Ireland: unionists demand IRA's public surrender
12 December 2004

The latest attempt to relaunch the suspended institutions of devolved government in Northern Ireland has ended once more in impasse. Although the IRA's declared their readiness to enter the end-game of disarmament and disbandment, the Democratic Unionist Party with one eye to next year's British elections, threw a spanner in the works by demanding the public humiliation of the IRA.

A system of power-sharing was agreed within the Stormont assembly outside Belfast - which did nothing to overcome the antagonisms between the anti-unionist minority, led by Sinn Fein and the unionist parties of the Ulster Unionist Party and DUP. Rather the arrangement for the selection of ministers and voting merely locked in the confessional and sectarian nature of the political process, inhibiting the emergence of class-based parties and politics.

In fact ten years on from the Belfast Agreement polarisation between anti-unionist and unionist parties is starker then ever. This is due to the rise to prominence of the protestant fundamentalist party, the DUP, within the unionist camp and the eclipse of the constitutional nationalist party the SDLP by the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein. Indeed, the recent talks became necessary after SF and the DUP became the majority parties in a North more polarised than ever in recent elections.

During this round of talks, as in the Leeds Castle talks, the DUP refused to talk directly - formally or informally - to SF. As one commentator put it, 'it was like trying to arrange a shotgun wedding with smoke signals!' Nevertheless, the Leeds talks had convinced the DUP that there was no going back to 'majoritisation'.
The key points of the proposed agreement were that:
IRA would decommission all weapons by end of December "in a way which further enhances public confidence"

• IRA would instruct members to desist from all actions that would endanger the agreement
• De Chastelain's Commission would confirm decommissioning with photographs taken which would be shown to the governments and parties, and made public once the Assembly is up and running
• DUP would agree to work in an inclusive Executive
• Sinn Fein would agree to hold an Ardfheis to decide on its support for new policing arrangements
• A shadow Assembly would be set up in January; a committee would work on a policing agreement
• Suspension of Assembly would be lifted in February; First and Deputy first Minister would be confirmed by Assembly in March
• Britain would enact legislation for the devolution of criminal justice and policing early in the summer.
• A shadow executive being set up in January
• Devolved government in April
• Setting up of policing and judiciary in June
  

In accepting all these proposals, the DUP clearly demonstrated its preparedness to accept all the basics of the GFA, including its willingness o sit on an Executive with Sinn Fein. In fact so much so that UUP's Trimble complained of it conceding too much to republicans in negotiations.

(It should not be forgotten that the DUP has worked with SF on the Belfast City Council for 20 years. As Alex Maskey, former SF mayor, pointed out, "There isn't a committee both parties isn't [sic] on. They operate the d'Hondt system for rotating chairmanship. We've been to China together and we've been to Tralee." ).

However this preparedness to accept all of the above proposals was always premised on the IRA's demonstrable total de-commissioning i.e. surrender. Paisley would not die 'a Lundy'. (Ludicrously, the day Blair & Ahern had earmarked in for the announcement of the results of the talks had to be postponed because it turned out to be the 7th of December, Lundy Day!) As the days went by, the demand for surrender became a demand for the IRA's humiliation with the focus on the surrender being photographed.

Sinn Fein have accepted all the key points - including policing - of the recent agreement by the the British & Irish governments, all that is, accept the issue of photographs being taken of IRA de-commissioning. Throughout the negotiations Sinn Fein said that it was ready for the final "de commission" on top of the one-third disarmament it has undertaken already and begin to disband its volunteers. They were prepared to do this under the supervision of the De-Chastelain Commission set up according to the terms of the GFA. They even agreed to the presence of 2 ministers, one Protestant and one Catholic. They stopped short of the photograph. Adams rightly pointed out that this was about humiliating the republican movement.

The issue of the photo or series of photos was clearly a ploy by the DUP to appeal to its constituency with only a few short months to the election. (For in reality a photo would no more show that total de-commissioning had taken place, than the word of De-Chastelain. What the DUP want is to have a trophy for the elections, a victory trophy.) Paisley & Co will not soften this stance this side of the British general election in May. The DUP & Sinn Fein are already in election mode. So the DUP was 'sticking to its photo', as one commentator coined it. This became to stumbling block.

There were other issues of contention such as the question of the OTR's (on the run's - provos in hiding), Southern senate representation of Assembly members and Castlereagh but these were not irresolvable. The PD's in the South made a big issue of the release of the killers of Garda Gerry Mc Cabe, but this was always seen as politicking to maintain their constituency around the Limerick area. Likewise the issue of IRA criminality. None of the unionist parties stated these as major issues. The key issue became the visual evidence of IRA surrender.

The upcoming British general elections make it very likely that there will be no resolution this side of the elections. What these recent talks have shown however, is that Sinn Fein & the DUP will eventually do a deal and work together. When that happens it will represent a final surrender, for the DUP have made it very clear that they will only sit on an Executive with Sinn Fein when the 'IRA have gone away'. Finally.