Letters

Firstly they claim to be committed to ending British rule in Ireland and go on to say that British rule is the root cause of division and conflict, well and good, but next comes the blatant hypocrisy when they say that they are prepared to enhance the search for a democratic peace settlement through real and inclusive peace negotiations (ie an internal settlement), talks within a State which they are finally going to recognise.

The Provisionals have now by this type of statement firmly accepted partition in Ireland! The statement says they have announced this cessation having assessed the situation. Was the situation not one where they feared the so-called peace train would leave without them? Someone better remind them they are all about to travel second-class on ‘British’ Rail.

Now that they have announced a complete halt to all military operations, Martin, Gerry and the balaclava brigade must be held accountable for their Broy Harrier tactics against the unrepentant true Republicans.

The end of this statement shows that once again as in 1994 to 1996 they are prepared to intimidate their own Volunteers. They say “they have ordered [enforced] the unequivocal restoration of the 1996 ceasefire”. Returning again are the days of “what the Army says goes”.

Have the Provisionals got the neck to show objection to the gallant efforts of countless men and women who have sacrificed life and liberty in past generations for the cause of Irish freedom? Obviously they have, from the unfolding events of the past weeks.

This cannot and will not work! Anything short of the total unification of Ireland and an entire removal of the British government and her armed occupation forces will never be accepted.
EOIN McKEE
Dublin
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I enclose The Dockers Charter, a paper put out by the sacked workers. In it you’ll find demands launched on February 20th, 1997 called “The People’s Charter for Social Justice”. In one demand they call for “peace with justice in Ireland through the withdrawal of British troops”.

It’s ironic that the Liverpool dockers’ demands seem to be more revolutionary and more in line with the notion of Irish freedom than the present Provisional Sinn Féin’s policies. I say ‘policies’ because they have ceased to make demands just lately.

I had the good fortune to hear Seán Ó Sé and Pádraig Mac Mathúna in the now-troubled Liverpool Irish Centre early in the year. They have turned my head around from blindly following Provisional Sinn Féin by pointing out the revisionism I now see taking place.

I found their warm personalities as strong as their no-compromise stance; no slippery handshakes or PR garb! It was a real pleasure to hear them both. I only hope another meeting will take place in Liverpool, hopefully in the re-opened Liverpool Irish Centre.
DELIA O’CALLAGHAN
Liverpool
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Names that could have resonance’s of their republican past might be comforting ie Fianna Féin, or Clann na Féin, or Sinn Féin the . . . no, I won’t go on.
RAYMOND DELAMERA
Co Clare.
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This annual orgy of Orange triumphalist parades is designed to show the Catholic/Nationalist population of Ireland’s lost six counties that they are inferior to the “superior” Unionist/Protestants who use the Union Jack as a fig-leaf to cover-up their sectarian bigotry.

One can only imagine the kind of America we would have had today if every year the descendants of the soldiers of General William T. Sherman would re-enact their blitzkrieg from Atlanta to Savannah with a triumphalist march with bands blaring away that cheerful marching song known as “Marching Through Georgia.”

Certainly anyone viewing the 17th century time-warp in which these Orange anti-Catholic sectarian bigots are living must be reminded of members of the Ku Klux Klan marching to terrorize American blacks into giving up their human and civil rights. This is what the British presence in the north of Ireland is protecting and sanctioning.

It should be obvious that peace can come only if the occupied six counties are returned to an all-Ireland democracy where all religious persuasions are protected by a constitution that guarantees freedom of religion and liberty of conscience. Any peace process worthy of the name must include a reasonable timetable for the ending of British sovereignty in the north of Ireland.

We certainly have the right to wonder why Britain’s new Prime Minister Tony Blair is so willing to put so many of his country’s sons at risk - not to mention the expenditure of billions of pounds - to allow people with the anti-Catholic mentality of the American Ku Klux Klan to lord it over the Catholic/Nationalist population?
WILLIAM GARTLAND
Wisconsin
USA
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That root cause is the bigoted Ku Klux Klan mentality of the Orange political establishment which is supported by British rifles and bayonets.

Only when a reasonable timetable for British withdrawal is announced will peace return to Ireland as everyone in Ireland will be living under a constitution and within a social environment in which religious freedom and liberty of conscience prevails.

Peace can only prevail when justice prevails. And justice in the occupied six northern counties means the end of British rule with its support of Orange Ku Klux sectarian bigotry.
ROBERT E NORDLANDER
Menasha,
USA
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But Mr Blair and the new Labour government still accept a loyalist ceasefire. New Labour, new liars, new tyrants.

True Irish Republicans are aware of Labour’s lies and deceit, they are no different from any British government whose sole aim is to triumph over the nationalist people in the Occupied Six Counties, and Mr Adams it would seem is only too happy to help him in an attempt to get the nationalist population to collaborate in running the colonial State.

Once again we see the British establishment using the Queen’s shilling as bait, which they have used for centuries. It is not in the interest of any Irish man, woman or child to trust any British politician like the devil himself, they will mix lies with the truth thus trying to instil a false democratic promise to the nationalist people.

A peace process only on British terms for a continued British rule over the six north-eastern counties of Ireland.

Have the British forgotten that since the twelfth century the native Irish had sporadically tried to unseat colonists sent over from England and Scotland to conquer and control Ireland and secure its loyalty to the English Crown?

We have endured centuries of strife, attempted genocide during the Great Hunger, protesters battened, tortured, maimed and murdered. Ten men left to die on hunger strike for the dignity of men and women. Beatings and interogation by the paramilitary police (RUC) and British soldiers. Three Bloody Sundays, the Dublin & Monaghan bombings, many innocent children killed and maimed by plastic bullets.

Many brave Irishmen and women gave their lives for the freedom of their people and country, many innocent people have lost their lives due to the situation and terror that England brought upon our country. Must the lives of these people be in vain? I think not.

There can never be any trust or talk with any British government who continue to force their will in any part of Ireland. There can never be peace in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland whilst a British presence remains intact.

‘War is a terrible thing, but war is not an evil thing; it is the evil things that make war necessary’ — Pádraig Mac Piarais.
PEADAR Ó HANNÁIN
Michael Flannery Cumann
Republican Sinn Féin
England
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