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Apart
from the small scale riot in the Ardoyne and the claims
and counter claims of the Parades Commission and the
police, it was a reasonably quiet summer newswise,
that is, until last Friday, when Gerry Adams appeared
on the radio and made yet another monumental statement
regarding the removal of the Provisional IRA and their
arms.
I
then realised that we are now in the month of August,
the month preceding the next round of talks on the
way forward for the Peace Process and that until the
talks actually take place, we will be treated to the
usual procession of so called experts, who will dissect
the Sinn Fein leader's every word, for signs that
this time, he is actually telling the truth.
(Should
be quite simple really, is he actually opening his
mouth? Enough said.)
I
therefore thought that we could, over the next month,
look forward to the unionist parties telling us that
they will never consider sharing power with Republicans
(what else is new?) until such times as the PIRA is
disbanded, and that is why I was intrigued by Mr Adams'
statement, that Republicans need to be prepared to
remove the issue of the IRA and IRA arms as an excuse
for unionists to halt progress on the peace process.
After
the Big Lad's statement, in which he said, that he
realised unionists would have "justifiable fears"
about the IRA, I had to ask myself, was there a veiled
threat in there somewhere?
It
reminded me of the famous "they haven't gone
away" statement and beggars the question, why
should any unionist fear a Republican army which is
on ceasefire? Especially, when the said army is currently
intimidating the people who it purports to represent,
with a whole range of punishment beatings and shootings
of the younger residents of the North's nationalist
communities.
The
realities are, that in the propaganda war, in the
lead up to the next round of talks, it is imperative
for Sinn Fein that they be portrayed as the peacemakers
and therefore, put the unionists on the backfoot and
claim the moral high ground. But, equally, it is also
important to them that their own people can take a
totally different meaning from his statement, as was
plainly obvious, when the Sinn Fein leader was asked
if he was calling for the IRA to be wound up, he immediately
replied that he had not used those words and said
that he was referring to armed groups in general.
Basically,
what Mr Adams is doing, is creating the illusion that
he is prepared to bargain away the IRA for the sake
of peace. And, if that were the case, I would have
to ask the question what roles Gerry Kelly, Bobby
Storey and the rest of the PIRA would see themselves
fulfilling.
Perhaps
I could suggest, Justice Minister, Police Commissioner
and the rest of the ex-volunteers could be inducted
into the PSNI, after all, Gerry and Bobby did a sterling
job in protecting the police and quelling the trouble
in the Ardoyne, and the rest of the lads have done
a wonderful job in policing the peace process, within
the nationalist areas, from the very beginning.
(I
Once Knew A Boy, nice one, Dolours.)
These
appointments, I believe, would give a certain amount
of continuity.
Firstly,
they would benefit the British government, as they
would have people within the Justice Department, who
they know have bought into ongoing British rule in
our island.
Secondly,
it would probably suit the unionists, as it would
give them a police force which they could be certain
would behave in exactly the same manner as the old
RUC with regard to the nationalist communities, a
sort of exchange of tyrants for despots.
Another
plus point for unionists is, it would also rid the
nationalist areas of the dissident republican elements,
just ask Bobby Tohill and George McCall.
And as for the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare
Association, it would cease to exist.
Simple.
No Republican Army, no Republican Army prisoners.
I
am, of course, in the last statement, being totally
facetious, because so long as projects such as The
Blanket exist, there will always be a voice for
Republicanism and Socialism.
But
then, I'm certain that some of the people, whom I
have mentioned here, would most certainly be delighted,
if all dissident Republicans disappeared and especially
some us, who write for The Blanket.
So,
lets be one hundred percent honest and frank about
the content of the Sinn Fein leader's statement. It
would be politically and tactically naive of the IRA
and Sinn Fein to make any commitment to disbanding
or dumping arms until the talks have started, but
perhaps if the jobs I mentioned were on offer to Gerry,
Bobby and the rest of the Provo Police.
Well,
you never know.
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