In
a previous article for the Blanket, I wrote about
how I found one of the most depressing and dispiriting
aspects of the whole series of on-off negotiations
around the implementation of the GFA to be Mr Adams
and his leadership cadre's willingness to allow
the British State to set the agenda as to the how
and the where of these talks.… If one considers
the history of negotiations between Irish Rebels
and the British State, and the bloody consequences
that have often been provoked by the bitter disappointments
brought on by the deceit and trickery of the British
Government, it is difficult to fathom Mr Adams'
behaviour. After 34 years of listening to Irish
Republican leaders, at the fore of whom was Mr Adams
himself, telling the world's media that this was
not an internecine sectarian conflict between the
two communities in the north, but the tail end of
a war and occupation going back eight hundred years,
all such talk by the PRM has now suddenly been consigned
to the past, publicly at least. These days we watch
Mr Adams on our TV screens representing the Catholic/nationalists
of the north, sparring with Mr Paisley, the chief
representative of the Protestant/unionists community.
As if this in itself was not bad enough, we then
get Mr Adams demanding of the British Prime Minister
that he force Mr Paisley to accept in full and implement
the GFA in its entirety. As if the British State
were some sort of independent broker, who have no
responsibility beyond acting as such, for the sorry
mess the North of Ireland state-let became. Are
we now to conclude that Mr Adams' talk about Unionists
being the British State's cats paws was mere pre
negotiation sparring, all thirty four years of it?
Is it any wonder the press is full of articles with
headlines like the following from the Observer,
When
Two Tribes End War?
It
is increasingly difficult not to conclude that Mr
Adams leadership cadre has been drawn into the heart
of the British State. Many politicians have, from
a host of former British Colonies have before them,
many of whom also started out, just like Gerry Adams
and his chums, with the aim of destroying the link
with the British State, or the home grown radical
British politicians, whose main long forgotten aim
was the removal for all time of the British ruling
establishment and its replacement with a more equitable
society, only to find themselves co-opted into it,
all in the best interests of the big picture of
course. It is no mystery how this is done, it is
honey, honey all the way. A slow but steady process
of corruption takes place. As we all know, there
is nothing more enticing than to be let in on a
secret; it is ego boosting, as you have suddenly
become one of the few to be let in on this supposedly
secret information and have been trusted to bear
it. Never mind that common sense tells us the only
way three people can keep a secret is if two of
them are dead, thus in reality it is no secret at
all.
Now imagine people who have been on the outside
for years, always operating on the fringes of society,
always in a minority, even of their own countrymen.
How would they feel if they are let into the inner
chamber of their enemies, not to be flayed alive
but to be welcomed and pampered? Add to this that
they have come from a world were secrets are what
creates power and trust and it is hardly surprising
they are ripe for the plucking. Is it an accident
that the British choose for their main negotiations
of this type places like Leeds Castle or Lancaster
House, which are places of pomp and history? The
participants of talks in these austere places are
reminded by the very pictures that hang on the walls
that they are sitting in the very chair that Gandhi,
Mugabi or Mandela sat in.
Consider SF's behaviour in being led from one imperialistic
pile to another with Fidel Castro's, when he first
visited the USA to give a speech at the UN. The
US State department booked him into the finest hotel
in New York, with the best capitalism could offer
close at hand and on tap. Just as the British have
with the Sinn Fein delegation throughout the GFA
negotiations. Privately Castro might have been impressed
and would have loved to take advantage of all these
goodies; but Fidel was out of there and up to Harlem,
where he continued to stay throughout his visit
to the city. Whilst of course this was a gesture
on his part it was one of some importance, as he
was saying to the State department, 'keep your bribes,
I am my own man'. He was also making this clear
to the dispossessed of Harlem and through them the
world, 'I'm one of you, your struggle is mine'.
So when Adams and his cronies passed the Napoleon
brandy and puffed on the Havana cigars, it did not
go unnoticed by the securocrats who were listening
in on their every word at Leeds Castle or Weston
Park. If only Gerry and Martin had stayed in
a supporters terrace house in Kilburn and made do
with a bacon Sarnie, would history have been different?
As I have mentioned history, it is an iron law of
it that it is impossible to gain in the conference
chamber what was lost on the field of battle.…
That the Adams clique have attempted to do just
this displays a certain naivety on their part and
tells us how much their egos have been massaged
by the British sponsored powder- puffs about the
PRM leadership's ability. It also raises the question
how many, if any, secret clauses and agreements
has Adams signed away during these talks? Is it
true that Sinn Fein's MLAs sign the British Official
Secrets Act when they become Stormont Assembly Government
Ministers? Despite having contacted the press office
at the Northern Ireland Office, the British Home
Office and all the various Government and Party
offices in the north, I have failed to get an answer
on this, although on more than one occasion, whoever
answered the phone, after taking a deep intake of
air, informed me they would have to check this out,
never to return to my call.
If they do not sign the O.S.A. it would be unique,
as all other UK government Ministers do. It is worth
considering this issue for if they are exceptions
to the British State's rule on this, then surely
they can only be sham Ministers, as all Government
papers would not be allowed to cross their desks.
For example, a Health Minister would need security
briefings to periodically prepare for a doomsday
situation if Belfast was attacked by Al Qaida; otherwise
they would be unable to prepare the allocation of
health care resources if such a situation occurred,
etc.
So,
it is not unreasonable to ask if Mr Adams signed
a secret protocol that either allowed SF ministers
to sign this document, which has been used as an
instrument of oppression in Ireland for centuries
and then again to stop this oppression from coming
into the public light of day. Or is there an opt
out clause for the Shinners? If so would that not
make them Ministers in name only, with the real
duties of the State being carried out behind their
backs across the sea in the Northern Ireland Office,
as it has for decades?
