Issue 080, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (December, 1993)

              uimh 80 nollaig - december 1993 ft tlollaig sffona idar leitheoirf reynolds formula reinforces status quo british pull-out the key to peace the rapid sequence of events at the end of november which saw the publishing of details of the contacts between the british government and the provisional and the subsequent exposure of albert reynolds formula for a peace process have served to clarify what is on offer and more importantly what is not on the agenda at the current time albert reynolds consent formula allows these men to stay in ireland indefinitely an agreement he and adams have not discussed a solution only a process it is clear that this would be similar to the talks about talks episode last year except that the provisionals would be included having first of all called a ceasefire bothhume and reynolds calculate that with the provisionals sitting at the table the talks would have a better chance of albert reynolds has said that what he is seeking from the british government is an acknowledgement of the right of people living in ireland to self-determination based on consent freely given north and south stripped of its careful phrasing this allows the unionists in the six counties a continued veto over any moves towards an end to the british presence in ireland it therefore reinforces the status quo under the new buzz-word of consent a moment's examination of what consent means will show that it confers on 1 8 per cent of the population of the 32 counties ie the unionists the right to block the will of the rest of the population and to secede and establish their own state by the same logic then the nationalists who make up almost 43 of the six-county population or more than double the unionist percentage for the whole island should be allowed to block the will of the unionists secede and form their own state within the six counties that is patently undemocratic and this tyranny of consent was always opposed by the republican struggle in order to replace it with true all-ireland democracy to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts as the 1 916 proclamation states 70 per cent what consent was freely given by the 70 per cent of the people of the 32 counties who voted for the all-ireland republic in 1 9 1 8 to the government of ireland act 1920 and the partition of ireland that followed it or at any time since then it is worth recalling that section 2(1 of the government of ireland act 1920 offered a council of ireland with a view to the eventual establishment of a parliament for the whole of ireland ..." with typical british duplicity as they divided the island of ireland into two artificial statelets the british were saying that their intention was to bring it back together again to accept the reynolds formula is therefore to play with loaded dice john major and the ulster unionists with whom he is locked in alliance at westminster are looking less and less eager to play with dublin and thus the summit to end all summits on december 3 was downgraded to a working meeting one of series to be held during december how close to the action molyneaux's party are at the moment can be judged from his statement on friday november 26 that there was going to be a development over the weekend in regard to what he called a terrorist group again when the observer published documents from the british government provisionals contacts on sunday november 28 patrick mayhew looked shaken at his stormont press conference that afternoon but by the following day when he had had time to consult with the unionists he was cool and assured before the house of commons the unionists own reaction to the documents was relaxed laid back and confident lastly the likely appointment of a northern ireland select committee during december is being looked on as an instalment on ulster unionist support for the tories in the financial times on thursday november 25 an unnamed british cabinet minister was quoted as saying that molyneaux's veto on anything major might agree to on ireland was absolute nowhere nowhere in the documents presented by the british or the provisionals at the end of november is there mention of a british withdrawal from ireland or a declaration of intent to do so having given up their obj ecti ves the provisionals stand accused of a political surrender the media on all sides state that it is a sell-out marion finucane on rte can state that the ira accepts the union and the provisionals have not denied it what they are seeking in return is for a place at a negotiating table that has a british agenda john hume has stated that he and gerry adams were looking for a commitment from the british government to a peace process involving both governments and all parties with a viewto reaching success threatening meanwhile the loyalists with the help of john bruton in dublin are threatening nationalists with dire consequences if the peace process is not to their liking the polish arms shipment is the latest in a long pattern stretching back at least to the lame gun-running in 1912 designed to terrorise the nationalist community into accepting continued british rule who says the unionists haven't got guns at the conference table true peace can only be achieved in ireland if the british government gives apublic declaration of withdrawal they hold the key to peace sean sabhat morati limerick sunday january 2 assemble bedford row 12.45pm fdilte roimh chdeh