An end to the Union

Posted by Jim on July 31, 2016

By Gerry Adams (for Leargas)

On her first visit this week to the North as British Prime Minister
Theresa May met the First and Deputy First Ministers. Martin McGuinness
told her that the British have to respect the democratically expressed
wishes of the people of the North who see their future in Europe and
voted to remain in Europe.

One of Mrs May’s first jobs on becoming Prime Minister was to appoint a
new Secretary of State. Jude Collins likes to refer to them as our
‘pro-consul’ to give them their full imperial Roman title.

Believe it or not the new occupant of Hillsborough Castle – James
Brokenshire – is the nineteenth British politician to hold that
position. The first was William Whitelaw in 1972. He was appointed after
the Conservative government of Ted Heath had decided to consign the
unionist regime at Stormont to the dustbin of history. He was also the
first that I met as republicans attempted to negotiate with the British
government in the summer of that year. That’s a story for another time.

Apart from Theresa Villiers and Mo Mowlam the rest were men. All of
those I have known had different personalities. Some were friendlier
than others. Some of them were downright Machiavellian in their
machinations. But all of them were in the North to defend and promote
British national interests. These interests rarely co-incided with the
interests of the people of the North or of the island of Ireland.

They were a mixed bunch in terms of ability. Most were distant and aloof
– most were in the pockets of the generals and securocrats and the
intelligence services. I suspect some of them liked to play at being M
in James Bond.

Merlyn Rees came across as a bit of a bumbler. But it was he who
introduced the criminalisation policy and built the H-Blocks.

Roy Mason was an arrogant wee man with a Napoleonic complex who believed
that he would ‘squeeze the IRA like a tube of toothpaste.’ Under his
watch torture was routinely used in the interrogation centres in the
RUC’s Castlereagh centre, Gough Barracks in Armagh, Strand Road in Derry
and other places. It was Mason who presided over the ‘conveyor belt’
system of arrest – torture – Diplock non-jury courts and the H-Blocks
and Armagh Women’s prison. The law became another weapon in the British
arsenal to defeat republicans.

After Margaret Thatcher because British Prime Minister in May 1979 she
appointed Humphrey Atkins to the North. A local wit painted a long
graffiti question, ‘Humphrey WHO?’ on the wall at Beechmount Leisure
centre on the Falls Road. Atkins was the Secretary of State during one
of the most turbulent periods in the ‘troubles’. Under his watch the
hunger strikes of 1980 and 81 occurred. He was the face of Thatcher in
the media defending British inflexibility. Those who followed him during
the 1980’s were all Thatcher’s men. In my memory one merges into the
other.

The first British Secretary of State I met after 1972 was Patrick
Mayhew. As British Attorney General he agreed a deal with Brian Nelson,
a British agent within the UDA, which saw charges of murder against
Nelson dropped in order to avoid embarrassing revelations about the role
of the British state in collusion. Mayhew was in the North when the
media broke the story of secret contacts between republicans and the
British government. Mayhew initially denied this then he lodged a
record of the exchanges in the British Parliament in November 1993.
Embarrassingly for the British their effort to rewrite some of them was
quickly exposed.

A team of us worked overtime in the Sinn Fein office in Turg Lodge to
compile our record of these exchanges. When we published them our
version was generally accepted as the truthful account.

My first meeting with Mayhew took place in Washington in May 1995.
President Clinton had organised an economic conference to boost the
peace process. It proved impossible for the British, who had been trying
to prevent Mayhew meeting with the Sinn Fein leadership, not to agree a
meeting at the conference. It was a very surreal meeting. There was to
be no coffee, tea or anything stronger. Just a quick handshake — in
private, no cameras — and a fifteen-minute meeting. Mayhew, using a
written speaking note, told us why the British government would not
allow Sinn Fein into all-party negotiations. He was visibly shaking and
nervous as he spoke, and he stuck rigidly to the text of his note, which
the British issued afterwards, almost word for word, as a public
statement.

I met Mayhew several times after that. He loosened up a wee bit but
under his and John Major’s intransigent stewardship the IRA cessation
collapsed and the opportunity for progress was stalled.

Mayhew was followed by Mo Mowlam – an entirely different character. She
is generally fondly remembered by all of us who knew her. She was smart
and funny and willing to listen. Her battle against ill-health is well
known. Her famous wig – which she would throw on the table at the start
of a conversation – was a great device for disarming the most outraged
politician at the table.

But like all of her predecessors and successors Mo was in the North to
defend British interests. Though these changed slightly under Tony Blair
she did her job. On one occasion we discovered that the car Martin
McGuinness and I were using to attend secret meetings was bugged. It was
a stupid move by the British – a breach of good faith – and was
authorised by Mo Mowlam.

But she had a good heart. She authorised funding for Bunscoil Phobal
Feirste – despite huge resistance from within the Department of
Education. She gave former British military bases back to local
communities and supported the development of the Black and Divis
mountains as a public amenity alongside numerous other little things.

I spent my Sunday mornings or Saturday afternoons walking the garden at
Hillsborough Castle with her and her predecessors and successors trying
to get as much progress as possible while also impressing upon them the
need for an end to the union and partition.

Those that came after Mowlam brought their own personalities, competence
and bias with them. Whether Peter Mandelson or Peter Hain or Theresa
Villiers all were first and foremost in the North as Britain’s
pro-consuls – to defend British interests on the island of Ireland.

Before they arrived most were also relatively unknown – certainly in
Ireland. Few here had ever heard of Francis Pym or Roy Mason or Peter
Brooke. Many were never heard of again.

And now we have James Brokenshire. Who I hear you ask? And truth be told
I don’t know. Once again a British politician – who has no stake in this
island – is given influence over our lives by a British government whose
priority interests are not ours. And so it goes on. And so it should
end.

The Brexit referendum vote is just one more example of this. The
Conservative government in London is committed to leaving the European
Union. The people of the North rejected this. All of this is an argument
for an end to the union with Britain and for new relationships on the
island of Ireland in which our priorities, or interests are what will
dictate policy.