Sinn Féin - On Your Side

Gerry Adams responding to IRA cessation announcement - 31 August 1994


Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams in a further response to today's IRA announcement said:

"The search for peace has reached a decisive moment. I salute the IRA's bold and courageous decision.

"Lá stairiúil¸ seo do mhuintir na hÉireann. This opportunity must be seized. Nothing should be allowed to undermine it. I wish to acknowledge one individual, a private citizen, who has played and who will continue to play a crucial role in this process. I thank him.

"The British government is responsible for this conflict. It has a primary role in resolving it. This will require fundamental political and constitutional change.

"Anglo-Irish relationships have reached a historic crossroads. The people of Ireland have waited too long for our freedom - we can wait no longer. Injustice must be ended, demilitarisation must begin immediately. All political prisoners must be released.

"The British Government must immediately recognise Sinn Féin's democratic mandate.

"The unionist veto must be ended. Partition and the Six County state have failed. We must move beyond these failures.

"The freedom struggle is not over. We are in a new area of struggle. There is a role for everyone in this new situation. We must develop an irreversible momentum for change which will move the British government away from the failed policies of the past. John Major must seize the moment.

"I appeal to the unionist section of our people to join with the rest of us in creating a new democracy. The people of this island deserve a future where justice prevails, where peace is assured and democracy becomes a way of life."