[Sinn Fein]

17 June 2001

Ferris spells out SF agenda for negotiations

Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle member Councillor Martin Ferris speaking at the party's annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration in Sallins, County Kildare  this afternoon spelt out Sinn Fein's agenda for the negotiations due to begin  in London tomorrow and he made clear Sinn Fein's determination to secure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement..  Cllr. Ferris said:  ``Irrespective of who is part of the UUP negotiations team or irrespective of what parties are in attendance the  primary responsibility for saving the peace process and saving the Good Friday Agreement  rests with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.   

``These negotiations are crucial and will deal with:

``On Policing we need legislative changes to ensure democratic accountability, freedom from partisan political control, a human rights culture and to ensure that it representative of the community it serves.  

``We will demand a phased and timetabled programme of demilitarisation of society. The message is clear - Mr. Blair must face down his generals and remove the apparatus of war from our country.

``We need the removal of the legislation which allows the British to unilaterally suspend the institutions to ensure that the situation of last year can never be repeated.  

``And finally we need action to ensure that David Trimble's refusal to nominate Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brún to the All-Ireland Bodies is challenged and we want to see legislation amended to remove this veto.

``For any of this to happen we must return to the Good Friday Agreement. It is the only template upon which we can move forward. It is the only context in which the issue of arms can be dealt with to ensure that all guns are taken out of Irish politics.''

In relation to the Treaty of Nice Cllr. Ferris said:

``Following the defeat of the referendum on the Treaty of Nice the Irish Government must take a number of steps to ensure that we have a real forum for discussion that will offer a real opportunity for people to voice their concerns and opinions on Europe and to have the power to pursue change on behalf of the Irish people.  These steps must include

Full Text of speech: Check Against Delivery

 

We assemble at this spot every year to honour the founding father of Irish Republicanism  - Theobald Wolfe Tone and to re-dedicate ourselves to the ideas which he  pioneered in our country.  We stand here today a proud and determined people, confident in our ability to deliver real change on this island.  

There have been times throughout our struggle that have been turning points, there have been times of high drama, times of great sorrow and times of celebration.

I want to take this opportunity to remember all those who have died in the struggle for Irish freedom during the past 30 years. It is difficult to convey the depth of sacrifice borne by republicans and their families in the past three decades. To the families of all those who died we extend our continuing sympathy and solidarity.   I also want to pay special tribute today to the Volunteers of Oglaigh na hEireann. They have  played a central role in the creation of the opportunity to achieve lasting peace with justice through a negotiated settlement. I commend their initiative, their patience and their tenacity.

In this the 20th Anniversary year of the 1981 Hunger Strikes its important that we pay tribute to the sacrifice of those men and their families. Throughout Ireland supporters of Irish freedom everywhere have marked the Hunger Strike with a series of commemorative events.   The response has been magnificent but we need to do more. We must all continue to work together to build a fitting legacy for Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Patsy O'Hara, Joe McDonnell, Raymond McCreesh, Thomas McElwee, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Mickey Devine, Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan.  Throughout history Irish republican prisoners have played an important role and here today I want to re-iterate our call for the release of all republican POWs.

A mandate for Change

This has been a week of celebration and satisfaction for Sinn Fein activists.  You have a right to celebrate, to be proud of our achievements in the Westminster and local elections and our involvement in the No campaign on the Treaty of Nice.  I want take this opportunity to salute each and everyone of our  candidates and workers.  I salute all of you who gave of your time and efforts to make these tremendous results possible.

I want to congratulate all those who were elected particularly - Gerry Adams for West Belfast, Martin McGuinness for Mid Ulster, Pat Doherty for West Tyrone and perhaps the most fitting of all, in this the 20th Anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strikes, Michelle Gildernew for Fermanagh/South Tyrone.

Those results show that republicanism is alive and well and is relevant to the Ireland of today and, more importantly, the Ireland of tomorrow.  I know that the breakthrough was a long time coming and it took many years of hard work to achieve but now that they have come they are all the sweeter for the long wait.  

Upcoming Negotiations

During the elections our pledge to the people was that Sinn Fein would not settle for anything less than equality and justice. That  Sinn Fein would stand up to the British government. That  Sinn Fein would challenge the Unionist veto and the securocrat agenda which has stalled the process in recent years. The electorate responded to this message and as a result we are going into the negotiations on Monday with a strengthened hand.

These negotiations are crucial and will deal with:

• Policing • Demilitarisation • the stability of the political institutions • the issue of arms

These are touchstone issues. They were the issues that people spoke about on the doorsteps. They are issues which must be got right.

On Policing we need legislative changes to ensure democratic accountability, freedom from partisan political control, a human rights culture and representative of the community it serves.  In addition we will pursue an end to repressive legislation, the banning of plastic bullets, independent inquiries into issues such as collusion and the removal of human rights abusers.

We will demand a phased and timetabled programme of demilitarisation of society. The message is clear - Mr. Blair must face down his generals and remove the apparatus of war from our country.

Peter Mandelson last year created an immense crisis in the process by suspending the institutions. This was contrary to the Good Friday Agreement and we need the removal of the legislation which allows the British to unilaterally suspend the institutions to ensure that the situation of last year can never be repeated.  And finally we need action to ensure that David Trimble's refusal to nominate Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brún to the All-Ireland Bodies is challenged and we want to see legislation amended to remove this veto.

For any of this to happen we must return to the Good Friday Agreement. It is the only template upon which we can move forward. It is the only context in which the issue of arms can be dealt with to ensure that all guns are taken out of Irish politics.

Let us be clear we are a pro-agreement party - we are an all-Ireland party - we are not, as some within the media like to say, at the extremes, a sort of mirror image of the DUP.

We have been the engine driving the Peace Process and are the only party which went to the electorate with a radical agenda for political, social and economic change across this island.  People responded positively to this agenda. They responded to the demand for freedom, the need for Irish reunification and the establishment of democracy on this island.

Treaty of Nice

And just as we talk about the need for democracy on the island we must also look at democracy within Europe - something which has been debated in recent weeks in the referendum on the Treaty of Nice.  

Unlike the vast bulk of the elected representatives on the Yes side, our councillors and activists throughout the 26 Counties took the campaign to the doorsteps and presented the people with the reasoned arguments against the Treaty.  It has not gone unnoticed that where Sinn Fein is strong and organised, there was a strong No vote.

Sinn Fein has been entirely consistent on this issue. In the referenda on the Single European Act, Maastricht and Amsterdam we cautioned against the drive towards the political integration and centralisation of the EU with more and more sovereignty taken from democratic states and placed in the hands of the EU bureaucracy.

By rejecting the Nice Treaty the electorate in this State have now called a halt to this process, to the division of the EU into two tiers and to creation of a militarised European superstate.

We are totally opposed to any attempt to go back to the people with the same Treaty. We need to take time now for a comprehensive debate on the way forward for Ireland and the EU. We welcome the Taoiseach's announcement of a Forum on Europe.

However, the 26 County Government must take a number of steps to ensure that it is a real forum for discussion that will offer a real opportunity for people to voice their concerns and opinions on Europe and to have the power to pursue change on behalf of the Irish people.  These steps must include

Conclusion

Sinn Fein is an Irish Republican Party.  Across the island we campaign on a clear republican platform - Equality, Justice, Independence.  These are the cornerstones of our philosophy - just as they were for Wolfe Tone.  Our vision is for an Ireland that embraces all our people, that respects different political opinions or religious beliefs and that demands equality for all.

We commemorate Wolfe Tone, not only by looking back, but by acknowledging his vision which is as fresh and revolutionary now as it was then.  Of course things have changed but we stand by the core of Irish republicanism:-

That Ireland is a sovereign nation.

That the Irish people have rights that can't be denied.

That Ireland can govern itself for the betterment of all the Irish people.

This is a position supported by the majority of people on the island.

We can be rightly proud of our achievements over the last couple of weeks.  We worked hard for them.  We can, for a short while, bask in the satisfaction of what we have done.

However, we cannot rest on our laurels - we must not become smug or complacent.  And under no circumstances must we underestimate our political opponents.

We have a tremendous amount of work to do.  We need to match our achievements in the Six Counties with further success in the 26 Counties.  We want a team of Sinn Fein TD's joining Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin in Leinster House after the next elections.

Sinn Fein is the most dynamic political force on this island today.  We have already transformed the political landscape forever.  We have it within our power to achieve our political objectives of a united 32 county democratic socialist republic.  We will achieve those objectives if we continue to move forward with the same determination and energy that brought us this weeks successes.  We must not let up.

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