A Complex Peace

By AM Wednesday, August 31, 2011

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Tonight the Pensive Quill carries a stimulating piece by guest writer Henry Reid, Deputy National Chaplain of the AOH in the US. It was first published in The National Hibernia Digest.

Since my appointment as Deputy National Chaplain, I have been fielding questions on my position on Northern Ireland, and my immediate response is that I have always loved Donegal, but if you are talking about the six counties, it gets a little more complex. Complex is probably the best word to describe the situation in the Six, as well as my position on what is happening there. A friend asked me if I was opposed to the peace process. First of all, I am a priest, a Christian, and have many people that I care about living in Ireland, many of them in the British controlled section, who I worry about. I am all in favor of peace. But we also have to look at what we mean by peace. This is where it gets complex, because as well as being a priest, I am also an Irish Republican, and it is my firm belief that only through the establishment of a 32 county sovereign Republic, can there be any hope of peace, because only through a United Irish Republic can justice be assured for all. That being said, I don’t necessarily agree with the “peace” process that has been pursued by Sinn Fein (and for the sake of brevity and sanity I am not going to refer to them as Provisional Sinn Fein, as this is the one everyone recognizes as SF), since I think much has been sacrificed for various reasons, but peace and justice will not be served by the current direction.

Before I go any further, let me explain my position on “dissident” Republicans. Politically, I can see where there would be a great deal of frustration, not only among the older leaders who sacrificed their youth to the cause of an Irish Republic, only to see (remember it’s about perceptions) Gerry Adams and others abandon these principles. Keep in mind, many of the men and women that lead these “dissident” groups were involved in Irish Republicanism before Gerry Adams or Martin McGuinness were, some of them served alongside of the two. I think the biggest tragedy with the political groups is that they represent a failure of dialogue within Republicanism; the leadership of Sinn Fein failed to listen to its base (and for those who disagree with this last part, I’ll tell you later on why I’m not). As for the military wings of these different groups, I wish they would take their weapons and put them up in their attics for the next ten years, or more. Do I dispute that Irish Republicans have a right to be armed? No, especially since I believe that the right to keep and bear arms is a God given right of every free man and woman, that’s why it’s enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the United States. Neither do I deny them the right to the armed struggle, since it was the armed struggle that forced the British government to negotiate with Irish Republicans for peace, but this is just not the time. Now is the time for talking, for dialogue, and for envisioning what a future Irish Republic will look like.

There has also been a lot of talk about the killing of a Catholic PSNI officer by members of the RIRA. Is it tragic? Yes. Should it have happened? No. But I have a big problem with Sinn Fein and others exploiting this young man’s death for their own political agenda, or to use it as a club to silence anybody that may oppose the current political strategy. There are three concerns I have with the PSNI (Policing Service of Northern Ireland): 1) Before the Good Friday Agreement, the RUC, predecessor to the PSNI, numbered 16,000, which was 10,000 more than recommended by the European commission on policing, for the size of the population. The PSNI should only have 6,000 members. 2) Many of the members of the PSNI are former RUC men, who should not be allowed to police a herd of goats, let alone human beings. The human rights violations committed by them should have resulted in War Crimes charges, not pensions and promotions. 3) While Sinn Fein and others are complaining that the quota of Catholics (50% of the force) has not been realized, I object to the way that the Catholic recruitment was pursued. Advertisements in Polish language newspapers in Ireland, England, the US and Poland assisted in the recruitment of many Catholics, who really don’t give a damn about Ireland or the Irish. 4) While I can recognize that many young Catholics in the six counties viewed a position with the PSNI as a job, as a way to better themselves, and I realize that not all of them came from Irish Nationalist, let alone Republican, families, it is a concern that they are now committed to defending the interests of the British Crown above all else, since their careers and pensions depend upon continued British rule.

As far as Sinn Fein goes, am I completely opposed to them? No. In fact I see that they could be the best chance of achieving an Irish Republic with the next generation. However, there is also the possibility that they could destroy everything Irish Republicans have struggled for over the past 213 years. I disagree with Sinn Fein on their abortion policy, not only as a Catholic priest, but as an Irish Republican; the Right to Life is the fundamental right of any human being, denial of that right is the denial of all other rights. As for Socialist politics, Sinn Fein has to make up their mind whether they are a Marxist group or not, instead of speaking Marxism on the Falls Road and Free Trade on 5th Ave. It is also discouraging to see Sinn Fein use tactics that were used for years by the British government against Republicans, to criminalize and isolate those who disagree with them. One of the big lies has been that all those opposed to the Sinn Fein leadership are lunatics wanting to turn back the clock, while many of those who have broken away, or been run out, had a long history with the party. Groups like Eirígí formed when members of Sinn Fein, many of whom had been advocates of the Good Friday Agreement, could not have their voices and concerns heard by the leadership. This was especially true over the issues of policing, and the abandonment of the Good Friday Agreement by Sinn Fein, in favor of the St. Andrew’s Accord, which was never approved by the Irish people. Yet all those who dare to challenge the Leadership are dismissed as opposed to the GFA, or told they do not know what they are talking about. Somebody asked me recently what gave me the right to talk about the situation in the six counties; my response is that God gave me Freedom of Speech. But if you want to know what makes me believe I am able to speak about the subject, without sounding like an idiot spouting off whatever some politician or party tells me to, then I would have to say: over 20 years of Irish Academic studies, an MA in Irish History, post-graduate research work in Irish History, living in Belfast for a couple of years, and for various periods before that, being active in the Irish Republican movement here and in Ireland, even when it was not popular or politically correct.

The fact is, I support peace in Ireland, but peace must come with justice, and anyone who advocates the democratic process, while at the same time silencing dissenting voices is not a champion of peace.