Posted by Jim on December 8, 2017
The full text of a draft agreement released this morning (in reference
to Ireland) in negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.
Ireland and Northern Ireland
42. Both Parties affirm that the achievements, benefits and commitments
of the peace process will remain of paramount importance to peace,
stability and reconciliation. They agree that the Good Friday or Belfast
Agreement reached on 10 April 1998 by the United Kingdom Government, the
Irish Government and the other participants in the multi-party
negotiations (the ‘1998 Agreement’) must be protected in all its parts,
and that this extends to the practical application of the 1998 Agreement
on the island of Ireland and to the totality of the relationships set
out in the Agreement.
43. The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union presents a
significant and unique challenge in relation to the island of Ireland.
The United Kingdom recalls its commitment to protecting the operation of
the 1998 Agreement, including its subsequent implementation agreements
and arrangements, and to the effective operation of each of the
institutions and bodies established under them. The United Kingdom also
recalls its commitment to the avoidance of a hard border, including any
physical infrastructure or related checks and controls.
44. Both Parties recognise the need to respect the provisions of the
1998 Agreement regarding the constitutional status of Northern Ireland
and the principle of consent. The commitments set out in this joint
report are and must remain fully consistent with these provisions. The
United Kingdom continues to respect and support fully Northern Ireland’s
position as an integral part of the United Kingdom, consistent with the
principle of consent.
45. The United Kingdom respects Ireland’s ongoing membership of the
European Union and all of the corresponding rights and obligations that
entails, in particular Ireland’s place in the Internal Market and the
Customs Union. The United Kingdom also recalls its commitment to
preserving the integrity of its internal market and Northern Ireland’s
place within it, as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union’s
Internal Market and Customs Union.
46. The commitments and principles outlined in this joint report will
not pre-determine the outcome of wider discussions on the future
relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and are,
as necessary, specific to the unique circumstances on the island of
Ireland. They are made and must be upheld in all circumstances,
irrespective of the nature of any future agreement between the European
Union and United Kingdom.
47. Cooperation between Ireland and Northern Ireland is a central part
of the 1998 Agreement and is essential for achieving reconciliation and
the normalisation of relationships on the island of Ireland. In this
regard, both Parties recall the roles, functions and safeguards of the
Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the
North-South Ministerial Council (including its cross-community
provisions) as set out in the 1998 Agreement. The two Parties have
carried out a mapping exercise, which shows that North-South cooperation
relies to a significant extent on a common European Union legal and
policy framework. Therefore, the United Kingdom’s departure from the
European Union gives rise to substantial challenges to the maintenance
and development of North-South cooperation.
48. The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting and supporting
continued North-South and East-West cooperation across the full range of
political, economic, security, societal and agricultural contexts and
frameworks of cooperation, including the continued operation of the
North-South implementation bodies.
49. The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting North-South
cooperation and to its guarantee of avoiding a hard border. Any future
arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements. The
United Kingdom’s intention is to achieve these objectives through the
overall EU-UK relationship. Should this not be possible, the United
Kingdom will propose specific solutions to address the unique
circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed
solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those
rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the
future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the
protection of the 1998 Agreement.
50. In the absence of agreed solutions, as set out in the previous
paragraph, the United Kingdom will ensure that no new regulatory
barriers develop between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United
Kingdom, unless, consistent with the 1998 Agreement, the Northern
Ireland Executive and Assembly agree that distinct arrangements are
appropriate for Northern Ireland. In all circumstances, the United
Kingdom will continue to ensure the same unfettered access for Northern
Ireland’s businesses to the whole of the United Kingdom internal market.
51. Both Parties will establish mechanisms to ensure the implementation
and oversight of any specific arrangement to safeguard the integrity of
the EU Internal Market and the Customs Union.
52. Both Parties acknowledge that the 1998 Agreement recognises the
birth right of all the people of Northern Ireland to choose to be Irish
or British or both and be accepted as such. The people of Northern
Ireland who are Irish citizens will continue to enjoy rights as EU
citizens, including where they reside in Northern Ireland. Both Parties
therefore agree that the Withdrawal Agreement should respect and be
without prejudice to the rights, opportunities and identity that come
with European Union citizenship for such people and, in the next phase
of negotiations, will examine arrangements required to give effect to
the ongoing exercise of, and access to, their EU rights, opportunities
and benefits.
53. The 1998 Agreement also includes important provisions on Rights,
Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity for which EU law and practice has
provided a supporting framework in Northern Ireland and across the
island of Ireland. The United Kingdom commits to ensuring that no
diminution of rights is caused by its departure from the European Union,
including in the area of protection against forms of discrimination
enshrined in EU law. The United Kingdom commits to facilitating the
related work of the institutions and bodies, established by the 1998
Agreement, in upholding human rights and equality standards.
54. Both Parties recognise that the United Kingdom and Ireland may
continue to make arrangements between themselves relating to the
movement of persons between their territories (Common Travel Area),
while fully respecting the rights of natural persons conferred by Union
law. The United Kingdom confirms and accepts that the Common Travel Area
and associated rights and privileges can continue to operate without
affecting Ireland’s obligations under Union law, in particular with
respect to free movement for EU citizens.
55. Both Parties will honour their commitments to the PEACE and INTERREG
funding programmes under the current multi-annual financial framework.
Possibilities for future support will be examined favourably.
56. Given the specific nature of issues related to Ireland and Northern
Ireland, and on the basis of the principles and commitments set out
above, both Parties agree that in the next phase work will continue in a
distinct strand of the negotiations on the detailed arrangements
required to give them effect. Such work will also address issues arising
from Ireland’s unique geographic situation, including the transit of
goods (to and from Ireland via the United Kingdom), in line with the
approach established by the European Council Guidelines of 29 April
2017.
Posted by Jim on November 20, 2017
Martin McGuinness’s widow, Bernie; Gerry Adams; Michelle O’Neill; and Mary Lou McDonald at the Sinn Féin ardfheis. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
By Sarah Bardon
Sinn Féin passed a motion at its ardfheis this weekend allowing it to enter government as a minority partner, a significant shift by the party.
However Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin ruled out doing business with Sinn Féin.
Mr Varadkar said the party “might be getting younger but their policies are the same”. His view was echoed by senior figures in the party including Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan and Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty.
Mr Flanagan said: “From a policing and a security point of view, Sinn Féin is not fit for government. It also engages in Paul Daniels economics,” he said, referring to the magician.
Ms Doherty said the main contender for the leadership of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, has sought to “defend the legacy of Sinn Féin and the IRA”.
The Minister pointed to Ms McDonald’s loyalty to Gerry Adams when he was being accused of covering up sex abuse allegations.
Martin’s criticism
In a speech on Saturday night, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin strongly criticised Sinn Féin for always “putting the Provisional movement first”.
He added: “They might be new leaders but they are not new faces. For one moment let’s assume that Sinn Féin will act against type and actually hold a democratic election for its next leader.
“The fact is that every one of their potential leaders joined Sinn Féin before the ceasefires and has repeatedly defended the Provisional IRA’s campaign.”
A number of Fianna Fáil TDs have spoken in favour of a coalition with Sinn Féin. However, party spokesman on housing Barry Cowen urged “such troublemakers” to remember the vote taken by the ardfheis earlier this month.
The Fianna Fáil conference agreed not to enter any coalition arrangement with Sinn Féin. Mr Cowen insisted there would be no deviation from that policy by the party.
Posted by Jim on November 19, 2017
It was an emotional night for Sinn Fein supporters in the RDS last night
as Gerry Adams confirmed he was making his last Presidential Address
after more than 30 years at the head of the organisation.
The 69-year-old icon, synonymous with a party he helped to mould from a
revolutionary force into a powerful political machine, signalled the
historic transition with the words: “this is the important bit”.
He told the 1,000 delegates in Dublin on Saturday night that he and the
late Martin McGuinness had recognised the need for a new change in
leadership in the party.
“I thought I needed to tell you … I have been privileged to be part of
an amazing leadership,” said Mr Adams.
“One of our greatest achievements has been to build a peace process. I
will not be standing for the Dail; neither will Martin Ferris. This is
also my last Ard Fheis [party conference].”
He added: “Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that
time is now.”
Charismatic and internationally renowned, Mr Adams brought Sinn Fein out
from the political margins and onto the threshold of real power. In the
face of immense and relentless opposition from the political
establishment and mainstream media, and even as bloody conflict raged in
the North, he maintained an understanding with the Irish public which
infuriated his enemies.
It is close to 50 years since Mr Adams was a barman in the Duke of York
pub in Belfast, where he first became a republican activist. From a
staunchly republican family, he carried forward the dreams of his
father, Gerry senior, who served time in prison for IRA activity during
World War II.
Since the 1981 hunger strikes, which transformed Sinn Fein into a
coherent political force, he helped to build a party which came to
dominate its sister organisation in the Provisional IRA.
After winning the West Belfast Westminster seat in 1983, Mr Adams was
elected president of Sinn Fein. It was a stunning power shift which
would ultimately split the organisation and propel his movement firmly
in a political direction. Some 34 years later, a similar change is
afoot, but with a far smoother and orchestrated transition than that
which brought him to power.
Displacing the SDLP to become the largest nationalist party in the
North, Mr Adams shifted his focus South. He left West Belfast for a seat
in Louth, and began to strengthen the organisation to reach more than
20% in the polls and 23 seats in the Dublin parliament.
Sinn Fein delegates elected Mr Adams to stay on as president until 2018.
They also agreed to hold a special conference to announce the new
leadership. It will take place within three months of Mr Adams standing
down as leader next year.
His successor will not be easy to find. Of the two main contenders,
there are questions over Dubliner Mary Lou McDonald’s popularity and
Donegal man Pearse Doherty’s ambition.
Mr Adams paid tribute to those who travelled with him along his journey,
many of whom are now also in the process of stepping back, but he was
hopeful for the “next generation”.
In his speech Mr Adams said: “I have complete confidence in the leaders
we elected this weekend and in the next generation of leaders.”
Posted by Jim on November 18, 2017
——————————————————–
Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney exposes the collusion which
shielded the perpetrators of the 1994 Loughinisland massacre from
justice. The shocking No Stone Unturned finally names the chief suspects
while revealing the RUC’s deliberate mishandling of the multiple murder
inquiry. Review by David Roy (for Irish News)
————————————————————-
The Alex Gibney written and directed No Stone Unturned is a powerful,
profoundly disturbing documentary exposing the collusion which fatally
tainted the RUC investigation into one of the most notorious incidents
of the Troubles.
On June 18 1994, six men were gunned down at The Heights Bar in
Loughinisland as they watched the Republic of Ireland play Italy in the
World Cup.
Although police quickly recovered the getaway car, along with weapons
and items of clothing used in the attack, no-one was ever charged in
connection with the atrocity.
Featuring interviews with former police officers, veteran journalists,
Police Ombudsman investigators and the legal team representing the
victims and their families, the film places the killings in the
tit-for-tat context of the times.
Oscar-winner Gibney painstakingly reveals how RUC Special Branch
officers apparently knew of the attack 24 hours beforehand, then
interfered with the investigation by obstructing inquiries, destroying
evidence (the getaway car was actually crushed), withholding crucial
information and even warning suspects in advance that they were about to
be arrested.
While collusion between paramilitary killers and some members of the
security forces during the Troubles is hardly news at this point, it’s
still deeply shocking to have the often comically brazen mechanics of
such perversions of justice repeatedly laid bare here.
For years, south Down locals have suspected that the Loughinisland
killers were prominent members of a notorious UVF cell operating in the
area.
No Stone Unturned presents compelling evidence that this is correct –
and furthermore that one or more of those involved in the Loughinisland
attack were actually Special Branch informers who were also involved in
other sectarian murders of the era.
Even the VZ58 assault rifle used in the Heights Bar attack is traced
back to a shipment of arms believed to have been smuggled into the north
with the aid of notorious British Army ‘supergrass’ and UDA man Brian
Nelson.
This gripping documentary begins with a reconstruction of the attack,
interwoven with grisly crime scene photographs of the blood-saturated
aftermath and the harrowing recollections of Aidan O’Toole, who survived
being shot while working behind the bar, and relatives of the six
patrons who perished.
We learn that No Stone Unturned is named for words spoken to Clare Rogan
by an RUC officer attending the wake for her husband, Adrian, who was
murdered in the attack.
“We will leave no stone unturned until we get the perpetrators,” she was
told.
Ironically, it has taken an outsider to fully excavate the facts of the
Loughinisland murders.
Gibney’s film names the four people police identified as the chief
suspects at the time of the Loughinisland attack: the gang leader still
lives in south Down and is eventually captured on camera.
Their names were included in a leaked Police Ombudsman-produced draft
document dating back to 2008, but redacted for Al Hutchinson’s Police
Ombudsman’s Report published in 2011 – which also ruled out collusion in
the Loughinisland case.
However, the 2011 report was quashed last year by Dr Michael Maguire’s
new Police Ombudsman report, which confirmed that RUC/UVF collusion had
indeed been a key factor in the failure to apprehend the killers.
We see the emotional moment when Dr Maguire first presents his verdict
to the families of the Loughinisland victims.
“That’s all we ever wanted to know,” responds Adrian Rogan’s tearful
daughter, Emma, now Sinn Fein MLA for south Down.
The 2008 draft document also named the RUC’s senior investigating
officer. Gibney reveals that he took several weeks’ holiday leave
immediately after taking charge of the murders and later retired abroad,
refusing to co-operate with the Ombudsman’s investigation.
It’s almost worth seeing this film just to hear ex-Irish News journalist
Barry McCaffery’s story of tracking the ex-cop down to a small village
in France and presenting him with the leaked Loughinisland info.
Beyond the multitude of damning evidence implicating members of the
security forces presented by No Stone Unturned, one of its most
incredible revelations is that the wife of the notorious alleged UVF
killer who led the Loughinisland attack repeatedly attempted to turn him
in after discovering that he was having an affair.
On one occasion, she phoned the RUC to ‘anonymously’ report her husband
and his accomplices. Unfortunately, having previously been employed in
the canteen of an RUC station, officers recognised her voice and
promptly had her arrested.
However, despite also writing a letter naming the killers and admitting
her own role in the planning of the killings, the woman was then
released without charge.
It’s all pretty damning, depressing stuff, especially as Gibney suggests
that justice for the Loughinisland victims and their families may have
been deliberately sacrificed by the British government in order to
safeguard the 1994 IRA and UVF ceasefires which paved the way for the
Good Friday Agreement.
He also reminds us that even if the suspected multiple murderers are now
successfully re-investigated and prosecuted, they will only serve a
maximum of two years in prison under the terms of the 1998 accord.
Made for an international audience, some minor stylistic choices are
likely to grate on local eyes and ears (especially those sensitive to
the sound of mournful flutes), but these in no way undermine one of the
most powerful documentaries you will see this year.
* No Stone Unturned is currently showing at QFT Belfast and cinemas
across Ireland and in London. See http://wildcarddistribution.com for
more details.
Posted by Jim on
The prospect of a Sinn Fein Tanaiste serving under a Fine Gael or Fianna
Fail Taoiseach is closer today after a controversial vote at Sinn Fein’s
annual conference in Dublin this weekend.
The decision to allow it to enter negotiations on forming a government
as a a junior coalition party is seen as a potential landmark in Sinn
Fein’s journey to the corridors of power in Dublin.
In recent years, Sinn Fein has been incrementally opening its policy on
coalition with the two main right-wing parties, moving from outright
opposition to one embracing the possibility of propping up a left-right
government.
Despite a number of reservations expressed by delegates, the party
confirmed on Friday evening it was willing to consider entering
coalition as a minority party when some 75% or 80% of hands were raised
in support of motion eleven.
This came despite the knowledge that no junior party has survived
propping up a Fine Gael or Fianna Fail government unscathed, and two of
them — the Progressive Democrats and Democratic Left — have
disappeared entirely from the political stage. Two others, the Labour
party and the Green Party, have been decimated to a tiny fraction of
their previous support.
However, Sinn Fein’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty argued the case in
a forceful speech. He insisted Sinn Fein must look at any proposal for
government and judge each one on its merits. This is not about power but
change, he said, adding a final decision would be made by the members of
the party at a further special convention.
Sligo/Leitrim TD Martin Kenny said Sinn Fein was right to be cautious
about entering a coalition but it must make itself “uncomfortable” and
“take risks” to ensure the party had a voice in government.
“We must ensure we do nothing to give our opponents an excuse to beat
us,” referring to previous criticism by the other parties of Sinn Fein’s
failure to enter negotiations on forming a government after the last
election.
The party’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald confirmed the vote meant
Sinn Fein was willing to go into coalition with either Fianna Fail or
Fine Gael after the next election.
“This is not about signing up to say we want to be a junior party, this
is us saying we believe that we are ready,” she said.
“We have made it clear we will talk to anybody after the election. I do
not think it is fundamentally democratic to think they have a divine
right to discount others.”
A final decision on entering a coalition will still have to be taken by
a special Ard Fheis, convened for that purpose, although it would be
expected to certainly endorse the leadership position.
Despite the collapse of power-sharing in the North and upheaval in Sinn
Fein over allegations of bullying and ‘whisper campaigns’ by party
management, this year’s annual conference has again seen no protest by
party grassroots against the leadership.
However, control of the party is now in a degree of flux, with an old
guard bring edged out to make way for a new, more career-minded
leadership.
Martin McGuinness, whose death this year which accelerated this process,
was remembered fondly in tributes over the weekend. Party leader Gerry
Adams is this evening expected to signal that his 34 years as Sinn Fein
President will come to an end. One of his own advisers was quoted in the
media urging him to go as his leadership “caps our potential growth”.
Mr Adams’s full presidential address will be carried here later today.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »