Issue 106, Saoirse: Irish Freedom, Issue 106 (February, 1996)

              the voice of irish republicanism uimh 106 feabhra — february 1996 50p usa 1 a process built on political the shooting dead of leading irsp member gino gallagher in belfast on january 30 was the first political assassination since the ceasefire of august 1994 the british and dublin establishments played down their reactions to the killing and the question now being asked is if the current process is to be underpinned by the assassination of those who are vocal in their opposition to it report on page 2 inside o 2<a • a return to stormont and the unionist ascendancy is the objective of the british government the timetable for the setting up of a new stormont in the six counties has shortened considerably with the rejection by british prime minister john major of the mitchell report on the surrender of arms and his endorsement of the unionist plan for stormont elections as a replacement delaying tactic boycott stormonti elections republican sinn fein has been vindicated in its prediction that the current process can only lead to another attempt at an internal settlement and the re-imposition of stormont the only proper response to this is to call for a boycott of any new stormont and to also boycott elections to any such body indeed this position was supported by a majority of people in the26 counties according to the results of a telephone poll published by the sunday independent newspaper on january 28 overall 52 per cent of people felt that the nationalist parties in the north should not take part in elections for the proposed assembly this republican position will not be heard from any other political parties in the 32 counties some of whom are talking about opposition to any return to stormont but have not said they will boycott the elections to such an assembly they should be called upon to do so as such elections means emphasising an internal settlement in the six counties also any elected body resulting from such elections would pave the way for a fully fledged new stormont a third purpose in unionist eyes is to get rid of the loyalist fringe parties who have had a high profile since the ceasefires the british government led by john major are using the unioniststo stay in power and to buy more time in the hope of securing a total demobilisation of active resistance to british rule in ireland constitutional nationalists are once more the playthings of british party politics to quote the phrase used by a disillusioned edward carson in 1923 republicans however have not been distracted by john major's elections play and are equally opposed to the mitchell report which has been presented in a dangerous fashion as a nationalist document in fact major's outburst in westminster and his impossible demand makes it easy for the provisionals to sell the mitchell report to their supporters the claim by gerry adams that mitchell had eliminated preconditions to talks by rejecting washington 3 ignores the fact that there is a whole list of new preconditions in the mitchell document in particular the six points in mitchell report amount to acceptance of the unionist veto section e is a commitment in advance to abide by the outcome of talks in the six counties and therefore accepting the verdict of a referendum within the north the result of which is a foregone conclusion secondly the mitchell report's call for the surrender of arms in parallel with all-party talks in the sixcounties runs counter to the republican principle that there can be no surrender of arms under any circumstances while british forces of occupation remain in ireland the mitchell report nowhere referred to british arms in the six counties or the massive amount of weapons held there under british licence neither did it question the context of the six counties itself or call on the british to act or even accept responsibilty for its occupation of part of ireland is it any wonder dublin politicans were quoted as saying that john major's elections ploy letthe paramilitaries off the mitchell hook the mitchell report has nothing to offer in terms of 32-county democracy in ireland taken as a single unit and at provincial and local levels once the british government publicly declares its intention to leave ireland that is what republican sinn fein is committed to on the other hand what the unionists have in mind was indicated by stephan king an adviser to uup deputy leader john taylor in an interview with the sunday business post in dublin on january 28 even if the provisionals participate in the stormont assembly they will not be guaranteed entry to all-party talks he said the uup envisaged a committee-based assembly for a period of two years and only after that would there be a move towards appointing representatives for all-party talks then they would examine if the provisionals were committed to peace to see if they could take part the unionists clearly relish the prospect of a return to the old ascendancy and the british are only too willing to off-load responsibility for the six counties back to them boycotting stormont elections is the only way to halt this mechanism in its tracks before it gains a deadly momentum revolutionary ira emerges during january came a dramatic public announcement from the irish republican publicity bureau that a re-born irish republican army had emerged led by the continuity army council this statement was immediately subjected to a news blackout in england and ireland and must have been embarrassing to the sponsors of the international body on arms then sitting however it broke through in the irish news belfast on january 11 and the sunday business post dublin on january 14 as well as raidio na gaeltachta on january 18 key sentences from the statement include • following the gerrymandered general army convention of 1 986 which deserted the all-ireland republic and accepted the partionist and collaborationist 26-county state an emergency meeting took place of the outgoing and uncompromised army executive a quorum was presentand the vacant positions were filled by co-option over a series of meetings acting in accordance with the constitution a full executive of twelve members elected the continuity army council • we are neither official nor provisional and rejecting reformism we remain revolutionary as the true oglaigh na h-eireann irish republican army • the irish republican army under the leadership of the continuity army council renews its allegiance to the all-ireland republic of easter 1 91 6 and the first 32-county dail it is the final custodian of that republic and is the absolute guarantor of continued resistance to british rule in ireland pledge • despite the betrayals down the decades since 1 92 1 the continuity army council pledges its unremitting hostility to the british forces of occupation in ireland and calls with confidence on the irish at home and around the world for increased support towards the realisation in our time of irish national independence action will be taken in the future at an appropriate time to further this objective the stated objectives appear to be the same as those of republican sinn fein but of course as a military body it would be working for those by different means for its part republican sinn fein as a political organisation works solely by political means for the full text of the irpb announcement and general tom maguire's 1987 statement of recognition — now released by irpb also — see page 9 inside • meanwhile six republicans were sentenced to a total of 35 years on january 19 last by the special non-jury court in dublin for possession of arms in suspicious circumstances see page 3 inside