No Place to Hide for Unionists/Gerry Adama Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Mon, 29 Sep 1997 22:38:35 by Paddy Newell From The Irish Voice 18 September 1997 http://www.irishvoice.com/adams.htm No Place to Hide for Unionists by Gerry Adams MP, President of Sinn Fiin When will David Trimble and his Ulster Unionists stop grandstanding and get serious about the business of peace? Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS writes here about his party's desire for an inclusive process. IT was an historic week. There is no doubt about that. A week of historic days. But still, for all the history that we are making, we have yet to begin the talking which is required if we are to make the peace. That is because the Unionists have still to make their way into the negotiations with the rest of us. There are two sides to that. On the one hand, all the parties in the negotiating room, including the two governments, share a common objective of getting the Unionists in. On the other hand, there is considerable difference about the best way to achieve this. One view is that David Trimble has nowhere else to go, that his tediously aggressive posturing, which includes staging an "indictment" of Sinn Fein seeking our ejection from the process, and similar noisy protestations, is his ticket into the substantive talks, and that we should put up with it. So we do. The other view is that his behavior is unacceptable, deeply hurtful to those who have suffered because of British, Unionist or Loyalist violence, and that he is going to continue with this type of play acting indefinitely. Or at least until the two governments tell him that enough is enough. And that is where we all are at this time. One thing can be said with absolute certainty. The Unionist leaders have no interest so far, and have yet to come to the decision they should make peace with the rest of us. And it is important to stress that this is about the rest of us, by which I mean both governments and all other parties, and not about some special problem which Unionists have with Sinn Fein. Though, of course, they have that as well. But the reality is that David Trimble has yet to engage, except on a very tactical basis, with anyone. Look back over the last year before Sinn Fein arrived into the talks building? The big achievement of that period was the unequivocal restoration of the IRA cessation of August 1994. There is no comparable initiative on the Unionist side or worthy response to it, despite the widespread desire among a very large Unionist constituency for its leaders to engage in real talks. On the contrary, the Unionist response to the IRA cessation was to withdraw from the process. I do not doubt that Trimble's grandstanding tactics are popular with sections of his support base. But we should note the difference between making politics and making peace. Anyone can grandstand, and given half a chance, most politicians will. But how many can lead instead of playing to the gallery? Those who say Trimble is behaving as he does because of the threat from Ian Paisley and Bob McCartney are making excuses for him. The UUP is well able to take care of itself, and anyone who is genuinely committed to peace will not let party politicking hold back progress. Because that is all this internationalist rivalry is: politicking. And the Unionist leaders are all big boys now, and well able for it. In my opinion, Trimble has a strategy which includes engaging in his owntime and on his own terms in these talks with everyone except Sinn Fein, and his objective, at this time anyway, is to subvert the peace talks and to reduce their potential and their capacity to usher in real change. And that is what this is all about -- about change, which is what Unionism is afraid of. Today Trimble led his party into the negotiating room. There has been a massive media focus on this because Sinn Fein is in that room. But Trimble never said a word during what he had billed as his confrontation with Sinn Fein. He remained silent. Instead his colleague Ken Maginnis read a tediously long "indictment" against our party during which he "indicted" the new Labor government in London, the Irish government, John Hume and us. Then they and Jeffrey Donaldson left and sent in some junior people to listen to the responses of the indicted ones. For our part, the Sinn Fein delegation welcomed the attendance of the UUP and the smaller Loyalist parties. Looking at it from their point of view today was a big step. But it was a big step for us as well. Among our delegation was Councilor Sean McManus, whose son was shot to death by a UDR officer. He listened patiently to former UDR officer Maginnis describing Sinn Fein as "a monstrous deceit" and "an evil Mafia" in the course of a rambling invective of untrue allegations against Martin McGuinness and myself. Afterwards, in a press conference, Sean extended the hand of friendship to Maginnis and his party. He did so because our party is here to make peace. Trimble may yet surprise us all by embracing this objective. He may follow the example of Sean McManus. I hope that he does, but I am sure that if and when he does, that it will be when he has been firmly pointed in the right direction by Tony Blair. Remember, it was Blair who told the world that the train was leaving the station, and that it would wait for no one? It is now over to him to deliver on his promises and on the guarantees he gave about substantive talks. With today's (Tuesday's) carry-on out of the way, the two governments are now to table a procedural motion to move this process into substantive talks. They should have done that by the time you get to read this. What will the Unionists do then? ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-10.01.97-14:27:42-23782