Adams - Decision time for the governments and the DUP
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP speaking at the Easter Commemoration in Belfast
this afternoon said ‘It is decision time for the Irish and British
governments and the DUP.
Mr. Adams said:
”The
two governments are now faced with a stark choice. Are they going to stand
by the Good Friday Agreement or are they going to continue to pander to
rejectionist unionism?
The answer to that
question will become clear in the time ahead.
“The governments have said that they will lift the suspension of the
Assembly on May 15th. Sinn Féin will be in Stormont that day. We will be
there for one reason and one reason only - the election of a government in
line with the Good Friday Agreement.
This
also has to be the focus of the Irish and British governments.
”Ian
Paisley has a decision to make. He has failed in his campaign to smash Sinn
Féin. He has failed in his bid to see unionist majority rule returned. The
only way Ian Paisley will exercise political power is in an Executive with
Sinn Fein. I do not say that to be triumphalist in any way. I say that
because that is the reality which faces him today.
”If
Ian Paisley refuses then the two governments must deliver on their
commitment to jointly implement all other elements of the Good Friday
Agreement and increase substantially all-Ireland harmonisation and
management.”ENDS
FULL TEXT
90 years ago this Easter an alliance of Irish republican organisations and
others, including elements of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army,
Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican
Brotherhood,
the woman's movement, socialists, trade unionists, nationalists and Irish
language activists, rose up against British rule in Ireland and declared a
Republic.
Much of this occurred in Dublin
but republicans also took up arms elsewhere in the country, including the
north.
Six days later, and with the
centre of Dublin in ruins the leaders of the Provisional Government of the Irish
Republicordered the surrender. In the weeks which followed 15 of the leaders
were executed, and four months after that Roger Casement from this county
was hanged in London.
Among those who
died was Charles Monaghan from the Short Strand. He was killed on his way to
meet Casement and is buried in Kerry.
Next
Sunday at 2.30pm on the Mountpottinger Road, he will be remembered at a
commemoration in Short Strand which will be addressed by the Mayor of Kerry
Toireasa Ferris.
The British hoped by
the speed of their actions and the scale of the executions that the flame of
freedom would be extinguished. They were wrong.
At
his court martial Pádraig Pearse got it exactly right:
'Believe
that we, too, love freedom and desire it. To us it is more desirable than
anything in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again to
renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish
passion for freedom.'
In my view the
vast majority of Irish people recognise this. That is why the decision by
the Irish government to re-establish the state commemoration of 1916 is a
popular decision.
That is why the
streets of Dublin were packed this morning.
That
is why in every county on this island, and in the United States and Canada
and Australia, and in England and other parts of the world, Irish
republicans will gather to celebrate and commemorate the men and women of
1916 and of all the generations
since then.
I
welcome the reinstatement of the government's commemoration of 1916. It
should never have been abandoned in the first place.
And
let us not forget that successive governments didn't just abandon this
event, they also banned other commemorations.
On
one shameful occasion, the daughter of James Connolly, Nora Connolly
O'Brien, by then an old woman, was arrested for daring to do what Irish
republicans have never failed to do - to honour our patriot dead.
All
of us are proud to be part of that struggle. It is a struggle which
continues.There is now a need for a great national effort to bring it to a
conclusion. The Irish government should be part of that effort. The
Taoiseach has called for a return to the core values of Irish republicanism.
I welcome that call. The men and women of 1916 were very definite about the
type of Republic they wanted to create.The Proclamation makes that clear.
The Proclamation
It is
the heart and soul of Irish republicanism today. But in truth The
Proclamation is also unfinished business. It is unfinished business which
the vast majority of the Irish people want to see brought to completion.
Are
there any real doubts about where Tom Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas
MacDonagh; Pádraig Pearse; Ceannt, Connolly or Joseph Plunkett, would stand
on the great issues of our time?
The
Proclamation is about self-determination and democracy. Does anyone think
that the men and women of 1916 would settle for a partitioned Ireland?
They
fought for and I quote; "A permanent National Government, representative of
the whole people of Irelandand elected by the suffrage of all her men and
women."
Does anyone believe that
they would block northern representatives being accorded speaking rights in
the Dáil?
Does anyone believe that
they would settle for anything less than an active engagement with the
British government and unionism to promote and seek support for
reunification?
Unionism
A
central part of the work of Irish republicans in the time ahead is to engage
with unionists, to talk to, debate with, but ultimately to seek to persuade
unionists that their future and that of their children, lies with the rest
of us on this island.
The fact is that
no British politician has ever governed in any part of Irelandin the
interests of nationalists and republicans and unionists.
They
have always governed and exercised power in British interests. And they have
used and exploited and deepened the divisions and fears of people to advance
British interests.
The result has been
exclusion, conflict, division, inequality and poverty. And no section of our
people has been immune from these.
Why
should a British Minister take decisions on the future of our children?
Why
should a British Minister have the power to decide the priorities in our
health or education services?
Irish
republicans believe that in an independent and united Irelandwe have the
best chance of effectively tackling these issues. Unionists have a different
opinion. That's fine.
Let's talk about
these matters. And let us begin by reassuring unionists that we are not in
the business of coercing them into a united Ireland.
Instead
as we seek to build a shared space in which we can move forward we all must
appreciate that, as some northern protestants have said to me, 'the wise man
builds his house upon the rock'.
In
this case that means a meaningful, working partnership between nationalists
and republicans, unionists and loyalists.
I
believe the opportunity to do that now exists.
I
believe there is a huge opportunity to fulfil the historic destiny of our
people by uniting orange and green in unity and justice and on the basis of
equality.
The Peace Process
And it
exists in no small measure because of the courage and wisdom of IRA
Volunteers.
The announcement by the
Irish Republican Army on 28 July to formally end its armed campaign was a
historic development.
I want to pay
tribute to the Volunteers of the IRA for taking this courageous and
unprecedented step in order to advance the cause of peace with justice in Ireland.
Despite
the profound difficulties of all this for many republicans, the IRA has
provided a unique opportunity to significantly advance the peace process and
to open up a new era in politics and relationships on this island and
between Ireland and Britain.It is vital that this opportunity is availed of
and the peace process advanced.This must include the release of all
republican prisoners and an end to the ongoing discrimination against
republican ex prisoners.
I believe that
none of us should take each other for granted so I want to thank and commend
our friends in the Green Cross and An Cumann Cabhrach and the other
organisations which look after the interests of prisoners and their families.
Decision
time for the governments and the DUP
The
two governments are now faced with a stark choice. Are they going to stand
by the Good Friday Agreement or are they going to continue to pander to
rejectionist unionism?
The answer to that
question will become clear in the time ahead.
The governments have said that they will lift the suspension of the Assembly
on May 15th. Sinn Féin will be in Stormont that day. We will be there for
one reason and one reason only - the election of a government in line with
the Good Friday Agreement.
This also has to
be the focus of the Irish and British governments.
Ian
Paisley has a decision to make. He has failed in his campaign to smash Sinn
Féin. He has failed in his bid to see unionist majority rule returned. The
only way Ian Paisley will exercise political power is in an Executive with
Sinn Fein. I do not say that to be triumphalist in any way. I say that
because that is the reality which faces him today.
If
Ian Paisley refuses then the two governments must deliver on their
commitment to jointly implement all other elements of the Good Friday
Agreement and increase substantially all-Ireland harmonisation and
management.
Building unity -
building peace
Republicans have
mapped out a peaceful path which can deliver Irish unity. But we have to
build a party which can achieve it. hat means building a truly national
movement. It means recruiting more people. It means opening up our party. It
means building alliances with others. It means more campaigning, more
activism.
I believe that the republican
struggle is in better shape today than at any time since partition. There
are more republicans on this island now than at any time in our history.
That is a good thing.
In many ways the
republicans of this city of Belfast have led the way. I want to thank and to
commend you all. e have a confidence in ourselves which arises from our
shared experience together through decades of struggle. want to thank
the families of our patriot dead, all those on the Belfast Roll of Honour
and the Roll of Remembrance for your great contribution to our struggle. I
want to thank the volunteers of the Belfast Brigade for your discipline and
commitment.
I also want to commend our
councillors in Lisburn where they are fighting and winning the battle
against discrimination and in Belfast where Sinn Fein now gets more votes
than any other political party.
Our
leadership in Belfast, representing all parts of our city, and including our
MLAs has the ability to meet all of the challenges in the time ahead.
There
will be many battles in the time ahead. I want to call on you all to join us
in these battles, to join Sinn Fein and to be part of the great revival of
Republicanism in this city.
Building
political strength is key to the tasks which face us. It has been the
historic failure to do this that has allowed more conservative parties to
engage in the rhetoric, but not the reality of Irish republicanism. A good
example of this is to be found in the hunger strikes of 25 years ago.
As
we gather today to remember the momentous events of Easter week 90 years
ago, we should also reflect on those long and difficult months 25 years ago
when a British government cruelly and cynically allowed ten of our comrades
to die on hunger strike.
The Irish
government of the day stood back and let the hunger strikers and their
families down, safe in the knowledge that republicans at that time had
neither the political strength nor organisation to stop them.
That
is a lesson which we all must learn from.
The
women in Armagh and the men in the H Blocks were extraordinary people who
faced up to repression and resisted it in the only way they could.
Their
stand, their determination to assert their rights and the rights of the
Irish people continue to inspire us, and we owe them and their families a
massive and continuing debt.
It is
vitally important that all of us use this anniversary year to tell a new
generation of Irish republicans the story of 1981alongside the history of
1916.
So let us go from here today
determined to complete their work.
We
are right to be proud of the sacrifices of all our patriot dead. And we are
determined to make the Proclamation a reality.
Bobby
Sands had a word for it, which echoed what Pearse and Connolly said here 90
ago.
In the last entry in his diary he
wrote: "If they aren't able to destroy the desire for reedom, they won't
break you. They won't break me because the desire for freedom, and the
freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart.
The
day will dawn when all the people of Irelandwill have the desire for freedom
to show."
Comrades and friends let us go from here to continue the work for that
certain day.