Address by Gerry Kelly, MLA Policing & Justice section - Ard Fheis 2006
Go raibh maith agaibh. Ta me sasta le bheith ag labhairt libh ar maidin. It
has been an extraordinary year since I last stood here. The historic
decisions taken by the IRA last July, the ending of its armed campaign and
the putting of arms beyond use have removed any excuse or pretext for the
unionists, the British or the Irish government to hold up progress. On the
issue of policing and justice these events have made it all the more
imperative to make progress. We must continue to drive that agenda. No-one
else will.
No-one here needs a lesson on the history of policing
in the North Eastern corner of our country. The police force has been a
partisan, political, protestant and paramilitary force, which has been used
in the main against Catholics, Nationalists and republicans. All that has to
change so radically that the old regime will be unrecognisable in the new
beginning to policing that republicans are striving for.
Our
opposition to the present policing arrangements is not just a matter of
timing. It is a matter of integrity, entitlements and our inalienable
rights. Republicans will not be badgered or forced into accepting less than
the new beginning to policing promised in the Good Friday Agreement. At the
core of our position is the establishment of a threshold which enables the
creation of democratically accountable representative civic policing and the
consignment of political policing to the dustbin of history along with the
other failures of the past.
That is why Sinn Fein has made this issue a
core part of negotiations. In those negotiations, the key outstanding matter
is the transfer of powers on policing and justice away from London and out
of the hands of British securocrats, into restored local Assembly and
all-Ireland institutions.
Those opposed to us are pulling out all
the stops to prevent the changes inevitable in the growth of Sinn Féin North
and South.
Political policing continues apace within the PSNI.
Since last summer alone, the evidence of political policing has been
irrefutable. This includes the political policing of loyalist marches; the
revelations about former RUC members stealing information and thwarting
murder investigations; the discovery that files on dozens of republicans
including Sinn Fein elected representatives are kept in the PSNI's
Castlereagh barracks; the fact that these files had been passed onto
unionist paramilitaries; politically motivated house raids; trumped up
charges and media misinformation orchestrated by sections of the PSNI; the
high-profile arrest and false accusations against Sinn Fein MLA Francie
Brolly; the PSNI raid on the Casement Park home of the County Antrim GAA;
only this week we learn that a loyalist who has murdered at least 12
Catholics was being paid £50k a year by Special Branch. These are some of
the manifestations of political policing.
We also know now that the
institutions voted for by 2 _ million Irish people and set up under the Good
Friday Agreement were collapsed by Special Branch in a political coup d'etat.
Let's
be clear about their agenda. Our political opponents, in the institutions of
state, do not want a Shinner about the place. They don't want the Good
Friday Agreement. They don't want change. They don't want acceptable
policing institutions and practices which would see democratically elected
politicians policing the police. This is the objective of political
policing; the self-perpetuation of the securocrats. Deirtear go minic go
dtiocfaidh ar la. Ta la s'acu imithe go deo - ach nil a fhios acu go foill.
Our
political opponents who accepted too little, jumped too soon and endorsed
the existing policing arrangements must carry some of the blame. In four
years on the Policing Board, they have failed to hold the political
detectives publicly to account and failed to end collusion and political
policing. Instead, SDLP MPs have gone to Westminster and voted to
reintroduce 28-day detention orders, taking us right back to the days of the
old Special Powers Act so opposed by the Civil Rights Movement.
Last
year in my speech to the Ard Fheis I pointed out that the British government
had plans to enhance the role of MI5 in relation to aspects of policing in
the 6 counties. The PSNI Chief Constable this week said that MI5 would have
the covert fight against republicanism under its control while the PSNI
would deal with loyalism because - wait for it - "loyalism was not a threat
to British national security". May I remind him, emphatically, that they
were no threat, precisely because they worked for the British state as
agents of Special Branch and MI5 and some 1500 people were killed at their
hands.
Having stated all of that in the poisoned atmosphere
created by political policing, the question is: Is it actually possible to
achieve a new policing dispensation?
The answer to that is yes. Not
only is it possible. It is necessary. Campaigns to expose the truth about
collusion and end political policing are vital. These are integral to our
strategy on policing. We must continue to assert our right to an
accountable, civic policing service in the face of those who only want
political policing. We must put the Political Detectives out of business.
At
the core of achieving a new beginning to policing is the issue of
accountability through transferring power over policing and justice away
from the political masters of London and MI5 to Ireland under locally
elected institutions in the North and on an all Ireland basis through the
North South Ministerial Council and all Ireland implementation bodies.
In
the upcoming negotiations that is what Sinn Féin will be pushing for. The
British have this week published enabling or framework legislation to allow
for transfer in the future. Sinn Féin have been pressing for, this first
step for a considerable time. Both governments know that the publishing of
enabling legislation will not be enough on its own to honour the commitments
given. The devil as they say is in the detail. This is about giving
expression in law to the transfer of powers - taking powers - away from
London and out of the hands of the British securocrats. It is about
accountability and fundamental political change. Sinn Féin have already set
out our stall for the maximum powers to be moved out of London and into an
all Ireland context.
It is important for delegates to be reminded
that Sinn Féin's position on policing has been consistent and is also very
public and open. Any major change in Sinn Féin policy will only be as a
result of a special Ard Fheis on this subject, it will be up to delegates at
such an Ard Fheis to debate and vote on this important issue.
There
is a great hunger for information to feed this important debate. If and when
we return to a special Ard Fheis it should be with the maximum amount of
information for delegate, members and indeed the community. The policing
sub-committee have a presentation of facts around this issue. It was given
at a well attended conference in Belfast in January on an all Ireland vision
of Justice and Policing. We are committed to roll this out into the areas
immediately after this Ard Fheis for information and as an aid to debate.
It
is incumbent upon me also to repeat what I have said at, at least 3
successive Ard Fheisanna: We have made significant progress on the issues
involved. It is my strong belief that we can achieve our goals on policing
and justice in the context of an overall comprehensive agreement.
Like all comrades I am fighting for an all Ireland justice system just as we
are continuing the struggle for a United Ireland. Equally, in the interim,
we need to achieve a new beginning to policing and justice in the North, in
the present, which will impact on the everyday lives of people and also
impact on the all Ireland policing and justice systems.
It is perhaps
inevitable that the key focus publicly is on policing in the North. However,
the debate must also be about developing our all Ireland vision for the
future. I am commending a 3 page document entitled 'Core principles and
values on All-Ireland Justice Policy' to the Ard Fheis as an aid to that
debate. Other delegates will speak to this. In that debate, there are many
questions to be answered.
There are questions about the future development of policing and justice on
this island which we must consider as a party, and as a society. These
questions are not limited to the negotiations for transfer of powers on
policing and justice.
This is a critical year in the peace process and political process. The more
effective we are, the more rash our opponents become. That is no reason to
abandon our agenda, as some motions in this section propose. In the face of
the challenges ahead, we must hold our nerve. Keep on course comrades.
Let me finish by saying this, whatever happens in negotiations, key issues
such as policing and justice cannot be put on the shelf to be dusted down
when we achieve a united Ireland. People want us to deal with the everyday
issues as well as the big picture. We must develop further our all Ireland
vision for justice and policing. Let us look at this nationally as well as
locally in the big picture and the small picture. Get involved in this
debate comrades. It affects every single person living in Ireland.
Support
Ard Comhairle motions 394 and 395. Go raibh maith agaibh