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Capitol
Hill, November 28, 2003 -- Irish-Americans see
the dramatic increase in the Sinn Fein vote in the
Northern Ireland election as a victory for the Irish
peace-process.
"This
huge mandate for Sinn Fein guarantees that there will
be no going back. It cements the peace-process in
a very powerful way. Now all the Unionists -- and
their paramilitaries -- must face the reality that
Catholics are never again "going to the back
of the bus," said Father Sean Mc Manus, president
of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus.
Father
Mc Manus continued : "The problem in Northern
Ireland has always been about equality. The State
was created for a two-fold reason:
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to guarantee a continuation of British rule; and
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to guarantee Unionist/Protestant supremacy.
Now
that the London Government's interest is no longer
served by holding on to Northern Ireland, the Protestants
feel cheated and want to hold on to their supremacy
. But that is now no more tenable than it was for
the Whites in the Deep South of the United States
to hold on to segregation and the Jim Crowe laws,
once the African-American Movement forced the Federal
Government to give up its racist ways."
"The
Unionists of all persuasions and their paramilitaries
must accept the new reality, which neither Trimble's
stonewalling nor Paisley's rejectionism can alter.Unionism
must accept and embrace the concept of equality with
Catholics. Once that is done, it will be clear to
them that the Good Friday Agreement is the only way
forward,and in their own best interest," Father
Mc Manus concluded.
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