Sinn Fein to meet the Queen

man.about.town wrote: »

no, i dont know how clearer i can be but ill have a go. after may 2011 with the success of both visits (queen elizabeths/obamas). fine gael and labour both gained popularity, sinn fein lost popularity which im guessing was to do with the way they acted during the visits, plus all i could see was scumbags out at there protesting on there behalf, it certainly wasnt decent people!! anyway, its been over a year since then and what im trying to explain to you is that its obvious to me why sinn fein are gaining popularity because there in opposition and make believe land. they have no clear cut plan. its not hard for an opposition party to gain popularity in a recession!!!!!!!!!

blahfckingblah wrote: »

you obviously have a chip on your shoulder, you guessed that it was a sinn fein protest despite having no evidence and ignored the eirigi flag in the centre background to try validate your point.

The Queen of England visits Ireland – An IRA Volunteer's View!

There is a lot of comment regarding the upcoming visit of the British Queen to Ireland. I think that is hardly surprising as it is momentous and I am sure that it is difficult to accept for some people on all sides of this argument. I decided to set out some of my views on this as a former prisoner of war and someone who has been active in all aspects of resistance to British Rule in Ireland throughout my life.

Context

Our country is partitioned and the British State is the agency that imposed that partition and sustained the unjust sectarian statelet that was the 6 counties. Despite all the attempts to claim that we were engaged in a sectarian war – I can assure you that my comrades and I were in no doubt, the war we fought was against the British state. We did so until we succeeded in forcing the British state to the negotiating table.

After the most sustained period of armed struggle in our history, and the most damaging to Britain and her interests we were able to force a negotiated settlement. We did not get our United Socialist Republic, at this stage. But we did get a settlement that we had to assess and analyse; taking into account our long-term strategic objectives, the efficacy of various options available and the moral imperative that armed struggle should only be used when there are no other methods open.

The vast majority of Irish republicans (and the vast majority of the Irish nation in a referendum) accepted the Good Friday Agreement as an acceptable arrangement at this stage. Irish Republicans made it clear that we did not think it gave us everything we were struggling for and that it did not settle the issue between ourselves and Britain. We did accept however that it did give us enough to allow us, for the first time in history, to complete our journey by peaceful and democratic means. The struggle was not over but would change in character to become a political and social struggle for a United Ireland.

Constitutional Position.

The British agreed FOR THE FIRST TIME to abandon their claim to the 6 Counties. The removal of the Government of Ireland Act means that Britain has NO CHOICE but to legislate for withdrawal from our country as soon as a majority within the 6 Counties votes for that. That was not the case so long as the Government of Ireland Act remained on the British statute books.

This is a big compromise by us as we do not accept that any part of Ireland has the right to prevent our reunification and independence. But Britain has abandoned its territorial claim and their presence was now solely on the basis of the wishes of a section of the Irish people. Our challenge is to win a majority in this part of Ireland.

Winning that majority is something that Republicans should be committed to in any case as we aspire to the following

“The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.”

Given all of this the current situation is that we have entered a phase of struggle in which we seek to reunite our people and bring about the “cordial union” as the founders of the United Irishmen declared.

Governance arrangements for 6 Counties

New governance arrangements were drawn up for the 6 Counties. These arrangements were innovative and unique to here.

An assembly was established that was of such a size and elected by such a method that maximised representation for smaller parties and ensures inclusivity. Even though Sinn Fein is the largest or second largest party in the North, at this time – I still welcome this aspect of the assembly structure.

The members of the assembly do not swear any oath or make any declaration of allegiance to the UK, the Queen or any other aspect of the British presence in Ireland.

The Executive is drawn from the assembly in accord with the D'Hondt mechanism of Proportional Representation which guarantees a position in Government for all parties, that wish to avail of it, according to their electoral strength as demonstrated in the election to the assembly.

None of the ministers, including the First and Deputy First Ministers, swear any oath or make any declaration of allegiance to the UK, the Queen or any other aspect of the British presence in Ireland. This, by the way, should be pointed out to any of those who claim that Martin McGuinness or anyone else in the 6 Counties Executive are Ministers of the Crown – They are not!

All-Ireland institutions are to be established and they are to expand and grow to deliver better governance across the whole of Ireland. (Often described as all-Island for those who find the use of all-Ireland too challenging at this stage).

There are bilateral and multi-lateral relations with Britain and its constituent parts. Given the clear evolution of Scotland towards independence, these bilateral relations might well turn out to be the most de-stablising for the Union of any of the structures arising out of the Good Friday Agreement,

Government at all levels must act in accordance with certain principles which include the duties of openness, transparency, equality and the promotion of Good Relations. Now here is where the struggle is fought most keenly and is where the building blocks of the new “Cordial Union” will be built on this island.

Constitutional Issue

It should be recalled that the President of Ireland now visits the 6 Counties on a regular basis – and is received by all sections of the community here. Unionists have greeted and entertained successive Irish Presidents for many years now. Of course they will say that they do not greet the President as their head of state but as a guest to the North while most Nationalists and Republicans will greet the President as Head of State.Whilst the visit of the Queen of England to the 6 Counties is being conducted a part of her Jubilee celebrations and includes several engagements that will be enthusiastically attended by Unionists. I am told that several SDLP members are planning to attend the party in Stormont but this will not be attended by anyone from Sinn Fein.

But Martin McGuinness is meeting the British Queen but not in her capacity as Head of State. He is meeting her in the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, in her capacity as the co-patron of an all Ireland charity – Co-operation Ireland. She is attending that on an equal basis to the President of Ireland who is the other co-patron. There is no question of the British Queen or President Higgins attending this function as head of state. The protocol is very clear on this and there is no constitutional implications of the meeting in that context.

Community Relations.The unionist community will be celebrating this visit and indulging in a degree of Jubilee frolics and they have a right to do this. Most people will have read of the euphoria around visits by the Irish President to the Irish Community in Britain and no-one in Britain objected to the Irish flag being widely displayed and the Irish National Anthem being played. Several British politicians have attended many of these functions.

Of course, in Ireland, there is a particular need for everyone to be sensitive at times like this and this is especially so given the British monarch’s relationship with various British regiments. The British Monarch has a responsibility to be sensitive to the feelings of the victims and survivors of state violence.

Many people including many Irish Republicans who opposed her visit to Dublin have acknowledged that two important gestures were made by the British Queen at that time. She visited and laid a wreath, bowing her head in respect, at the Garden of Remembrance to those who gave their lives fighting Britain for Irish freedom. That is as it should be and can be seen between many countries that were once at at war.

At another event she acknowledged that there were many things Britain had done that ought to have been done differently or not all at all. This is the nearest any British monarch has ever come to apologising for crimes committed under colonialism. It is only a few decades ago that she refused to apologise to the Indian people for the massacre at Amritsar even as she visited that city. So the words spoken in Dublin are significant.

SummaryI believe as an undefeated and unrepentant IRA volunteer and a Sinn Fein member that we are in a very different place from where we were when I took up arms against the British State.

I still repudiate any claim to any of our territory by Britain and am working hard to bring about the United Ireland that I have pledged my allegiance to.

I think we can now achieve this by peaceful and democratic means thanks to the sacrifice of Irish Volunteers and their families over generations and in particular in the last phase of armed struggle.

I believe that the phase of struggle we are now engaged in is one of nation building where we are seeking to heal “the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.”

I believe that this gesture by Martin McGuinness does not compromise any constitutional principles as he is not meeting her as head of the so-called UK state.

I believe that in giving this space to Unionists we are demonstrating that we are serious about “cherishing all the children of the nation equally” and that Unionists have nothing to fear from the United Ireland that we will achieve.

This will not be universally accepted by Republicans. I find it a stretch myself. People are entitled to disagree with me and to put forward an alternative view. But we should all disagree honestly and not distort the real position.

Martin McGuinness is not a British Minister and is not a minister of the crown.Martin McGuiness is not meeting the British Queen as the head of state.

You’re entitled to disagree but you’re not entitled to twist the truth.

I can tell you that I am the same Irish Republican I was the day I joined the IRA and the day I took part in my first attack on the British State. I am the same Irish Republican I was when I refused to bow the knee in a dock and was sent to prison by the British State. And I can assure you that I am the same Irish republican today when I refused to shirk the political challenges that this phase in our freedom struggle demands!

Three different phases of struggle, all leading to the same goal; a United Democratic Socialist Irish Republic.

junder wrote: »

Equal? She is the head of a state, he failed to be one

Patrick Cleburne wrote: »

Sean Gallagher beat Martin Mcguinness in the Irish Republic which says it all.

Laminations wrote: »

Now SF expenses - that's current

Laminations wrote: »

Well its happened. All done. So in the best Sinn Fein spirit 'its in the past, lets move on'

Now SF expenses - that's current

Happyman42 wrote: »

Sean Gallagher has been run out of politics, as is right. Martin however, hasn't gone away, you know.

hyperborean wrote: »

What bigots are you on about?

junder wrote: »

You keep telling yourself that