathy to the relatives and friends of those tragically killed. Again and again in our editorials over the past 17 months as precondition after precondition dragged out the wait for substantive negotiations, this paper warned that the peace process could not survive without the positive engagement of the British government. As the cessation came into effect on 1 September 1994 AP/RN commented: "At any stage in this conflict, the British government could have shown the courage and the justice to demilitarise its role and move towards Irish national democracy. The world will judge it very harshly indeed if it now refuses to show that sense of courage and justice. New relationships will have to be forged between all the people of our country and a readiness on the part of all political representatives to engage in inclusive, democratic dialogue is essential now." By 22 September, as the first British delaying tactic swung into gear, AP/RN warned that "ironically, the artificial wrangle created by the British government concerning the permanence of the IRA cessation, has left John Major dangling on a hook of his own devising". On 8 December, as one coalition government in Dublin collapsed and another was about to be formed, we said that the peace process "has been delayed by the events in Leinster House, but a much more serious threat is the foot-dragging and negativity of the British government". By the end of the month, John Major had introduced the stumbling block of weapons. "The British government knows, as does every serious observer, that to create a precondition out of the arms issue is unrealistic", said AP/RN. "As we look forward to the New Year of 1995 the cloud which still hangs over the peace process is the attitude of the British government." Unfortunately, the negative pattern set by the British government was to continue throughout that year. "Apparently rudderless, Major's government seems always to be playing for time. Its actions seem designed more to please its Official Unionist supporters in the House of Commons and its own right-wing backbenchers, than to contribute constructively to the peace process." (5 January). As the framework document was published in February AP/RN noted that the British government "may use the unionist veto as a mechanism to stop the peace process, or simply to stall it, as they have done for the past six months". On 16 March we dismissed the decommissioning precondition: "It is a soundbite, a red herring, a distraction, a ploy... Britain has a duty to create peace in Ireland. There is no need to look for victory, or defeat. There is no need to delay negotiation." 7 September: "In opposing movement to all-party talks, Britain stands isolated. Only the jingoists are happy. Jingoists don't make peace." 5 October: "If John Major digs deeper behind his irresponsible and impossible demand for an IRA surrender, then this phase of the peace process will end in despair and the hope born of years of hard work and risk will be lost." Whereto now? Republicans were by no means alone in these analyses and the ending of the cessation may have been predictable given the intransigence of the British government, but that did not lessen the shock to republicans caused by the bombing. It has confronted us all with the spectre of a return to armed conflict. We must now do all in our power to prevent that. How can this be done? We can get nowhere without dialogue. The hasty decision of the Dublin government to end ministerial meetings with Sinn Féin will not help but as contact with officials continues, with meetings being arranged on Wednesday, we hope that sense will prevail in this regard. Calm and determination to restore the peace process are now essential. Whatever happens, the political and constitutional problems of this island and our neighbours will only be resolved finally by dialogue. The essential requirement is all-party negotiations. Opposition to change and progress on the part of the British government have led to the failure of the peace process. So far. But the central strategy of Sinn Féin will remain the peace strategy. The peace process was a republican initiative and republicans will continue in the search for peace as diligently as ever.