Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness keynote address to the party's Ard Fheis 2006
Friends and comrades, we are gathered here this weekend on the eve of the
90th anniversary of Easter Rising and on the eve of the 25 anniversary of
the 1981 hunger strikes. These two events have in their own time been
defining periods in the history of this island, in the development of the
struggle for Irish freedom and in the politics of Irish republicanism.
On
both occasions the heroism and self-sacrifice of a small number of Irish
republicans, pitting their own lives against the might of the British war
machine transformed the politics of the nation. The men and women of 1916
inspired and energised the modern struggle for Irish freedom which has
continued through to this day. In 1981, the men and women prisoners in the
H-Blocks of Long Kesh and Armagh Gaol, through their endurance and
perseverance broke Thatcher's attempts to crush this struggle for full
freedom and independence.
The British government and their
apologists in Ireland, and there are many of them, failed to defeat our
struggle. Today we are stronger than ever before. There are more Irish
republicans on the island of Ireland and beyond than at any time since
partition. Irish unity is on the political agenda as a real issue despite
the efforts of the revisionists and the partitionists north and south. The
failure, politically and economically, of the 6 county state is widely
accepted, its abnormality is recognised in the unique provisions of the Good
Friday Agreement and its existence is increasingly regarded as an anomaly
that will be resolved through Irish unity in the near future. Much of this
progress is the result of the Sinn Fein peace strategy which we developed in
the late 1980s. Through our central role in the peace process Irish
republicans have opened up many new arenas of struggle.
The peace
process is the way forward.
Republicans have delivered big time.
The IRA have ended their armed campaign. And its time for people to deal
with this fact and get real.
The time has come for the British
government to commit themselves to purely peaceful and democratic methods.
This
means:
Ending their spy rings
Ending direct rule
Taking
British troops out of Ireland
Republicans have been the driving
force behind the peace process and this strategy is delivering for all the
people of Ireland. The peace process has transformed this country. It's a
better place to live for the majority of people.
There are those
who would do anything to stop our agenda. In fact they would reverse it if
they could. But that shouldn't surprise us. These are the people who
profited from inequality, injustice and partition.
Theirs is the
politics of the past. Ours is the politics of the future.
I want
to send out a clear message from this Ard Fheis that Sinn Féin mean
business. We are up for the challenges ahead. Dublin and London need to show
that they can meet those same challenges.
We are serious about
engaging with unionism. But the DUP have to come to terms with the new
realities. They have a huge decision to make. I hope that they make the
right decision.
If he makes the wrong decision there is a huge
responsibility on Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair to make it clear that the DUP
are not going to be allowed to prevent progress.
If that means
stopping the Assembly salaries so be it. If that means abolishing the
Assembly so be it.
We want to see is Ian Paisley sharing power.
We want t o see Ian Paisley on the North South Ministerial Council. We are
for Plan A If that doesn't work then the two governments need to come in and
make it clear that joint decision making is the only way forward.
But
whatever approach they take, whether or not the Assembly and the Executive
are restored, and that remains our objective, We in Sinn Féin will continue
with the essential work of building towards the Irish republic until we have
the freedom to which the men and women of 1916 committed their lives. We
will succeed. This peace process despite all the difficulties is working.
The political landscape of the north is transformed. The political landscape
in the south is changing as we speak. We are going to bring about the
change.. We are going to bring about the re-unification of out country. ENDS