Gerry Adams's Blog, page 53
June 18, 2015
Collusion - Britain’s shameful record on human rights
The British establishment knows something about hypocrisy and brass-necked politics. Especially when it comes to Ireland. This week was a case in point. The British media extensively covered the celebration of the signing 800 years ago by the English King John in 1215 of the Magna Carta.
The long history of colonisation between England and Ireland left no room for celebration on this island. While they were busy taking from the Irish the English Barons – fed up with the abusive behaviour of King John - but more importantly wanting a greater share of the economic spoils and of political power – demanded that John agree to a charter that would limit the power of the King.
The Charter was essentially the Barons telling John that he was not above the law and to back off from excessive taxes. However, within a couple of months the English King retracted it all and secured the support of the Pope, in a papal bull, in renouncing this ‘illegal, unjust, harmful to royal rights and shameful to the English people.’
Standing at the site of the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede British Prime Minister David Cameron waxed lyrical about human rights and how people around the world ‘see how the great charter shaped the world for the best part of a millennium helping to promote arguments for justice and freedom…’
He then signalled his government’s intention again to repeal the Human Rights Act and to end Britain’s involvement with the European Convention on Human Rights. These are two key foundation stones for the Good Friday Agreement. They are essential elements of that historic peace treaty and of subsequent agreements, especially in respect of policing and justice.
The European Convention on Human Rights has been an indispensable tool in holding successive British governments to some sort of account for their human rights violations in the north during the years of conflict. And for that reason, as well as because he wants to pander to the anti-EU element of his party, Cameron wants to tear it up.
His performance at the Magna Carta celebrations was, as the Director of Liberty described it as a ‘masterclass in bare-faced cheek.’ Allan Hogwarth of Amnesty International put it nicely. He said: ‘David Cameron’s use of the anniversary of the Magna Carta to justify scrapping the Human Rights Act will have those 13th century Barons spinning in their highly ornate, lead lined coffins.’
But that’s only part of the story.
Another and more deadly aspect of British policy in Ireland was put under the spotlight in an RTE documentary on Monday night - How Police & soldiers helped terrorists kill & maim in Northern Ireland: Collusion - An Investigation. It brought into sharp focus the role of the British state, at its highest political level, in planning, ordering and sanctioning state murder on a massive scale.
Much of what it contained was not new. The BBC spotlight programme of a few weeks ago touched on the same issue. And for citizens in the north collusion has been part of the political agenda for decades. It took 30 years for RTE to make this programme. So, for many citizens in the south it was their first real opportunity to see the reality of Britain’s dirty war in Ireland. While David Cameron and others in that establishment were speaking of the great record of Britain in defending human rights the truth of that lie was being laid bare on RTE. The policy of state sponsored collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads was part and parcel of Britain’s political and military strategy in the six counties. In her essential work on this issue – Lethal Allies – Anne Cadwallader of the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that it was an ‘inescapable fact, established beyond doubt by these events’ that ‘successive British governments and their law enforcement agencies entered into a collusive counter-insurgency campaign with loyalist paramilitaries. It was thoroughly unethical – and it failed dismally. It was also illegal under international law.’Regrettably successive Irish government’s failed to uphold the rights of the hundreds of Irish citizens who were killed or the thousands more who were injured, imprisoned or tortured, as a consequence of British policy. The most obvious example of this is the Dublin Monaghan bombs which killed 33 citizens. But there are also the deaths of Councillor Eddie Fullerton, of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters who were killed in Dundalk and of Seamus Ludlow and others.The SDLP, Irish governments and others used to regularly ridicule claims of collusion. No longer. Nor can it be dismissed as a ‘few bad apples’. It was pervasive and strategic and policy driven by the British government from 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet, to its military and intelligence agencies.The emotional and psychological cost of collusion is still felt by families and survivors across Ireland, including the families of Sinn Féin members and family members who were killed.I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach twice this week in the Dáil. I urged him to meet with Relatives for Justice. The Taoiseach should be a champion of this agreement and particularly those elements which are within the authority of the governments.
As a co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday and subsequent agreements he has a responsibility to press the British government to move ahead with the implementation of thoseelements of the Stormont House Agreement that deal with the past and legacy issues. They have the authority to advance many of the protocols dealing with the past.
These include: the establishment of the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU); putting in place processes that are victim centred; improving Legacy inquests to ensure that they are conducted to comply with ECHR Article 2 requirements; ensuring that both governments provide full disclosure to the HIU; and establish the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR). The Taoiseach should press Mr. Cameron to implement all other elements of the Stormont House Agreement that are the responsibility of the two governments.
In this way the bereaved families and victims will have access to mechanisms that can help to bring truth and justice and closure.
Finally, it is worth recalling some of the bald statistics of collusion:· The Glennane Gang which was responsible for up 150 murders, including the Dublin Monaghan bombings, was made of agents and serving members of the RUC and UDR.
· The Stevens Inquiry found that of 210 Loyalist it identified, 207 were agents for elements of the British security services.
· Stevens recommended the arrest and prosecution of 24 Special Branch officers and British Army handlers of loyalist killers for their involvement in scores of murders. The British government refused to arrest or prosecute those responsible.
· DaSilva found that 85% of all Loyalist Intelligence came from the British agencies.
· British intelligence agencies armed loyalists, provided intelligence, and safe passage, and covered up their activities.
· The former head of RUC Special Branch Raymond White recalls how he raised the issue of the use of agents and collusion with former British PM Thatcher only for his concerns to be dismissed. He was essentially told: “carry on – just don’t get caught”.
Published on June 18, 2015 09:13
June 12, 2015
A Biblical crisis
With the good weather in the Mediterranean the numbers of refugees seeking to cross to Europe has dramatically increased. Last weekend an estimated 7000 men, women and children were rescued from the Sea off the coast of Libya. They were among the 100,000 refugees and migrants who have arrived illegally in Europe since the start of the year. That’s close to the entire population of West Belfast. The Irish Naval Service described the number of migrants being rescued as "biblical" in proportion. In the same period almost 2000 refugees have drowned. In one terrifying event an estimated 900 refugees drowned when a boat capsized. Many of those victims died because the traffickers locked refugees, including women and children, in the ship’s hold.
Since then hundreds more have drowned. Almost every day graphic and distressing images emerge of boat loads of refugees. They are fleeing wars and civil wars in Syria and Libya, Somalia and Nigeria and many of the other conflicts taking place in that region of the world. Like our ancestors fleeing the Great Hunger in Coffin Ships they are also fleeing famine and poverty in sub-saharan Africa.Too often help for the refugees on these overcrowded boats comes too late. Boats sink and refugees drown. The statistics of death and tragedy in the Mediterranean are distressing.
The most recent United Nations report states that:
· In one week in April 10,000 Migrants were rescued.
· 218,000 refugees are estimated to have crossed the Mediterranean in 2014
· 3,500 Migrants died attempting the crossing last year
In May Pope Francis appealed to the international community to prevent drownings in the Mediterranean. He described those who died taking the perilous journey as: “Men and women like us who seek a better life. Hungry, persecuted, injured, exploited, victims of wars. They were looking for happiness".Of the many conflicts in that part of the world the most disastrous at this time is in Syria. It is an inconceivable human tragedy. As many as 300,000 people have been killed in a war that is now in its fifth year. The number of refugees is unprecedented. About 3 million Syrians have fled their country, and an additional 6.5 million are internally displaced.
International organizations do what they can, but they have limited resources and conditions in the conflict areas are dangerous. Conditions are appalling. Children are especially vulnerable.Last year the number of asylum applicants to EU nations rose by 44 percent with the total reaching six hundred and twenty six thousand. Eurostat, the EU agency responsible for statistics, has reported that one hundred and ninety one thousand more people applied for asylum in European countries in 2014 than in the previous year.
The number of Syrian asylum applicants rose to one over hundred thousand, more than twice the previous year. Germany, Italy, Hungary, Sweden and France have all reported significant increases in asylum requests. In May the Foreign Ministers of the EU met and produced a ten point plan. EU leaders met several days later and approved this plan. Since then it has begun to fall apart under the strains of its own inadequacy.
The EU leaders proposed that the EU states would resettle 5,000 immigrants. When set against the numbers trying to get into Europe this is a derisory figure. They also came up with the idea of offering migrants return travel packages. Is it reasonable to expect that refugees would accept a travel scheme that sends them back to the war, to poverty or famine they are trying to escape from?
They then announced a quota scheme for EU member states. The proposal was that numbers of refugees would be allocated to each state based on economic and social factors. The British Tory government and the French and Spanish governments have now opposed the quota system.So too have the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. In remarks three weeks President Hollande insisted that all purely economic migrants would be deported. He warned that: “People who come because they think that Europe is a prosperous continent, even when they are not hired by companies ... must be escorted back.”
Unless effective and compassionate immigration rules are introduced, and substantial aid is provided to the home nations, asylum seekers will increasingly be forced to turn to the human traffickers. They will also be forced to remain in Libya which is in a state of chaos.Recently, the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, addressed the UN Security Council seeking support for military action against the people traffickers. It cannot progress without the support of Libya. However, with two rival governments in that country there is no evidence that this agreement is imminent.
Amnesty International has warned that military action could leave migrants trapped in Libya in desperate conditions. A recent Amnesty report entitled "Libya is full of cruelty" has given graphic accounts of the plight of refugees in Libya where abduction, and torture and rape are widespread.
If the EU organises military action against the traffickers but leaves refugees trapped in Libya how will that ease the humanitarian crisis?
The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol are there to help and protect refugees. According to their provisions, refugees deserve, as a minimum, the same standards of treatment enjoyed by other foreign nationals in a given country and, in many cases, the same treatment as nationals. Nor should a refugee be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom. This must be a fundamental right accorded to those who might be stopped entering the EU. But clearly much more is needed.
The colonial record and the more recent policies of some European countries toward north Africa and the Middle East have contributed enormously to the difficulties in this region.
Tackling the issue of migrant refugees means taking a stand against those from either the extreme right or left, be they fundamentalists, bigots, racists or homophobes, who seek to impose by violence and intimidation their values on others.The European Union needs to do more to help the economic migrants and the political refugees. It needs to pro-actively participate in initiatives to end the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere in the region.
It especially means Europe pushing harder for a resolution of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. For many this conflict lies at the heart of much of what is happening in that region today.
Published on June 12, 2015 09:40
June 4, 2015
The IBRC scandal won’t go away
It was once famously said that a week is a long time in politics. Make that a day. For weeks the government parties in Dublin have been rejecting any suggestion that there should be a Commission of Investigation established to look into the activities of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.
Yesterday, in the face of an increasing storm of popular and political protest the government did a sharp u-turn and announced the very Commission of Investigation it has been vigorously and vociferously opposing. Then last night an email appeared in my inbox from the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, outlining draft Terms of Reference for the Commission and asking for Sinn Féin’s opinion of them.
It’s all a far cry from the government’s Programme for Government four years ago in which the two government parties claimed that a “democratic revolution” had taken place and that they were committed to openness and transparency.
The events of the last few days and weeks have exposed the shallowness of those claims and the disdain in which the government holds the Dáil and Seanad.
The roots of this current crisis lie in the nationalisation of Anglo-Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society and the creation from them of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. Its function was to sell off assets and reduce the bank debt that the state was taking on as a result of the economic collapse. Among the assets sold was a company called Siteserv. The controversial circumstances around this have been at the centre of a very public debate which for a time last week bordered on a constitutional crisis.
Siteserv had borrowed €150 million from Anglo Irish Bank. IBRC then sold Siteserv to Millington, a company owned by businessman Denis O Brien. It paid €45.42 million. Tax payers lost €105 million and shareholders, including chief executives at the company, received €4.96 million for a busted company. Subsequently Siteserv won the contract for the imposition of water meters.
In 2012 Pearse Doherty and I submitted a range of Parliamentary Questions about IBRC. The responses from government were less than fulsome. More recently Independent TD Catherine Murphy spent a year asking a series of Freedom of Information questions. She faced evasion and prevarication. When pressed on RTE about why Catherine Murphy had to ask 19 Parliamentary Questions before she receved a comprehensive reply the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said that the questions were “adequately answered” and “you don’t produce full files when one specific question is asked.”
As a result of Teachta Murphy’s efforts we now know that O'Brien’s company was not the highest bidder for Siteserv.
We also know that the Minister for Finance was briefed by Department of Finance officials about their concerns about this deal and other transactions involving IBRC. For example, €64 million was written off for Blue Ocean Associates before being purchased by a consortium, also involving, Denis O'Brien. The government ignored these concerns.
I raised this issue in the Dáil with the Taoiseach and demanded that the government establish an independent Commission of Investigation to look into all these matters. The government refused and chose instead to appoint the special liquidators, who had helped close IBRC down, to review all transactions at IBRC over €10 million. The liquidators are from KPMG auditors which oversaw the sale of Siteserv.
Sinn Féin and others on the opposition were justifiably angry at an ‘insider’ review process that was less than transparent and involved the same individuals and company involved in the original sale of Siteserv.
RTE then acquired information on Denis O Brien’s dealings with IBRC. O’Brien, reputedly Ireland’s richest businessman, went to the High Court to prevent the information from being broadcast. On May 18thhe successfully secured an injunction against RTE, or any other Irish media, carrying any of the detail of his private financial dealings with IBRC. The media was effectively gagged.
Last Thursday, May 28th, Catherine Murphy introduced a Private Members Bill into the Dáil. It was supported by 45 TDs including Sinn Féin. The purpose of the Comptroller and General Auditor (Amendment) Bill was to try and ensure that IBRC would be subject to independent scrutiny by that agency and not by the ‘insiders’ who had been appointed by the Minister for Finance and who were part of the original sale by IBRC of Siteserv and other companies. Ms Murphy told the Dáil: “It is a web of connections and conflicts that requires outside eyes to unravel.”
The Independent TD also used parliamentary privilege to read into the record of the Dáil her understanding of the details of Mr. O’Brien’s arrangements with IBRC which were the subject of the court injunction. These were published in the Dáil record several hours later and are available online at www.oireachtas.ie
The media interpreted the court injunction as a bar on the carrying by it of any report of Catherine Murphy’s remarks. Mr. O’Brien claimed her information is wrong. Ms Murphy defends her sources.
Article 15, section 12 of the Irish constitution is very explicit in its endorsement of Dáil privilege and the right of those to publish remarks made within the Oireachtas. The court injunction and refusal of the Irish media to publish Teachta Murphy’s remarks for a time created a political furore and a significant constitutional crisis.
On Tuesday the legality of the issues were back for debate in the High Court where Mr. Justice Binchy confirmed that it was never his intention to silence TDs in the Dáil or to inhibit the media in reporting on matters arising in the Dáil. So, absolute Dáil privilege has been restored.
But the whole affair has raised a number of important issues of concern.
Firstly, neither the Taoiseach Enda Kenny nor the government demonstrated any leadership on this issue. No one from the government rushed to defend the rights of the Oireachtas and of Oireachtas members. They did not ask the Attorney General to clarify the issue of Dáil privilege nor did they go to court to assert it. The government left it to the media. A clear abdication of their constitutional and political responsibility.
Secondly, the government refused my request and that of other TDs to recall the Dáil to debate this very important matter of public concern.
Thirdly, the issue which gave rise to this controversy has not been resolved. The decision by the government to eventually concede a Commission of Investigation into IBRC is only part of the answer to this. I have written to the Taoiseach setting out a range of suggestions for strengthening the ability of the Commission of Investigation to get to the truth.
I am not hopeful that this government, which like Fianna Fáil before it, never takes on board what opposition parties propose, will do the right thing and amend the Terms of Reference accordingly. If it fails to do this then the Commission risks not having the confidence of the Oireachtas or of the public.
The Commission of Investigation must have the power to examine the political oversight of IBRC by the Minister for Finance and the Department of Finance. The government is trying to distance itself from all of this and from the Commission of Investigation. That is not good enough.
The Commission must also be allowed to review transactions, activities and management decisions involving KPMG in its role as special liquidator; and the government’s 31st December timeframe for completion of the report is unacceptable. There is understandable concern that there may be an election called between now and 31st December. The Investigation should be tasked to produce its report no later than 31st October 2015.
Fourthly, for those tens of thousands of families who are struggling to pay mortgages, or who cannot pay and live under the threat of eviction, and those small businesses who can’t get credit from the banks, all of this is evidence of the government’s differential treatment of banks and of the elites. Owe thousands and the state and the banks will relentlessly and ruthlessly pursue you. Owe millions and kid gloves are used.
The same concerns also exist around the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). It also has been handling billions in debts arising from the economic crash; mainly from the collapse of the construction industry. There is a lack of transparency here also.
And finally there is the a lá carte attitude of sections of the media and of some in the Dáil to the issue of Dáil privilege. Mary Lou McDonald named former politicians in the Dáil last November with alleged links to off-shore accounts following information released by a whistleblower.
She was pilloried by some of those, especially in Fianna Fáil and the government parties, who have been vocal in recent days defending Dáil privilege in respect of Catherine Murphy. The Fianna Fáil Chief Whip Seán Ó Fearghail went so far as to report her to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.
It would appear that here is one law for those who aren’t electoral competitors and another for those who are. Either Oireachtas members have absolute privilege or they don’t.
The Committee on Procedures and Privileges came out against Mary Lou. No surprise there. How will they respond, in light of the media’s rush to the High Court to defend freedom of speech, to accusations by some, including Denis O’Brien, that Catherine Murphy similarly abused privilege?
Published on June 04, 2015 15:14
May 21, 2015
Reaching Out
A few years ago I visited NUI Galway to address the students on the peace process. The hall was packed and for reasons I still don’t quite understand there were very few chairs put out for the hundreds of students who turned up. Most sat on the floor and the craic was great.I was back there again on Tuesday. The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, was in Ireland with his wife Camilla for a four day visit. At the weekend the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle met and discussed the party’s approach. On her recent visits to Ireland the British Queen Elizabeth had made clear her desire to be part of a process of reconciliation and healing. The meeting between Martin McGuinness and Queen Elizabeth in Belfast and then subsequently during a state visit by President Michael D, were widely acknowledged as historic and a boost to reconciliation efforts.It was in this context, of peace building, that I raised the possibility of Sinn Féin leaders meeting with Charles during his visit. I believed that such a meeting could be very helpful as we seek to heal the hurt of decades of conflict. Following several conversations it was agreedLater Trevor joined Martin and me for a private meeting with Charles. This engagement lasted about 20 minutes or so upstairs in an office. It was a cordial and relaxed discussion. Despite some of the difficult issues we each spoke of it was a positive conversation. We acknowledged that he and his family had been hurt and suffered great loss at Mullaghmore by the actions of Irish republicans. Martin and I said we were very conscious of this and of the sad loss of the Maxwell family whose son Paul was also killed.
We spoke also of the hurt inflicted on our friends and neighbours and on our own communities in Derry and Ballymurphy and Springhill by the actions of the Parachute Regiment and other British regiments. In 1971 and 1972 in Ballymurphy and Springhill sixteen local citizens, including three children, a mother of eight, two Catholic priests and ten unarmed men were killed by the Paras.
I also told him of the campaign by victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings to get the British Government to hand over its files about these events – believed to involve its agents - to Irish authorities.
He shared his own memories of the conflict starting in the 60s. It is obvious that he wants to play a positive role in making conflict a thing of the past. That is the Sinn Fein view also.
Thankfully the conflict is now over. Tuesday’s meeting is part of the necessary process which must now address in a more substantial way than ever before the issue of reconciliation and healing. That must mean that all victims and survivors of the conflict, who are still seeking justice and truth are given the strongest support.
Whether they were bereaved by the IRA, or by the myriad British state agencies, or through state sponsored collusion, the victims and their families and communities deserve justice. In this context it is crucial that the process of healing and of reconciliation is enhanced and strengthened.
Tuesday’s meeting in itself is a significant symbolic and practical step forward in the process of healing and reconciliation. But for substantial progress to be made the Governments and the political parties will have to build on this opportunity.Reconciliation is an enormous challenge for all of us. It is a personal process of dialogue, engagement, and compromise. It’s about healing the past and building a new, better and fairer future based on equality.
There is now a peaceful way to end partition and the union. All who want a United Ireland have a duty to embrace this and to make friends with our neighbours.
The participation of myself and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Seanadóir Trevor O Clochartaigh and other Sinn Féin leaders in the visit by Prince Charles is a measure of our commitment to resolving outstanding legacy issues and to be part of an inclusive healing and reconciliation process and a new political dispensation between the people of this island.
I have no doubt that some people will be upset at the Galway meeting. That is their right if they are victims or survivors. Others may be upset because of their politics or because they have a narrow view of the past and no real strategy for the future. That also is their right.But our resolve and responsibility is to ensure that no else suffers as a result of conflict; that no other family is bereaved; that the experience of war and of loss and injury is never repeated.This means all of us working together. That requires generosity and respect from all and for all.We are all living in a time of transition for the people of the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. I don’t have a lot in common with a member of the British royal family. But we are of the same age. We have some interests in common. These also were touched upon in our conversation. We have both been bereaved in conflict. This week’s engagements are part of the process of building relationships, breaking down barriers to understanding and creating the space – as Seamus Heaney defined it – ‘in which hope can grow.'
There are many challenges facing the political Institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement and by the popular will of the people of the island of Ireland. These challenges, which are multiple and immediate, must be overcome.
Leaders have a responsibility to lead. That is what we are trying to do. As we face into the future let all our steps be forward steps.
Published on May 21, 2015 06:03
May 20, 2015
Tiochfaidh ár ngrá - Vótáil Tá
There are no certainties in politics or when it comes to ‘the vote.’ Constitutional decisions are not taken on the basis of opinion polls. The only poll that counts is the one in which citizens exercise their democratic mandate at the poll. Opinion polls may suggest that the marriage equality referendum will be passed on Friday but only the people have the power to make that decision.As we saw recently in Britain opinion polls can be wrong. The British Labour Party was badly mauled, neither of the north’s unionist parties emerged as ‘kingmakers’, and the Tories were returned with a clear and workable majority. None of the polls forecast those outcomes. So, not for the first time the peoples’ wishes confounded the pollsters predictions.
If you have a vote in the two referendums in the 26 counties – on marriage equality and the lowering of the age for candidate in Presidential elections – then I am asking that you vote YES. If you don’t have a vote but know someone who does pick up the phone, send an email, or text or direct message them. Of the two referendums the marriage equality vote has become a litmus test for the humanity and tolerance; the understanding and compassion of society in that part of the island. It has sparked one of the most important debates in recent generations. in politics or when it comes to It has now about more than the right of a man or a woman to marry someone of the same sex.
It will in a very real and fundamental way be a profound judgement on the spirt and intent of the citizens of the south of Ireland.As an Irish republican my starting point is the Proclamation. This document, which is frequently described as the ‘mission statement’ of modern Irish republicanism, is quite definitive. It declares its resolve to ‘pursue the happiness and the prosperity of the whole nation and all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally.’
We are those children. All of us. Without exception. We are all the children of the nation.But the debate has gone beyond even this concept, this principal. It is about more than equality. It’s about happiness and inclusivity and acceptance. For too long our gay brothers and sisters have been forced by outdated law and prejudice to live a lie or to stay in the shadows.
Now as we have debated the issue of marriage equality the conversation has widened beyond the legal to the personal; beyond the constitutional to the human and emotional. I have listened to gay citizens talk openly and honestly and publicly about their lives and loves; their worries and hopes in a way I never have before. As a consequence this debate has taken on a new dynamic and imperative. It has become more than just a debate about marriage equality – it’s about the right of every single citizen to be comfortable and happy in their skin and for their difference to be embraced and loved.
Many of us are lucky to have found our soul mate. That very special person who shares our lives with us in good times and bad. Others are still searching. Why should the right to love be subject to chauvinism and bigotry and bad law?Why can’t a gay person fall in love, marry, have a family, be loved, and enjoy intimacy and happiness. Is their love somehow different from the love of heterosexual couples? Are their emotions and feelings somehow different? And why can’t the love of a gay couple be recognised and valued and accepted in the same way as that of a heterosexual couple?
Marriage, if it is to mean anything, must be about love. It’s about two people committing to each other in a very special way. No one should be barred from that experience and that commitment.All of us know citizens who are gay. They are loved members of our family; they work with us in our jobs; they are our neighbours, our friends and our comrades. They deserve the same rights and protections under the law as everyone else.
They should also have the same rights to the rituals and legal and constitutional protections of our society that provide community and family solidarity and belonging. It’s easy to be a begrudger. To insist that only your way of thinking and of behaviour is the right way. To insist that society should stick with the rules and regulations that are part of our past. But humanity is thankfully not like that. If it was we would still be living in the stone age; or only the rich and powerful would have the vote; or women would still be chattels not citizens; and the laws which govern and shape our lives would never change and society would stagnate.
Fortunately, there are always courageous people, brave people, who will make a stand against injustice. Brave citizens will endure public humiliation, imprisonment and worse to advance fairness and equality and justice.I have had the honour to meet many courageous people in the course of this referendum. Good people who don’t want to discriminate or hurt anyone. There is an opportunity on Friday May 22nd to help transform society in one part of this island and help reshape it across the whole island. Padraig Pearse in The Sovereign People says: “The end of freedom is human happiness”. This Friday we have a huge opportunity to make an awful lot of people happy, and wouldn’t that be a great thing to do on Friday. Caith do vóta, agus vótáil tá.
Published on May 20, 2015 04:39
May 15, 2015
The next battlefield

Whose vote went up or down? What are the trends? How did this party perform against that one and against past performances? The statisticians will run it all through their computers to divine future outcomes.
The short hand is pretty straight forward. The Unionist parties agreed an electoral pact against Sinn Féin and the Alliance Party and it worked in two constituencies – East Belfast and Fermanagh South Tyrone.

Despite the Sinn Féin vote rising marginally across the north, and Michelle Gildernew’s campaign attracting the highest vote of any Sinn Féin candidate, the combined unionist vote secured the Fermanagh South Tyrone seat for the Ulster Unionist Party. In the early hours of last Friday morning when the count was declared in Omagh leisure centre Tom Elliot thanked the DUP, the UUP, UKIP, the TUV and the loyal orders for his win. That was his strength.
In the context of a split nationalist vote, courtesy of the SDLP, and with a majority of one in the 2010 election, the republican ability to hold Fermanagh South Tyrone was always going to be a challenge.
Sinn Féin locally put in a huge effort. Comrades travelled from far and near to lend their hand to the campaign. Michelle fought a diligent and disciplined campaign but on the day Sinn Féin was piped at the post.
The result is a disappointment but it is temporary. As someone who once had a similar experience I am confident that Michelle and Sinn Féin will bounce back.
One early trend evident in the results is the inexorable decline of the SDLP. The nationalist vote overall dropped slightly. This was entirely down to the SDLP. For the first time in a Westminster election its vote fell below 100,000. In 2001 the SDLP took out almost 170,000 votes. In 2005 that had declined to 125,000 and last week it stood at 99,809.
The Sinn Féin vote came in at 176,232, just over 4,000 votes up on the 2010 Westminster election. But there can be no complacency in that result for the party. No sets of elections are the same. Westminster elections are different from European elections or Assembly or local elections.

Sinn Féin ran a positive, forward looking campaign. Our party platform was based on the progressive politics of Irish unity and equality for all citizens.

Much was made by our political opponents of abstentionism. All made exaggerated claims about what they would achieve in the Westminster Parliament. They were all to be ‘kingmakers’ but in the end they are little more than the court jesters. None of it was real. Even a cursory glance back at the role of smaller parties propping up the bigger parties in government at Westminster should have warned that all fared badly. Nothing of substance or long term was ever won. The bigger parties survived. The smaller parties were electorally punished.
Unionists should have been especially mindful of this but in their eagerness to spin relevance to the electorate they ignored their past treatment at the hands of Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and even David Cameron. All of these British Prime Ministers placed British self-interest and those of their own parties above the needs and interests of unionists. And time after time Unionists politicians whined about ‘betrayal’
The real politick is that substantial political change, whether in Scotland or on the island of Ireland will only occur within those places and not at Westminster.
The Liberal Democrats paid the price of keeping David Cameron in power for five years. They failed to learn the lesson of coalition politics in the south where the smaller coalition partners almost always lost votes and seats in general elections while the larger party did well.

As part of its election manifesto the Conservative party pledged to cut another €30 billion with €12 billion of this impacting on welfare, including child benefit. Cameron has also pledged that by 2017, he will hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. The stark reality of this is could be to take the north out of the European Union.
In effect the attitude of English voters will dictate the future relationship of the north with the EU. This will affect the entire island.
So, what happens next?
When all of the parties act together it is clear that we can deliver real change.
That means that all of the parties in the Executive and Assembly need to urgently develop a common approach to address the challenges presented by the new Tory government, especially their attacks on public services and jobs.
Martin McGuinness has taken the first step. He has called on all of the Assembly parties to unite against austerity and to seek the additional powers from London to grow the economy. This will be the battlefield for the next term of British Tory rule.
Finally, a word of thanks to all of our candidates and their families, and to our party activists who worked tirelessly throughout this campaign. I would also like to thank the tens of thousands who came out to support Sinn Féin and entrust us with the mandate to oppose austerity, and build an inclusive, equal and united Ireland.
Finally - finally –there are two referendum votes in the south on May 22nd and a key by-election in Carlow Kilkenny on the same day. A general election will take place to Leinster House sometime in less than a year and possibly sooner. And in exactly one year there will be Assembly elections.
Republicans have a busy and hugely important year ahead of us.
Published on May 15, 2015 06:09
May 12, 2015
James Connolly Commemoration: Government being dishonest on economic choices
The life and death of James Connolly is a story of heroism in the struggle against injustice and inequality. Connolly was born in 1868 into a poor family in an Irish ghetto in Edinburgh.
He was a self-educated man whose contribution to Ireland and to Irish labour is unequalled.
Connolly first came to Ireland as a member of the British Army. Aged 14, he forged documents to enlist to escape poverty and was posted to Cork, Dublin and later the Curragh in Kildare.
Here in Dublin Connolly met Lillie Reynolds and they married in 1890.
First and foremost Connolly was a workers' leader. In 1911 he was appointed Belfast organiser of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.
He organised the workers of Belfast, and especially the linen slaves - those thousands of young women who worked in hellish conditions in the Mills which were the backbone of Belfast’s economy.
In the years before the 1916 Rising, Connolly was central to a wave of strikes across Ireland designed to improve working conditions and wages.
The Great Lockout of 1913, here in the city of Dublin, is still recalled as one of the greatest battles between Labour and workers anywhere.
This was an epic struggle in which the Dublin bosses and owner of the Irish Independent newspaper, William Martin Murphy, set out to crush the workers and their organisations.
Eventually the Dublin workers were starved back to work. But Connolly remained defiant and continued to organise and mobilize.
Out of the Lockout emerged the Irish Citizen Army. Its task was to defend workers against the brutal attacks of police and hired thugs of the employers.
Connolly saw the Citizen Army not only as a defence force, but as a revolutionary army, dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism and imperialism.
When Connolly entered into an alliance with the IRB to participate in the 1916 Easter Rising, during the 1916 Rising he was the Commandant General of the Dublin Division of the Army of the Irish Republic – and the man whom Pearse described as ‘the guiding brain of our resistance’.
Connolly died fighting to establish a republic on this island in which the people were sovereign and citizens would be ensured their fundamental rights.
He was one of signatories of the 1916 Proclamation which guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens.
It contains a commitment to cherish all the children of the nation equally. Sadly, real equality does not exist in this society.
Partition created two conservative states, administered by two elites who entrenched their own power and privilege to the detriment of ordinary citizens.
While the North became a one-party Orange State, the South has been run since Partition by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, often with the support of the Labour Party.
The result has been the perpetuation of inequality and conservatism and the continued division of Ireland.
Following the calamity of the economic crash under the last Fianna Fáil-led Government, a Fine Gael/Labour coalition assumed office with a huge mandate for political change.
But as citizens have learned to their cost, nothing has changed.
According to the most recent CSO figures the top 10% own over half of the wealth while the poorest 20% own more than they own.
According to the ESRI, only the top 40% of households actually benefited from the last Budget with the greatest benefits going to the top 10%.
Fine Gael and Labour’s four Budgets have been the most unfair and unequal since the economic crash.
There has been a huge growth in social inequality.
A third of our children now live in consistent poverty.
Over 1,000 children are homeless in this city.
Low and middle-income earners have been severely penalised by Fine Gael and Labour.
The abolition of the PRSI ceiling, increase in VAT, the introduction of a Family Home Tax and Water Charge have significantly increased the tax bill of ordinary workers.
The abject failure to do anything practical to alleviate the plight of those in mortgage distress or those struggling with spiralling rents has further increased financial pressure on ordinary families.
These are the same damaging policies agreed by Fianna Fáil with the Troika in 2010 and implemented by Fine Gael and Labour since 2011.
These policies have already led to massive emigration and an increase in low-paid and insecure jobs.
They have accelerated the crises in our health, education and community services.
But there is a better, fairer way.
Sinn Féin advocates a reform of the tax system to ease the burden on low and middle-income earners while also increasing revenue to invest in a fair and just recovery.
In Government Sinn Féin would do this by:
● Abolishing the Property Tax and Water Charges;
● Reforming the USC to ease the burden on lower earners;
● Ensuring high-earners pay their fair share of income tax;
● Increasing employer’s PRSI to address the deficit in the Social Insurance Fund;
● Introducing a wealth tax to generate funds for investment in job creation.
Sinn Féin passionately believes that the economy must serve society, not the other way around. We would introduce measures to support and promote small and medium enterprises.
We believe that citizens are entitled to secure jobs with decent pay and conditions, adequate housing and quality public services.
Fine Gael and Labour are perpetuating a lie that it is possible to reduce the overall tax take while increasing investment in frontline services.
This approach means that high-earners will be the winners while those on low and middle incomes and citizens most dependent on public services will lose out yet again.
Sinn Féin’s economic alternative offers a route to a fair recovery. Our politics are about empowering citizens on the basis of equality.
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party seek to limit the possibilities of political engagement.
Unlike Connolly, they have no over-arching vision of a better society which politics and democracy can bring about.
It was James Connolly who coined the phrase ‘We serve neither King nor Kaiser but Ireland.’
Such clear sighted comment has no place in today’s Labour leadership.
They capitulated to the elites of the EU, to the Troika, to the bankers and the golden circles and forced working people to bear the burden for this indulgence.
It is appropriate on Connolly's anniversary that we welcome the 'Policy Principles for a Progressive Irish Government' published on May Day by the unions affiliated to the Right to Water Campaign.
These Principles are very much in line with the rights advocated by Sinn Féin for many years.
We welcome this initiative and look forward to engaging in the debate in the weeks ahead.
But debate is not enough. We need to see tangible progress to make change happen.
Citizens desperately need, for the first time ever in this State, a Government that is not led by Fine Gael nor by Fianna Fáil.
More than that, they need a progressive Government that will pursue real and viable alternative policies based on equality not austerity, rights not privilege and that will govern in the interests of the people and not the elites.
We need to show that those policies are workable and can yield actual results that will make a difference in the lives of people.
Like Connolly, we need to be both practical and visionary.
James Connolly declared that ‘the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland and the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour’.
For Connolly, socialism and national self-determination were two sides of the same coin.
In the recent Westminster elections Sinn Féin was confronted by a reactionary alliance of Tories, unionists and the Orange Order determined to halt political and social progress.
The newly re-elected Tory Government in London is wedded to austerity and this presents severe challenges for society and citizens in the North.
These include the threat of more destructive cuts to the North's budget and to the social welfare system as well as a referendum that could remove the North from the EU with obvious negative effects for all the people of this island.
It is now clearer than ever that austerity is the price of the Union.
Sinn Féin's immediate focus is to work with others to confront these challenges.
We are seeking to develop an All-Ireland alternative to the reactionary politics that has long dominated both states.
Austerity must be actively opposed no matter if it's from a Tory Government in London or a Fine Gael/Labour Party government in Dublin.
The Marriage Equality referendum on 22nd May is another opportunity to advance the cause of equality in Ireland.
Sinn Féin has been running a strong, positive campaign for a 'Yes' vote.
Every vote will count. So, I would also appeal again for everyone to join the campaign for a Yes Vote.
Kathleen Funchion, a young mother and trade unionist, is also contesting the Carlow/Kilkenny by-election under Sinn Féin's banner of equality, social justice and Irish unity.
Kathleen is in the by-election to win and such a result would be a huge boost for the cause of a fair recovery.
Sinn Féin is seeking to build an unstoppable momentum for positive political change across this island.
I am mindful also that today, the anniversary of Connolly’s execution, is also the anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Francis Hughes in the H Blocks of Long Kesh in 1981.
Those of us who were privileged to know Francie or who campaigned during that awful summer on behalf of the H Block prisoners and the Armagh women are very mindful of their sacrifices.
We are also mindful that Francie, like James Connolly was about the future.
So my friends let us continue to work to build a better future based on fairness, equality and peoples’ rights.
That will be the only fitting monument to James Connolly.
A real republic.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.
Published on May 12, 2015 07:55
May 11, 2015
Managing change will define us
Well the Westminster election is over and the shape of the next British government is now known. We also know the strengths of the parties in the north.
For the political anorak it’s an early Christmas present. The election opens up months, even years of debate and analysis. For most citizens its importance will be in who delivers jobs and housing; peace and prosperity; and how we answer critical questions around the future of the Health Service, and the threat to other public services. In the immediate term the big question will be whether the Stormont House Agreement can finally be made to work.
These are significant challenges, especially given the very different ideological positions the parties hold. And all of this will be made more problematic given that we are only 12 months away from an Assembly election.
However, there is another underlying and formidable challenge which must also be addressed. How do we break down the sectarian barriers that have bedevilled society in this part of the island since the plantation? How do we build an inclusive community?
Some progress has been made in recent years. But sectarianism remains the greatest obstacle to political stability and equality for citizens. And how could it be otherwise.
The plantation of Ulster introduced a new dynamic into Irish society. Unlike other colonies, where colour and race where the distinctive features between the colonists and natives, in Ireland, and especially in the north, it was religion. Protestants were loyal to the union. Catholics wanted independence.
The partition of the island almost 100 years ago exasperated this problem. The northern state was forged out of a sectarian headcount. Two thirds of the population was protestant and loyal to the union; and one third was Catholic and excluded and discriminated against. Neither section where well served by partition.
In the decades since then that broad political characterization of society in this part of the island has not changed. And election results for the different parties up to now have reflected this.
But under the surface change has been and is taking place.
Last week ‘The Detail’ –an investigative news and analysis website which produces in-depth reporting on issues of public interest - published several days of articles and statistics about the north. They looked at demographics, orange marches, the Irish language and much more. It is a must read for anyone interested in developments in this part of the island.
Its focus was the future and the need for political leaders to realise that however hard some may try to avoid change that they can’t. It is happening every single day. Whether you are a unionist or a nationalist, a republican or loyalist, or none of these, political and societal transformation is taking place.
The census results in December 2012 reflect this. For the first time since partition the protestant population is less than half of the north’s population. It stands at 48%. The Catholic population is identified as 45%.
But as The Detail reveals, “census data asking people to state a current religion or religious belief, showed that an increased portion fell outside the two main blocs. A total of 17% did not state a religion or indicated they had no religion”.
The erosion of previously established certainties was further highlighted when the census figures looked at the issue of ‘national identity’. Only 40% (39.89%) of citizens in the north stated that they had a British only identity. A quarter (25.26%) stated that they had an Irish only identity and just over a fifth (20.94%) had a northern Irish only identity. That’s a long way from 1920 when some two thirds of people were unionist and British. It also reflects a growth in the number of citizens who increasingly see themselves as Irish.
The figures also reveal that 11% of the population was born outside of the north. Sectarian violence has always been a major problem but in recent years racist, homophobic and hate crime have also been on the increase.
The response of the institutions in the north has, for many reasons, been inadequate in dealing with this problem. Much more is needed to provide tough measures to defend and promote the equal rights of all citizens, including the introduction of a Bill of Rights.
In the same year as the census figures were published ‘The Detail’ released figures from the annual school census which showed that significant demographic change was taking place. In the 1,070 schools in the north 51% of the 311,559 schoolchildren were Catholic, 37% Protestant and 12 'other', which includes other Christian, non-Christian and no religion/religion unknown.
The demographic and societal changes that are taking place in the north, as well as in the rest of the island, and even across the sea to Scotland and England and Wales, mean that Irish republicans and nationalists must look afresh at how we engage with our unionist neighbours and the increasing numbers of citizens in the six counties who define themselves as northern Irish, as well as those who have consciously set themselves outside the traditional definitions of Catholic and Protestant.
For a republican party, rooted in secularism; committed to equality for every citizen; and eager to achieve a united Ireland, this is a unique and exciting opportunity. There is an onus on us who want maximum change to persuade others of its desirability.
In part it means that we must demonstrate in a tangible way our objective of building a fair and inclusive, multi-cultural and pluralist society. A society which celebrates the diversity of all our people regardless of religious persuasion, cultural identity, political affiliation, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation. For example, in those Councils where Sinn Féin is the largest party we must prove by our policies and our actions that we are serious about protecting and defending the rights of citizens. In the Assembly and Executive too our words and actions must match our republican rhetoric.
Republicans have long recognised and stated publicly that change is inevitable. It is how we manage that change that will define all of us.
Published on May 11, 2015 15:38
May 3, 2015
Bricfeasta na hAoine - my own 'grá' for our native language
Inné bhí mé ag caint ag Bricfeasta na hAoine, ócáid eagrithe ag Glór na nGael. Bhí slua maith de Ghaeilgeoirí ann. Daoine le Gaeilge ag teacht le chéile ar son phroinn na maidine san ArdChathair.
At Bricfeasta na hAoine in Dublin I spoke as a guest of Glór na nGael. I spoke of my own 'grá' for our native language.
Tá mé thar a bheith sásta a bheith libh anseo go moch ar maidin. Tá sé chomh maith go bhfuil an oiread seo daoine a bhfuil suim acu i ndul chun cinn na Gaeilge anseo linn inniu.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh as cuireadh a thabhairt dom bheith in bhur measc.
Tréaslaím an obair iontach atá idir lámha ag Glór na nGael. Táim den tuairim go gcaithfear an Ghaeilge a scaoileadh saor ón seomra ranga agus beocht a thabhairt di in achan gné den tsaol.
Beatha teanga í a labhairt. Tugann Glór na nGael go leor dieseanna do dhaoine an Ghaeilge a labhairt i níos mó áiteanna.
Chuir mé féin suim sa teanga nuair a bhí me ag freastal ar bhunscoil Naomh Finian De La Salle ar Bhóthar na bhFál.
Ach nuair a chuaigh mé go dtí Scoil na mBráithre Críostaí chuir mé tús le gaol leis an teanga a mhaireann go dtí an lá atá inniu ann.
Cuid mhór de sin ná an Bráthair Beusang a d’eagraigh turasanna chuig an Ghaeltacht i dTír Chonanaill.
An chéad deis eile a bhí agam mo chuid eolais ar an Ghaeilge a leathnú ná sa phríosún.
Chruthaigh na cimí polaitiúla, go háirithe sna cásanna sa Cheis Fhada, pobail bheaga Gaeilge – botháin Gaeltachta – áit a raibh an teanga beo gach lá.
Agus mar gheall ar an stádas polaitiúil a bhí againn bhí cead leabhair Ghaeilge a bheith againn.
Sin an áit ar fhoghliam Bobby Sands a chuid Gaeilge.
Bhí Prionsias Mac Airt, seanPhoblachtánach, amhránaí ar an sean-nós mar mhúinteoir aige.
Múinteior eile as Luimneach a bhí ag múineadh ná Coireal Mac Curtain.
Ansin, nuair a scaoileadh saor na cimí, lean siad ar aghaidh ag obair ar a gcuid Gaeilge sa phobal.
Bhí pobal Gaeilge láidir ann i mBéal Feirste roimhe sin le Gaeltacht Bhóthar Seoighe agus Cumann Chluain Aird.
Níos déanaí nuair a tháinig na Blocanna H in áit na gcásanna, agus nuiar a bhí an Ghaeilge mar ghnátheanga laethúil, bhí tionchar ollmhór aige seo ar dhaoine óga ó na ceantair náisiúnach agus lucht oibre sa tuaisceart.
Ag an tráth sin fosta, cuireadh lasair síos i measc an phobail mar gheall ar na stailceanna ocrais.
Nuiar a scaoileadh saor na daoine sin a bhí sna blocanna, thóg siad na scileanna sin amach chuig an phobal. Chuir said ranganna ar siúl i bpubanna, clubanna, ionaid phobail agus i dtithe.
Inniu i m’áit dhúchais in iarthar Bhéal Feirste thig liom dul isteach chuig mo shiopa lóganta agus an nuachtán a cheannacht trí mheán na Gaeilge.
Thig liom dul chuig an bhairbeoir aitiúil agus bearradh gruaige a fháil le comhrá fada as Gaeilge.
Thig liom dul chuig an chaifé lóganta agus cupán caifé a ordú trí mheán na Gaeilge.
Tá pobal Gaeilge atá beomhar ar Bhóthar na bhFál agus tá Ceathrú Gaeltachta againn.
Tá naíonraí, Gaelscoileanna agus Meánscoil Feirste ann.
Tá na mílte páiste dulta agus ag dul faoi láthair trí oideachas le Gaeilge.
Ó mo cheantar féin, Baile Uí Mhurchú fuair dhá mhíle páiste oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge le déanaí.
Tá seo uilig an-tábhachtach.
Nuair a chuirtear teanga faoi chois boilg éilíonn an pobal cearta teanga,
Céad bliain ó shin chuidigh athbheochan na Gaeilge, an cheoil, na litríochta agus na drámaíochta dúchais, borradh a chur faoi dhaoine saoirse na tíre a bhaint amach agus ar ndóiche lean sin ar aghaidh go dtí Éirí Amach 1916.
I 1987 i Soweto san Aifric Theas nuair a bhí mic léinn ag iarraidh oideachais ina dteanga dhúchais féin chuir said tús le rud an-tábhachtach.
Bhí an Stát in aghaidh athrú agus d’éirigh na mic léinn amach.
Rugadh spiorad iontu. Sheas siad an fód.
Cosúil le cóilíneachtaí eile bhí an teanga agus an cultúr faoi ionsaí go rialta in Éirinn.
I ndiaidh na gcéadta bliain de chólínteacht tá a rian láidir fágtha linn in Éirinn.
Rinne Séan Mac Giolla Bhríde, iar-cheannaire an IRA, buaiteoir Duais Nobel agus Lenin na Síochána, cur síos air mar ‘intinn an sclábhaí’
Bhí an dearcadh nó an mheoin sin chomh láidir in Éirinn gur nós leis na húdair agus na filí, tagairt a dhéanamh d’Éirinn le tagairtí casta.
Léirigh siad Éire mar Kathleen Ní Houlihan.
Mar atá a fhios agaibh go maith bhí fáth leis seo.
Má bhí duine ag lorg post bhí an Béarla de dheol orthu.
Go háirithe iad siúd a bhí ag dul ar imirce chuig na Stáit Aontaithe, An Asráil nó Sasana.
Bhí dlí na Breataine an-dian orthu siúd a bhí ag maireachtáil trí mheán na Gaeilge.
Tá sin fós ag tarlú sa tuaisceart mar a bhfuil cosc iomlán ar an Ghaeilge a úsáid sna Cúirteanna.
Ach bhí an scéal mar an gcéanna in Albain agus sa Bhreatain Bheag go dtí gur tháinig an féinriail.
Mar sin is iad an DUP agus an UUP atá in aghaidh Acht na Gaeilge. Ar an lámh eile bhí páirt láidir ag go leor Protastún in athbheochan na Gaeilge cosúil le Robert Shipbuoy McAdam agus féach an obair atá ar siúl san ionad Skainos ar Bhóthar Bhaile Nua na hArda inniu mar shampla.
Maidir leis na Gaelscoileanna a tháinig chun cinn le tríocha bliain, dhiúltaigh Rialtas na Breataine aon airgeadas a chur ar fáil daofa.
Níor chuir sin stop leis na Gaelscoileanna, agus níor chuir sé stop leis na Gaelscoileanna sa Stát seo ach oiread.
Smaoiním ar na daoine a tháinig ón Ghaeltacht chun na cathrach chun freastal ar phobal Gaeilge nua seoTháinig an pobal le chéile, cheannaigh said sean-bhotháin déanta as adhmaid, agus d’oscail said scoileanna nach raibh go leor áiseanna acu ach a raibh grá láidir don teanga iontu.
Cuireann Sinn Féin an-bhéim ar an oideachas, sin an fáth go bhfuil an aireacht sin againn ó tháinig an Feidhmeannas ar an saol.
Faoin scéim roinnt-chumhachta chinntigh na hAirí oideachais John O’Dowd, Caitríona Ruane agus Martin McGuinness go mbeadh airgead ann don GhaelOideachas agus go rachadh sé ó neart go neart.
Mar sin, i mo bharúil féin, ceann de na dúshláin is mó atá roimh phobal na hÉireann ná díchóilíniú.
Mar a dúirt Máirtín Ó Cadhain ‘Is í an Ghaeilge Athghabháil na hÉireann agus is í athghabháil na hÉireann slánú na Gaeilge’
Sin é an fáth go bhfuil gá ann le hAcht Gaeilge ó Thuaidh a thugann cosaint do chearta saoránaigh an Ghaeilge a úsáid.
D’fhoilsigh an tAire Caral Ní Chuilin dréachtAcht na Gaeilge le comhairliúchán ar siúl anois.
Chuir Caral tús leis an fheachtas 'Líofa', a bhfuil ag éirí go breá leis, agus An Club Leabhar fosta.
Agus sa Stát seo sin an fáth go gcaithfimid deireadh a chur leis an ghearradh siar a bhaineann leis an teanga, níos mó airgid a thabhairt ar ais do Foras na Gaeilge agus airgead ceart a chur ar fail chun Scéim Fiche Bliain a chur i gcrích.
Nuair a bhí mé ag siúl chuig an áit seo ar maidin tháinig gliondar croí orm nuair a chonaic mé go leor pósataer ag tacú le 'TÁ' sa reifreann atá le teacht. Dhá rud a bhí iontach faoi sin.
An chéad rud ná go raibh Gaeilge ar na póstaeir ó go leor páirtithe, ní amháin Sinn Féin. Is linn ar fad an Ghaeilge.
Ní bhaineann sí le haon ghrúpa, aon chine nó aon chreideamh amháin.
Tá sí uilíoch.
Clúdaíonn an dátheangachas gach duine.
Agus ní bhaineann an Ghaeilge le Sinn Féin nó le poblachtánaigh amháin.
An dara rud ná an focal comhionannas a bheith chun tosaigh ar na póstaeir.
Is breá liom na focail a thosaíonn le ‘comh’ Comhoibriú, comhpáirtíocht, agus ar ndóigh comhionannas.
Sin bunús an phoblachtánachais. Comhionannas.
Ba cheart go mbeidh deis ag gach duine saol a chaitheamh le compáird agus sonas.
Tá cearta tábhachtach fosta.
Ba chóir an ceart a bheith againn ár dteanga dhúchais in achan gné den tsaol.
Léigh mé altanna le polaiteoirí eile a shíleann gur masla daofa agus don teanga é nuair a labhraím as Gaeilge sa Dáil.
Caitheann said anuas ar an chanúint is agamsa agus go mbímse ag plé rudaí tábhachtacha as Gaeilge.
Sin an barúil atá acu.
An rud a chuireann isteach orm ná go bhfuil daoine sa Dáil a bhfuil an teanga acu, ach seachas í a úsáid, baineann siad spoc as daoine nach bhfuil an teanga acu.
Nó i gcás an Taoiseach agus An Teachta Mick Wallace is bealach é chun ceist thábhachtach a chur ar leataobh.
Creidim nach bhfuil bealach níos fear ann chun deireadh a chur le meath na Gaeilge ná chun í a úsáid sna hinstitiúdí is airde sa tír.
Tá Teachtaí sa Dáil atá i bhfad níos líofa ná mé féin ach nach labhraíonn smid Gaeilge sa Dáil.
Cad chuige seo?
Ar an ábhar seo creidim nach bhfuil áit ar bith nach féidir an Ghaeilge a úsáid ann.
Ba cheart go mbeadh an Dáil oscailte agus tacúil do dhaoine atá ag iarraidh an teanga a úsáid gach lá.
Le sampla maith leanfaidh na daoine eile.
Mar fhocal scor, maidir le hÉirí Amach 1916 agus an céad bliain.
Níos luaithe labhair mé faoin nasc sin idir an teanga, an cultúr agus an ceol le comhthéacs an Éirí Amach a chruthú.
Tá sé an-tábhachtach agus muid réidh le céiliúradh a dhéanamh ar an céad bliain, go mbeidh an Ghaeilge ina cuid lárnach de na himeachtaí sin.
Arís míle buíochas as cuireadh a thabhairt dom. Tugann sé ardú meanmar dom nuair a fheicim daoine anseo le Gaeilge agus chomh gníomhach. Leanaigí ar aghaidh leis an obair thábhachtach seo.
Translation
I am delighted to be here with you early this morning.
It is great to see so many people active in the Irish language.
Thank you very much for inviting me to be here with you this morning.
I want to praise the work undertaken by Glór na nGael.
I am strongly of the opinion that Irish must be liberated from the classroom and inserted into every aspect of life.
The life of a language is in its speaking.
Glór na nGael gives people the opportunity to speak Irish in more and more settings.
My own interest in the language began when I started primary school at St. Finian’s De La Salle School on the Falls Road.
However it was St. Mary’s Grammar School run by the Christian Brothers which really bonded me to the language.
A big part of that was Brother Beausang who helped organise our summer breaks to the Donegal Gaeltacht.
My next real opportunity to extend my limited knowledge of the language was in prison.
Political prisoners, particularly in the cages of Long Kesh, created Irish language communities in prison – Gaeltacht huts – where we lived and breathed the language each day.
And because we had political status we were permitted Irish language text books.
It was there that Bobby Sands learned Irish.
He was taught by, amongst others, Prionsias Mac Airt, a veteran republican, a sean-nós singer and a man from Limerick, Coireal Mac Curtain.
Subsequently, many of these prisoners and others who had been interned continued with their work on the language when they were released.
Later when the cages were replaced by the H Blocks and when the Irish language became the daily language of most of the protesting prisoners at that time, this had a huge impact on the consciousness, particularly of young working-class nationalists.
A spark was lit in the community during the Hunger Strikes.
When prisoners were released from the Blocks, many of them brought the language skills and teaching methods they had learned back into their communities conducting classes in pubs, clubs, community centres and homes.
In my own native West Belfast I can go into my local shop and buy my newspaper using Irish.
I can go to my local barber and get my hair cut and have a long conversation with my barber using Irish.
I can go to my local café and buy my coffee through the medium of the Irish language.
We have a thriving Irish language community n Belfast and on the Falls there is Ceathrú na Gaeltachta.
There are Irish medium nurseries, primary schools and a Meánscoil Féirste.
Thousands of our children have and are going through education using Irish as their first language.
All of this s very important.
Culture and language are catalysts for change and development.
Often the effect is a dynamic.
The suppression of language leads to the demand for language rights.
Just over 100 years ago the revival of the Irish language and of native music and culture, of literature and theatre helped spur the national and republican struggle for independence and laid the foundations for Easter 1916.
In the context of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the simple assertion of the right to be taught through their native tongue by students in Soweto in 1976 was a key moment.
The state resisted change and the students rebelled.
A renewed spirit of resistance was born.
In Ireland, as in other colonies, culture and language have been a frequent target.
Hundreds of years of colonialism have left an indelible impression on Irish society.
Human rights campaigner Sean MacBride, once an IRA commander, later a winner of both the Nobel and the Lenin Peace Prize, described the problem as being ‘a slave mentality’.
British imperialism and colonialism has been so pervasive in Ireland over such a long time that in the past artists and writers gave expression to their Irishness only in veiled references.
Ireland was disguised as Kathleen Ní Houlihan.
Of course, as you may well know, there was a sound historical reason for this.
If you wanted a job you needed English.
Especially if you wanted to go to the USA, Australia or England.
British law severely penalised those giving outward expression to Irishness, including our language.
That remains a real issue in the north where, for example the use of Irish in the courts is specifically outlawed.
It was likewise in Wales and Scotland until they asserted devolution.
Therefore it is the DUP and the UUP who are against an Irish Language Act in the north. On the other hand, there were many Protestants active in the language revival, like Robert Shipbuoy McAdam and the wonderful work being done by Linda Ervine at the Skainos Centre on the Newtonards Road.
Irish language schools, of which many have grown up over the last 30 years, were refused public funding under British direct rule.
That did not stop the formation of gaelscoileanna.
I often think of those that left the Gaeltacht to come to the cities to nurture these new Irish language communities. The phrase coined by Máirtín Ó Direáin sums up that period "An Charraig agus an Chathair"
Families and local communities worked hard to raise funds, buy second hand wooden huts, and open schools that were short on resources but in which there was a strong love for the language.
Recognising the importance of education Sinn Féin has held the education department in the Executive since it was established.
Under power-sharing, Education Ministers John O Dowd, Caitríona Ruane and Martin McGuinness have ensured funding is provided and Irish medium education grows from strength to strength.
So, one of the greatest challenges we face today is the decolonisation.
As Máirtín Ó Cadhain rallied: ‘Is í an Ghaeilge Athghabháil na hÉireann agus is í athghabháil na hÉireann slánú na Gaeilge’
That is why an Irish language Act is needed in the north that protects the rights of Irish speakers. Caral Ní Chuilin has published a draft Irish Language Act.
Caral initaited a great scheme called 'Líofa' which is flourishing, and a scheme for Irish language books.
And it is why in this state we need an end to cuts affecting the language, a restoration of funding for Foras na Gaeilge and finance for the implementation of the 20 year strategy for the Irish language.
When I was walking here this morning I was uplifted when I saw many posters that were supporting a YES vote written in Irish.
Two things about that I found fantastic.
Firstly, there were signs in Irish from most of the parties, not just Sinn Féin.
We all own the Irish language.
It is not confined exclusively to any religious, ethnic or racial group.
It is inclusive.
And developing bilingualism includes everyone.
Nor does the Irish language belong solely to Sinn Féin or Irish republicans.
The second thing that uplifted me is that the word Comhionannas is to the fore on all the posters.
I like words that begin with comh ; comhoibriú cooperation, comhpháirtíochtsolidarity.
And of course Comhionannas.
That is what is at the heart of Republicanism.
Equality of condition for all citizens.
Rights are also at the heart of Republicanism.
We should have the right to speak one’s native language in all facets of our lives.
I have read articles by other politicians who seem to think that my using the Irish language in the Dáil is an affront to them and to the language.
They make fun of my Ulster dialect and Belfast accent and are critical of the fact that I try to discuss ‘important’ matters through the medium of Irish
That’s their opinion.
What I find frustrating is that so many of those in the Dáil have the language and instead of using it they poke fun at those who try.
Or as in the recent case of the Taoiseach and Mick Wallace it becomes a means of dismissing the concerns of a Teachta Dála on an important issue.
I believe there is no better way to show commitment to the reversal of language decline than using the language in public in some of the highest institutions.
Thre are Teachtaí in the Dáil far more proficient in the Irish language than I am, yet they don't utter a word as Gaeilge in the Dáil.
Why not?
To this end I believe it is important to show that there is no forum unsuitable for using Irish.
The Dáil, more that any other institution should be openly and enthusiastically encouraging the use of the Irish language every day.
If we set the example then others might follow.
Finally, a word about the centenary celebrations for 1916.
Earlier I remarked on the importance of the language and culture and music and literature in creating the context for the Rising.
It is very important that as we plan to celebrate the centenary that this aspect of that period in our history is given expression.
That may be something you have already discussed in this group.
So, congratulations for liberating an Ghaeilge and bringing it to the breakfast table. I commend the work of Glór na nGael for providing practical and living examples of how the very essence of Irishness can be part of our lives.
Published on May 03, 2015 03:49
April 30, 2015
A scandal at the heart of government
Following the economic crash eight years ago two toxic banks in the 26 counties – Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide - were amalgamated into the state owned Irish Bank Resolution Company set up for that purpose. The then Fianna Fáil government handed it the responsibility of managing a range of loans that were in serious trouble. Redeeming them if possible or where necessary selling then on and getting the best price possible for the taxpayer.
On the 18 April 2012, Sinn Féin’s Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty received a reply from Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to a question he had asked several weeks earlier about a deal just undertaken by IBRC concerning loans to a company called Siteserv.
Siteserv had borrowed €150 million from Anglo Irish Bank. The company was broke and appeared set to close. The deal, agreed by IBRC involved the acquisition of Siteserv by Millington, a company owned by businessman Denis O Brien, for€45.42 million euros. Seventy per cent of the money it owed IBRC was written off. The tax payers lost €105 million on the deal.
There was another sting in the tail. Shareholders, including chief executives at the company, received €4.96 million. For a company that was busted.
The taxpayer took a hit of over €100 million, and the shareholders walked away with millions.
So Pearse asked the Minister what exactly was going on. And Minister Noonan responded with one of those gloriously obnoxious lines that could only be thought up by a Fine Gael, Labour or Fianna Fáil minister: “Notwithstanding the State’s ownership of the bank, IBRC operates at an arm’s length capacity from the State in relation to commercial issues.”
Basically – ‘even though we own the bank, we don’t take any interest in what is going on’.
And that’s the line the Irish Government has been running with since Freedom of Information requests by independent TD Catherine Murphy brought a renewed focus onto the Siteserv deal. Political anger and media interest has now put the spotlight on a host of other deals involving IBRC and the writing off of hundreds of millions in taxpayers' money.
In respect of Siteserv we now know that as well as shareholders getting a sweetener of €5 million to ensure the deal went ahead, the same legal advisers acted for both the purchaser and seller.
We also know that Denis O'Brien’s company was not the highest bidder but yet emerged as the successful bidder. We know the Minister for Finance was briefed by Department of Finance officials on serious concerns over this transaction and briefed equally on broader concerns over other transactions and the modus operandi of IBRC.
The Minister claimed that IBRC reviewed the Siteserv sale. Mr. Noonan – a former leader of Fine Gael – sat down with Alan Dukes the Chairman of IBRC and also a former leader of Fine Gael and Fine Gael Minister for Finance- and accepted his verbal assurances that IBRC was behaving properly. The concerns of Departmental officials were ignored.
The Siteserv deal is not the only one that saw debt written down. More than €64 million was written off for Blue Ocean Associates before being purchased by a consortium, also involving, as it happens, Denis O'Brien. There was an almost 50% write-down of €300 million in debts in the purchase of Topaz. Mr. O'Brien is also involved in this.
The Sunday Times ran this story on its front page on Sunday April 19thbut two days later when challenged on it in the Dáil the Taoiseach said he had not read the reports. He then appeared to pluck out of the air a suggestion that the Comptroller and Auditor General could look at the circumstances surrounding the deal to determine whether the taxpayer had got value for money.
This was the government trying to kick the issue to touch. Last week in the Dáil during Leaders I asked the Taoiseach three questions. The first was why the Minister for Finance failed to ask the IBRC chairman, Alan Dukes, to conduct a full and independent review of the sale as recommended by Department of Finance officials. The second was what were the other large transactions conducted by IBRC? The third was for him to establish an independent Commission of Investigation of these matters. The Taoiseach failed to answer these questions.
As it happens it quickly emerged that the Comptroller and Auditor does not have the authority to investigate Siteserv. The Taoiseach is bound to have known this – so a different approach was needed.
Desperate to avoid a Commission of Investigation the Minister for Finance then announced that the special liquidators, who helped close IBRC down, would be asked to review all transactions at IBRC over €10 million. The liquidators are also from KPMG, one of the four big world auditors, and we know that when the Siteserv deal was being done, the sales process was overseen by KPMG and stockbrokers Davy.
Alan Dukes was not amused and held a press conference at which he said that the Department of Finance was kept abreast of the sales process at all stages. He also said that the IRBC board never had a review of the Siteserv transaction. This contradicts Minister Noonan's claim that there was a review.
Last Sunday new Freedom of Information reports revealed that share activity in Siteserv significantly increased in the month before it was sold off by IBRC and that the share register, which contained the details of those who bought the shares, was given to the liquidator in July 2012.
The following day, and in an obvious attempt to defuse public concern about the involvement of KPMG and to avoid having to establish a Commission of Investigation, the government announced the appointment of a retired High Court Judge Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O' Neill to oversee ‘any actual or perceived conflicts of interests.’
Murkier and murkier. The twists and turns of this story have stayed in the media headlines now for two weeks and there seems to be little prospect of the story going away.
Of course, there is a much wider political issue here centring on Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil’s refusal to ever accept accountability for events that happen on their watch.
It’s also all about the relationship between the parties and big business and their compliant attitude to the elites – the Golden Cicrle – in contrast for example to struggling households and working families.
But IBRC was not the only government owned agency handling massive debts arising from the economic crash. NAMA took over much of the debt arising from the collapse of the construction industry and is handling billions in taxpayers' money. Minister Noonan has ordered NAMA to wind up faster than its 2020 remit demands – meaning NAMA is rushing sales processes and there is a lack of transparency there too. Last year, it sold off it’s entire loan book for the north at a €400 million discount - €400 million the Irish taxpayer will never see again.
Irish taxpayers’ assets are being disposed of by NAMA at a rate of hundreds of millions every month – and we don’t know if we’re getting full value for money.
We do need an inquiry into what happened in IBRC- during its operation and its liquidation. And that inquiry should include NAMA. The public good and taxpayers interests require that all transactions, including the acquisition of assets by NAMA be subjected to thorough independent scrutiny in a Commission of Investigation.
On the 18 April 2012, Sinn Féin’s Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty received a reply from Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to a question he had asked several weeks earlier about a deal just undertaken by IBRC concerning loans to a company called Siteserv.
Siteserv had borrowed €150 million from Anglo Irish Bank. The company was broke and appeared set to close. The deal, agreed by IBRC involved the acquisition of Siteserv by Millington, a company owned by businessman Denis O Brien, for€45.42 million euros. Seventy per cent of the money it owed IBRC was written off. The tax payers lost €105 million on the deal.
There was another sting in the tail. Shareholders, including chief executives at the company, received €4.96 million. For a company that was busted.
The taxpayer took a hit of over €100 million, and the shareholders walked away with millions.
So Pearse asked the Minister what exactly was going on. And Minister Noonan responded with one of those gloriously obnoxious lines that could only be thought up by a Fine Gael, Labour or Fianna Fáil minister: “Notwithstanding the State’s ownership of the bank, IBRC operates at an arm’s length capacity from the State in relation to commercial issues.”
Basically – ‘even though we own the bank, we don’t take any interest in what is going on’.
And that’s the line the Irish Government has been running with since Freedom of Information requests by independent TD Catherine Murphy brought a renewed focus onto the Siteserv deal. Political anger and media interest has now put the spotlight on a host of other deals involving IBRC and the writing off of hundreds of millions in taxpayers' money.
In respect of Siteserv we now know that as well as shareholders getting a sweetener of €5 million to ensure the deal went ahead, the same legal advisers acted for both the purchaser and seller.
We also know that Denis O'Brien’s company was not the highest bidder but yet emerged as the successful bidder. We know the Minister for Finance was briefed by Department of Finance officials on serious concerns over this transaction and briefed equally on broader concerns over other transactions and the modus operandi of IBRC.
The Minister claimed that IBRC reviewed the Siteserv sale. Mr. Noonan – a former leader of Fine Gael – sat down with Alan Dukes the Chairman of IBRC and also a former leader of Fine Gael and Fine Gael Minister for Finance- and accepted his verbal assurances that IBRC was behaving properly. The concerns of Departmental officials were ignored.
The Siteserv deal is not the only one that saw debt written down. More than €64 million was written off for Blue Ocean Associates before being purchased by a consortium, also involving, as it happens, Denis O'Brien. There was an almost 50% write-down of €300 million in debts in the purchase of Topaz. Mr. O'Brien is also involved in this.
The Sunday Times ran this story on its front page on Sunday April 19thbut two days later when challenged on it in the Dáil the Taoiseach said he had not read the reports. He then appeared to pluck out of the air a suggestion that the Comptroller and Auditor General could look at the circumstances surrounding the deal to determine whether the taxpayer had got value for money.
This was the government trying to kick the issue to touch. Last week in the Dáil during Leaders I asked the Taoiseach three questions. The first was why the Minister for Finance failed to ask the IBRC chairman, Alan Dukes, to conduct a full and independent review of the sale as recommended by Department of Finance officials. The second was what were the other large transactions conducted by IBRC? The third was for him to establish an independent Commission of Investigation of these matters. The Taoiseach failed to answer these questions.
As it happens it quickly emerged that the Comptroller and Auditor does not have the authority to investigate Siteserv. The Taoiseach is bound to have known this – so a different approach was needed.
Desperate to avoid a Commission of Investigation the Minister for Finance then announced that the special liquidators, who helped close IBRC down, would be asked to review all transactions at IBRC over €10 million. The liquidators are also from KPMG, one of the four big world auditors, and we know that when the Siteserv deal was being done, the sales process was overseen by KPMG and stockbrokers Davy.
Alan Dukes was not amused and held a press conference at which he said that the Department of Finance was kept abreast of the sales process at all stages. He also said that the IRBC board never had a review of the Siteserv transaction. This contradicts Minister Noonan's claim that there was a review.
Last Sunday new Freedom of Information reports revealed that share activity in Siteserv significantly increased in the month before it was sold off by IBRC and that the share register, which contained the details of those who bought the shares, was given to the liquidator in July 2012.
The following day, and in an obvious attempt to defuse public concern about the involvement of KPMG and to avoid having to establish a Commission of Investigation, the government announced the appointment of a retired High Court Judge Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O' Neill to oversee ‘any actual or perceived conflicts of interests.’
Murkier and murkier. The twists and turns of this story have stayed in the media headlines now for two weeks and there seems to be little prospect of the story going away.
Of course, there is a much wider political issue here centring on Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil’s refusal to ever accept accountability for events that happen on their watch.
It’s also all about the relationship between the parties and big business and their compliant attitude to the elites – the Golden Cicrle – in contrast for example to struggling households and working families.
But IBRC was not the only government owned agency handling massive debts arising from the economic crash. NAMA took over much of the debt arising from the collapse of the construction industry and is handling billions in taxpayers' money. Minister Noonan has ordered NAMA to wind up faster than its 2020 remit demands – meaning NAMA is rushing sales processes and there is a lack of transparency there too. Last year, it sold off it’s entire loan book for the north at a €400 million discount - €400 million the Irish taxpayer will never see again.
Irish taxpayers’ assets are being disposed of by NAMA at a rate of hundreds of millions every month – and we don’t know if we’re getting full value for money.
We do need an inquiry into what happened in IBRC- during its operation and its liquidation. And that inquiry should include NAMA. The public good and taxpayers interests require that all transactions, including the acquisition of assets by NAMA be subjected to thorough independent scrutiny in a Commission of Investigation.
Published on April 30, 2015 03:12
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