Issue 113, Saoirse : Irish Freedom (September, 1996)

              the voice of irish republicanism uimh 113 mean f6mhair — september 1996 50p usa 1 fbi classified document on us visa denials the us-british coalition against irish republicanism is revealed in a may 1975 fbi classified document published for the first time in saoirse in it britain asks washington to continue denying visas to irish republicans and ruairi 6 bradaigh in particular whose presence in the us could make our policy untenable the document also refers to british sources in the 	 dublin government see page 15 inside 	 why should 187 veto 82 hbnk m mm » so this map gives a visual impression of the extent of republican/nationalist rejection of union with britain throughout the thirty-two counties of ireland it is based on the 1985 local government election results in the six counties eighty-two percent of the population of the 32 counties reject the british presence in ireland a new electoral map of ireland the black shadings reveal the small area in the north-east of ireland where there is actually a substantial unionist/loyalist majority east deny most of antrim north down and north armagh even within this area in belfast for instance the anti-union vote is more than 30 per cent the pro-union population amounts to just 1 8 per cent of the island's total population yet from this area the unionist minority has exercised for over 70 years a sweeping veto over the political will of the overwhelming majority of the irish people backed up by the guarantees of the british government thisann'-democraticfaction has also been underpinned in its power by the dublin government and the constitutional nationalist parties guarantee of their minority veto contained in • the 1 985 hillsborough agreement • the downing street declaration of 1 993 ; and • the framework document of 1 995 . even the provisional under the terms of the hume/adams agreement of two years ago agree that the unionist veto in the guise of unionist consent should be maintained the message the establishment parties are therefore sending to six-county nationalists is that they are not part of this country that they are not in fact part of the majority on this island which this map shows clearly they are and that the wish of the establishment parties is to push six-county nationalists out of ireland into another state this distortion clearly violates ireland's 32-county sovereignty and should be rejected it is nevertheless the foundation stone of the current london/dublin washington process any agreement will be subject to the wishes of the unionist 18 of the population regardless of what the rest of the people of ireland want republican sinnfein president ruairi b bradaigh pointed out in his speech at bundoran on august 3 1 that the british will abandon the unionists in timejust as they are abandoning their allies in hong kong in july 1 997 without any referendum or election • this map was first produced by sedn 6 bradaigh in 1985 it is contained in republican sinn fitn s eire nua policy document 1990 meanwhile august saw the extradition from the us to the british of irish political prisoner jimmy smyth this was authorised by president clinton who fought the 1992 election on the slogan no more joe dohertys . he also promised to make available visas for all irish spokespersons yet ruairi 6 bradaigh and other members of republican sinn f&n are still denied us visas as the november 1 996 us presidential election looms clinton also vetoed legislation containing the macbride principles earlier this year despite his pledges of support for them in 1 992 o british rule the continuity army council of the irish republican army has spoken for the first time to j bowyer bell the author of the definitive study of the ira accounts of the meeting were given by dr bowyer bell in the irish times on august 17 and in an rte radio interview the following day the meeting took place at an isolated rural location which the american author of the secret army said he would be unable to find again the military group said it was organically separate from the political organisation republican sinn fein but shared its political objectives of british political prisoners and the establishment of an all-ireland federal state based on four provincial parliaments withdrawal the release of all dr bowyer bell referred to it as the republican ira and said it had units in all 32 counties it posed a significant threat to the british forces and regarded the provisionals as misguided and illicit the republican ira had adequate gear or firearms which had not been taken from the provisionals and had a proven bomb-making capacity a week earlier the group had claimed responsibility for the 1,2501b bomb which wrecked the killyhevlin hotel near enniskillcn county fermanagh dr bowyer bell said that when asked about loyalist threats to end their ceasefire the republican ira spokes persons said there could be no loyalist veto on the armed struggle any more than there can be a unionist veto to an all ireland accommodation speaking on kit radio one's news at one programme on august 1 8 dr bowyer bell said that he knew almost for certain that the republican ira wants to pursue armed struggle at the highest level of intensity it can manage and will do so if it possibly can they will choose their targets for a while individually for the specific response but the time may come when they can have a continuing action the single obvious difference between the republican ira and the provisionals is that the provisionals have been careful not to do operations in the six counties the republicans have shown no restraint on that so far the one or two things they have done have been specifically related to the six counties relations with the provisionals were non-existent except distaste on the part of the provisionals and disinterest on the part of the republicans dr bowyer bell said he suspected that the provisionals would not take action against the republicans as firstly none of their arms had been taken and secondly it would be counterproductive to begin a republican feud that is not over arms i think both of them will ignore the other with contempt he added in conclusion dr bowyer bell said of the republican ira they are not easily moved nor can they be easily discounted if nothing more this secret army absolutely dedicated to the withdrawal of the british from ireland can greatly trouble an island already long troubled by the republican dream exclusive on pages 2-3 inside republican ira an emerging secret army by j bowyer bell