Gerry Adams's Blog, page 74

Remembering Redmond O Neill – A revolutionary socialist, internationalist and peoples Champion

I was to give the inaugural Redmond O Neill lecture in London on Wednesday night. All of the arrangements were made and the lecture was being held in Bolivar Hall, courtesy of the Venezuelan Embassy.

Unfortunately I had to pull out at the last minute. I hate doing that. But thankfully Pearse Doherty stepped into the breech and with minutes to spare managed to catch a slightly later flight.

Jayne Fisher, a friend of Redmond and one of the organisers, told me that Pearse was excellent. That he really impressed the 150 diplomatic, media and political colleagues and family and friends of Redmond who attended and that he delivered my speech probably better than me.

Ken Livingstone, for whom Redmond worked when he was Mayor of London, chaired the event and Samuel Moncada, the Venezuelan Ambassador also spoke as did Kate Hudson, Redmond’s partner.

Who was Redmond O Neill?

He was the son of Irish immigrants from Tipperary who was born in London. But his love and commitment to Ireland, its people and its freedom was a part of his core beliefs.

This was reflected in the work he did on behalf of the Irish struggle and the Irish community in London.

In 2000 he became Ken Livingstone’s deputy Chief of Staff and together their work in support of working people in London and oppressed peoples around the world, in Latin America and Palestine and Ireland and elsewhere was prodigious.

Redmond was committed to a United Ireland. He played an important role in the development of Sinn Féin’s uniting Ireland strategy and specifically its outreach into the Irish community in Britain and to others here who support that demand. His work on behalf of the victims of British state violence in Ireland was invaluable.

Redmond was also very proud of his Irish roots and of his part in transforming the London St. Patrick’s Day festival into one of the largest in the city.

He was a great human being, a life-long revolutionary socialist, and internationalist who in his all too brief life, touched the lives of so many others in a positive and caring way.

Revolutionaries are very ordinary people. A successful revolution is achieved when a critical mass of these ordinary people unite in active pursuit of genuine equality.

Redmond understood this. He was an anti-imperialist. He rejected colonialism and racism and organised and fought against both.

He was a socialist. He knew that the road to socialism and to a better future would be complex and difficult and to achieve that goal requires allies.

Redmond also understood the importance of reaching out to and embracing others who might not necessarily share all aspects of your politics. His ability to forge alliances around specific goals was rooted in that belief.

For example, Redmond was a pivotal figure in organising the campaign against Cruise missiles, opposing the Gulf War and the Israeli assault on Gaza.

His solidarity work with the Venezuelan revolution is well known, as was his defense of Muslim communities in London and elsewhere.

Redmond was full of energy and enthusiasm for everything he did. Even when he was very seriously ill. He never let it get on top of him.

There were no half measures about his activism. He gave 100%. No one worked harder. But he also enjoyed good craic – music and good food and gardening. I never heard him sing but I’m told that he was renowned for his rousing rendition of the Fields of Athenry.

Redmond had much in common with many other great leaders and fighters for truth and justice. It was very fitting therefore that the inaugural lecture was held in a room dedicated to the memory of one such leader - Simón Bolívar.

Bolívar successfully led the struggle for freedom against Spanish colonialism in much of South America. His strategic planning, vision and leadership won independence for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, and inspired and motivated countless other liberation struggles.

He was helped in this, like many other colonised peoples across the world by Irish emigrants, many of whom had, either fought in or been influenced by the struggle in Ireland against British colonialism.

Bolívar’s legacy is to be found in the many free and independent states that exist today in central and south America.

His legacy also exists in the humanitarian efforts of nations like Venezuela and Cuba who provide help and assistance to peoples around the world struggling against poverty and ill-health, disease and inequality.

The people of Ireland share many connections with the peoples of central and south America, including and most especially in our shared politics – our shared rejection of colonialism and imperialism and injustice, and our shared desire – our hunger - for freedom.

Time after time the Irish people have confronted and challenged colonialism. Despite the setbacks and the disappointments and the defeats we have never given up – never been bowed or broken.

Pearse expressed this best at his court martial when he said:

‘Believe that we, too, love freedom and desire it. To us it is more desirable than anything in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again to renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom.’

This experience – this determination to overcome oppression whatever the odds - has its echo in Latin America and in the struggles there against dictatorships and foreign interference.

The root of the conflict in that part of the world was colonialism.

The root of the conflict and divisions in Ireland is colonialism.

Redmond understood this and worked closely with Sinn Fein in seeking to end Britain’s colonial presence in Ireland and he was hugely supportive of our efforts to build a new Republic on the island of Ireland.

Earlier this week I announced that Martin McGuinness would be resigning as MP for Mid Ulster. His future focus will be on the Assembly and Executive where he is Deputy First Minister.

Our other four MPs have resigned as Members of the Assembly to concentrate on their roles as MPs. They and whoever replaces Martin will now be able to give greater time and attention to building our connections into Britain. Their priority will be the promotion of our uniting Ireland goal.

This is an important step change for Sinn Féin and one Redmond would have applauded.

I remember talking to him on one of my visits about the strength of the Irish in Britain. Did you know that ten years ago there were 674,786 people in England (1.4 per cent of the population) who had been born in Ireland? This is the greatest concentration of Irish-born - as distinct from persons of Irish ancestry – outside of Ireland anywhere in the world.

In a London poll several years ago 11 per cent of those polled said that one or more of their parents were Irish.

This is untapped potential. We are also looking for democrats, socialists, internationalists in Britain who will join with us in putting Irish freedom and reunification at the top of the political agenda.

So, Redmond is gone. He died in 2009 at the age of 55. But he left a rich legacy and set an example for organisation and planning and strategising that will help republicans move our uniting Ireland agenda forward in the time ahead.

A previous jubilee visit

Last weekend was wall to wall media coverage of public celebrations in Britain and in parts of the north as Elizabeth 11 celebrates 60 years as head of the British state and its Commonwealth. Later this month she will visit the north as part of these diamond jubilee celebrations.

35 years ago it was all very different. The atmosphere in the north surrounding the silver jubilee celebrations was one of confrontation and danger. In 1977 British direct rule was the order of the day and the Labour Minister Roy Mason was in charge. It was the height of the British government’s criminalisation, ulsterisation and normalisation strategy. Mason was a British militarist who believed that the republican struggle could be defeated through the application of brute British military strength.

The strategy had been concocted under his predecessor Merlyn Rees but Mason made it his own. He embraced the military elements enthusiastically. The strategy was three fold: criminalise the IRA and republican prisoners and thus alienate republican activists from their core support base; increase the membership of and push the RUC and locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment into the front line – thus reducing the number of British Army casualties – and, persuade the British public and the international community that life in the north was really normal but for the behaviour of a small group of armed criminals who were being dealt with by the ‘police’.

The RUC was then headed by Kenneth Newman. He began his policing career in the British Palestine Police Force. He also served in the Palestine Special Branch in the years leading to the establishment of Israel in 1948. He was a stalwart defender of the brutal interrogation tactics employed by the RUC special branch which led to hundreds of convictions in special non jury courts using forced confessions as evidence. In June 1977 he claimed that republican detainees were beating themselves up in Castlereagh and the other interrogation centres in order to discredit the RUC.

In the summer of 1977 Mason convinced the British government that he could guarantee the safety of Elizabeth 11 and bring her to the north for two days as part of the wider silver jubilee celebrations. In the British political system the monarch and royal family are extensions of the will of the government. The monarch has little real power. Her speeches are written by the government. Her schedule is set by the government. And in return she and her family enjoy a privileged position.

The Irish experience with British monarch’s going back many centuries has been a tragic and costly one. There was outrage and anger among nationalists and republicans at the visit.

The response among unionists was the polar opposite. The connection between unionism and the British monarchy is political and emotional and deep rooted. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 saw the replacement of the Catholic James 11 with the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary. The defeat of James and the victory of King Billy, and the dominance of political unionism, is an integral part of Britain’s colonial legacy in Ireland and is celebrated each year in the north through the Orange marching season.

In 1977 the jubilee visit was a central part of Mason’s war strategy. It was intended to be a demonstration that the British were winning the war. That the north was ‘normal’. However to guarantee its success the British, just prior to the visit, carried out raids all across the north. Over 300 people were lifted. Hundreds more were arrested during the two day visit itself. Mason put over 32,000 soldiers and RUC on the streets.

In response the IRA placed a small bomb in the grounds of the University of Ulster at Coleraine and Sinn Féin organised a ‘Stuff the Jubilee’ march on the Falls road.

It was a period of intense and serious tension.

Leap forward 35 years and the political situation has dramatically changed. Mason and his brand of colonialism and militarism have long been consigned to the dustbin of history. The republican struggle was not defeated. On the contrary republicanism is stronger now than at any time since partition. In the south Sinn Féin is a growing political force. In the north Sinn Féin is the largest nationalist party and is an equal partner with unionism in the power sharing arrangements.

This is the context for another jubilee visit by the British monarch. Unionists are delighted again. But this time most nationalists are largely unconcerned, indifferent or amused spectators.

Irish republicans come at this politically. We are against empires and monarchies and dictatorships. Of any kind. Political or religious, secular or industrial. They are all about power for elites, and this blog is against power for elites.

Republicans are for a republican form of government in which the people are sovereign and citizens, not subjects. A republic in which citizens have rights and share in equality, irrespective of race, class, gender, social status, education limitations, disability or poverty. A republic in which citizens are tolerant of each other and of views, opinions or beliefs which are different from ours.

Society must reflect and include the entirety of its people, not part of them. Inclusivity is vital to the well-being of any community, whether a nation community, the global village or a local populace.

Irish republicans understand and acknowledge the attachment that many within the unionist section of Irish society have for the English Royal family and their genuine desire to welcome and celebrate English royal visits to this country. Sinn Féin respects that.

Last year her visit to the Irish state marked a rapprochement in relations and she made some important gestures and remarks which demonstrate the beginning of a new understanding or acceptance of the realities of past.

However, Republicans are also very conscious of the many unresolved legacy issues connected to the past conflict. Addressing these issues must be an integral part of any process aimed at bringing about the normalization of relationships between the peoples of these islands based on mutual respect.

A Pyrrhic Victory

In an earlier European campaign 2000 years ago King Pyrrhus of Epirus suffered such heavy casualties at the hands of the Romans that his apparent military victories ultimately led to his defeat.

Out of that experience the phrase pyrrhic victory came into common usage and was used to describe someone who has been successful in some activity, usually politics, business or war, but the cost has been so great that it was ruinous to the overall project.

And so it is with the referendum of the austerity treaty. The people have spoken and the Fiscal Compact Treaty will now become part of the Irish constitution. But the success of the YES side does not make the arguments of the NO campaign any less true and in the view of this blog will lead to a worsening of the social and economic circumstances for most Irish citizens.

In the face of a deliberate campaign by the two government parties, supported by Fianna Fáil, built on fear, 40% of the electorate still said NO. And many of those who reluctantly voted YES made their anger clear. It is also obvious that social class played a part with the NO vote greatest among those working class and low and middle income families bearing the brunt of this Government’s austerity policies.

This blog believes that the success of the YES side in this latest European campaign is a pyrrhic victory. The adverse economic and social consequences for the Irish people will not ease in the years ahead and the battle of ideas between those who advocate austerity and conservative policies, over those who seek to defend the rights of citizens and the creation of a more equitable society, will increase in intensity.

This has been evident in recent days in the shallow and bitter criticisms that some on the YES side have engaged in since the referendum result. One columnist indulged in the usual nonsense when she described the outcome for Sinn Féin as ‘humiliating’.

The issues at the heart of the referendum haven’t gone away because of the success of the YES side. On the contrary the dangers are greater than ever. The Irish government and its Fianna Fáil ally are committed to more years of austerity policies and of the erosion of the state’s fiscal sovereignty. At the same time the situation in Europe deteriorates with increasing uncertainty around developments in Spain and Greece, Cyprus in trouble and new unemployment statistics revealing that unemployment in the Eurozone now stands at record levels at 11%.

The European political leadership, which is shielded from the reality of austerity and the impact of the policies they promote, continue to promote their conservative ethos.

On the same day citizens were voting on the austerity Treaty the EU Commissioner Olli Rehn was busy warning in Brussels that Europe needed more austerity and greater fiscal discipline.

Previously the head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi set out his vision for Europe in the next ten years. He said: “We want to have a fiscal union. We have to accept the delegation of fiscal sovereignty from the national governments to some form of central authority.”

And his predecessor Jean-Claude Trichet is reported to have told a meeting in the USA last month that Europe should take on to itself the right to declare a sovereign state bankrupt and take over its fiscal policy. He pointed out that the Austerity Treaty gives fiscal oversight to EU states to levy fines on those they deem to have broken the rules. If all of this failed a country could be taken in receivership!!

So the direction for Europe and for the Irish state under this government is set. Greater economic and fiscal union, and the erosion of sovereignty for member states. All of this will be accompanied by a continuation of the Troika bailout programme that commits this government to €8.6 billion of additional cuts for the next three years and a further €6 billion in cuts as a result of the austerity Treaty’s demand for reducing the structural deficit to 0.5%.

Where does the government plan to get all this money from? It singularly failed to say during the referendum campaign. One YES economist Colm McCarthy – who produced the ‘An Bord Snip Nua’ report - told the Irish Small and Medium Firms Association at the weekend that the government will have to break all of its commitments not to raise income tax; not to touch welfare and to honour the Croke Park agreement.

Time will tell how accurate his predications are. However, the government did make a number of firm commitments during the referendum campaign. One was the Minister of Finance’s pledge that a YES vote would mean that December’s budget would be less harsh. Another was Fine Gael and Labour’s belated support for a jobs and growth package.

They now have to deliver. They need to demonstrate – in actions rather than words – how they intend to address the jobs crisis, the mortgage crisis, and get the economy growing again so that we get back into the markets by 2014.

The Government also has a duty to stand up for Ireland and to ensure that the banking debt issue is dealt with by seeking a debt write down.

It is important that they introduce the type of jobs stimulus that was talked about during this campaign – unless there is serious investment in job creation the numbers of citizens on the live register and emigrating will continue.

Sinn Féin has published firm proposals for a significant jobs stimulus package and in the time ahead we will set out the detail of this. But this is only part of what we must do. Republicans have a different vision for Ireland. We are for a new republic that is citizen centred and is based on equality and fairness. There is an onus on Sinn Féin to articulate this and to continue to evolve and develop our republican politics and policies and demonstrate that there is a viable alternative to the conservatism of Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil.

In the short term June will be a pivotal month in determining the future of the EU and of the Irish state. The French Parliamentary elections will take place on June 10 and 17th; the IMF is due to publish an all important report on the Spanish banks on June 11th; the Greeks go back to the polls on June 17th; and EU leaders will meet on June 28th and 29th to produce their blueprint for the way forward.

On Thursday Vote NO

 Having an ice cream before the speech

The last few weeks have been even busier than usual for this blog. The run in to the weekend Ard Fheis was hectic accompanied as it was with campaigning in the Fiscal referendum treaty which takes place on Thursday.

We arrived in the Kingdom last Friday afternoon in time to do a run through on the Presidential speech before the Ard Fheis began at 5.30pm.

Each speech has to be approached differently. Sometimes it’s enough to have speaking points to work from. Sometimes you speak without notes. Sometimes there will be a script around which you can ad lib. But the Ard Fheis speech is counted down to the last word. There is a fixed length of time and little opportunity to make a mistake or be spontaneous. It is a very rigid structure and made all the more so because you have 3000 words or so to deal with the big issues of the day while setting out the republican vision and explaining how republican solutions would come at problems differently.

The Ard Fheis speech is changed right up to the last minute which causes some concern, especially for the RTE crew who are trying to ensure that it all runs smoothly.

The weather in the Kingdom was spectacular. One BBC journalist from Belfast mused that as he got off his plane at Kerry airport he thought he had landed in Spain! The sky was blue, there was a light haze over the mountains and a gentle breeze, and the heat was intense.

As Ard Fheiseanna go Killarney’s must rank as one of the hottest – weather wise that is. It was the first topic of conversation in the morning and the start of every conversation before the delegates began to talk politics.



The National Convention Centre looked well. The delegates were attentive; the speakers articulate and enthusiastic. It was by general acclamation a very good Ard Fheis. Even the media coverage wasn’t bad.

But predictably a lot of the interest in my remarks was centred on the austerity treaty. In particular exactly how long I was going to devote to it in my speech. RTE had invited the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny to respond to my criticism of the treaty by giving him the same amount of time I used.

As it turned out he got half a minute longer.

It would have been easier and more informative for the public if Mr. Kenny, as leader of the YES side, had simply agreed to a debate with me but he refused.

Some accused him of running away but that wasn’t the real reason. When the Fianna Fáil leader challenged him on this last week the Taoiseach said;

“Were I to cave in to the pressure that has been around for some days I would be elevating Deputy Adams to the position of Leader of the Opposition …”

And as he made his way into a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning the Taoiseach’s response to the possibility of a debate was even more tetchy than usual. He said: “I am not going to be shoved around by Sinn Féin. I am not going to give a platform to somebody who I don't regard as the leader of the Opposition to propagate what are blatant lies and hypocritical assertions."

That doesn't show much respect to the electorate or the intelligence of Irish people.

Fine Gael and Labour are happy with Fianna Fail sitting across the chamber from them acting out the role of an opposition party.

Why wouldn’t they be? After all they are implementing Fianna Fáil policy. It is Sinn Féin that is holding this bad government to account and challenging it’s decisions and policies on the floor of the Dáil and the Seanad.

With their junior partners in Labour reeling from one bad opinion poll result after another the last thing Fine Gael want to do is be forced into treating Sinn Fein as the main opposition party.

It is also now just two days to the referendum vote. As Enda Kenny remarked this is more important a vote than electing a government because the longer term implications for the state are so grave.

Last night in Dublin Sinn Féin held a packed last political rally calling for a NO vote. There were hundreds in the rotunda and genuine enthusiasm about making one last major push for a NO vote.

It’s all to play for. There are many citizens who still haven’t made up their mind about this treaty - and although I have a healthy disregard for polls - the general trend in recent weeks suggests that the gap is beginning to narrow.

As well as the huge number of people who haven’t yet made up their minds, there are many others who feel they are being coerced into voting YES by the scare tactics of Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail.

So, let’s get out there and make it happen. Austerity isn’t working now and won’t start working on 1st June. Neither will it bring stability or certainty. It will mean more cuts. Join with the millions across Europe who are demanding an end to austerity.

It is a good and patriotic and positive action to say NO to a Treaty that is bad for you, bad for your family and community, bad for society and entirely without any social or economic merit.

On Thursday. Vote No.





Terry O Sullivan, President of the International Labourers Union of North America who presented Martin and I with their annual award.

Protecting our National Heritage

Fionnuala Flannagan and Gerry Adams walk down Moore Lane with representatives of the Famileis of the 1916 Leaders.

 All nations have their heroes; men and women who in war and peace overcome adversity and succeed in changing the course of history. In so doing they advance the cause of freedom and the betterment of citizens.
Some are the stuff of myth like the Greek and Norse gods of old, like Hercules and Thor. Every culture has them. Some are real but their actions become the stuff of legend and the stories of their deeds change in the telling over millennia; Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his band of soldiers, the Fianna, or the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn.
But often these are real people who in remarkable acts of leadership and courage and self sacrifice transform the world around them. Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at the pass of Thermopylae, Travis and Bowie at the Alamo, Mandela through his decades of imprisonment and inspired leadership as President, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Bobby Sands and his nine comrades in the H Blocks. Every nation has them. And when times are tough the names of heroes dead can enthuse a new generation to greatness.

Ireland is no different. Our small island has a rich history of such heroism – mostly as a consequence of colonisation and resistance to it.

The 1916 Rising is one such act of resistance that has had a profound impact not just of Ireland but also the world.

96 years ago the British Empire was the largest ever to have existed in human history. It covered a quarter of the globe and controlled the lives of nearly 500m million or one fifth of the earth’s peoples. It stretched around the world. It was the superpower of its day and it exploited its colonies ruthlessly.

Undaunted by this a relatively small number of men and women in Dublin and other parts of the island struck for freedom at Easter 1916. After five days of intense fighting and with much of the GPO and O Connell Street in flames or destroyed the 300 strong garrison of the GPO evacuated the building to join with other garrisons to continue the fight. In the late evening of Friday April 28th they retreated into the lanes of Henry Street.

There was intense fire from British troops. So the volunteers smashed their way into Moore Street terrace through number 10 which was then Coogan’s Grocers. The republicans tunnelled their way through the walls the length of the terrace with the leadership of Padraig Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Tom Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada and a badly wounded James Connolly setting up their head quarters in Number 16.

When it became obvious that there was no way to escape from the area, and concerned for the hardships the conflict was inflicting on the civilian population, the leadership took the decision to surrender. Elizabeth O Farrell made the first dangerous journey to speak to the British General and then it was Pearse who walked to Parnell Street where he formally signed the surrender document.

The republican garrison then marched in ranks up Moore Street to Parnell Street and over to the grounds of the Rotunda Hospital where they were held. Clarke was stripped and abused by British soldiers before being taking away for court martial and execution.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has described this area as the ‘lanes of history’ and he is right. From Tom Clarke’s shop on Parnell Street, to the GPO, to Moore Lane and Street where the Garrison retreated, to the spot where one of the leaders ‘The O'Rahilly’ died, to the location of the surrender, to the Rotunda where the garrison was held by the British; these are all places intimately connected to the Rising.

Now they are under threat. Not from the British but from a developer. And while numbers 14 to 17 Moore Street have been designated as a National Monument, only the outside skin of these buildings will remain if a developer, Joe O Reilly, has his way and the whole area is turned into a shopping complex.



Outside Number 16 Moore Street

The developer is in NAMA who are now considering funding this development. In other words Irish taxpayers, Irish citizens may be asked to pay for the vandalising of a national monument.

In recent years this blog has travelled to many other countries. Whether it was the World Heritage site that used to be Robbin island prison under apartheid, or Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted; or the Place de la Bastille in Paris where the Bastille prison stood and whose fall was the first act in the French revolution.

Other states take pride in their history and celebrate their struggle for freedom.





The Relatives Present their plan to Gerry Adams and Fionnuala Flannagan

The National Monument that is 14-17 Moore Street in Dublin is a disgrace. It and the terrace it is part of are a derelict slum. It is an insult to the memory of those men and women who it should honour.

Last Friday I visited Moore Street along with the relatives of the leaders who were executed and Fionnuala Flannagan. The relatives have been campaigning for many years for the government to protect and develop this site on behalf of the Irish people.

This week Sinn Féin is introducing into the Dáil a Private Members motion that seeks to do this. The motion was written in conjunction with the relatives and reflects their view of what needs to be done. Thus far 50 opposition TDs have signed up in support of it. I see no reason why the government parties cannot also support it.



Text of Private Members Motion:


That Dáil Éireann –

- Looking forward to the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, a landmark in the history of the people of Ireland;

- Recalling that in January 2007, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government placed a preservation order on Nos. 14-17 Moore Street, Dublin, under section 8 of the National Monuments Act 1930, on the grounds that the buildings are of national importance by reason of their historical significance as the final headquarters of the 1916 Provisional Government;

- Acknowledging the hard work of the relatives of the Signatories to the 1916 Proclamation of Independence in raising public awareness of the importance of these historic buildings and this historic area of our capital city and in securing the designation of the national monument;

- Viewing with serious concern the deterioration of the national monument which has languished in a vacant and neglected state for many years and the potential threat to the monument under a current planning application;

Resolves to:

- Ensure that the 1916 National Monument at 14-17 Moore St. is fully protected and preserved in its entirety as designated and that the surrounding buildings streets and laneways are retained in such a manner that the potential to develop this area into a 1916 historic/cultural quarter can be fulfilled;

and calls on the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs to act without further delay to ensure the full preservation of the national monument and to develop a plan to transform the GPO/Moore St. area into an historic quarter and battlefield site so as to protect and preserve the 1916 National Monument and the associated streetscapes and laneways, thus greatly enhancing our national heritage and tourist potential in our capital city as we approach the centenary of the Easter Rising. – Gerry Adams, Sandra McLellan.



Outside Number 16 Moore Street

A Tale of Two Worlds

This is a tale of two worlds. One rich and powerful. The other desperately poor, destitute and on the brink of the abyss.

The economic crisis in Europe and the impact of austerity policies in Greece, Spain, Italy and in the Irish state are dominating the news agenda at this time. The talk is of billions of euro. Greece owes hundreds of billions. Spanish banks owe billions. The Irish government has given over €20 billion to bad banks to pay off private banking debt. French banks hold billions of euro of Greek debt – and are watching anxiously the unfolding crisis in that state. And then there is the European Financial Stability Facility with its €200 plus billion and the European Stability Mechanism which has €700 billion. Billions and billions and more billions.

If it were not for the dire social consequences of the austerity policies the reader could be forgiven for thinking this is all about monopoly money.

A few hundred miles south of the European Union there is another world – a wretched world of poverty and hunger where 220,000 children regularly die each year from malnourishment and where one in five children will die before they reach the age of five and which now faces its greatest threat.

The Sahel region cuts a wide swathe across north Africa from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The 12 states that make up the area are already among the most impoverished countries in the world. Today they face an unparalleled humanitarian disaster.

Of the 187 states that make up the UN human development index Niger is ranked 186, Chad is 183, Burkina Faso 181 and Mali 175.

The Sahel has endured cyclical crises around food and water but usually it afflicts one or two states at any time. This year at least 8 states are affected and between 15 million and 23 million people are at grave risk, among them one million children and hundreds of thousands of pregnant women.

This crisis is not unexpected. In January the EU’s crisis response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva visited Niger and Chad and warned that, ‘we are running out of time.’

Six months ago the UN World Food Programme was warning of a pending catastrophe. It identified the points of crisis, the states affected and the likely cost of dealing with this effectively. It estimated that it would need around $700 million.

This is a large amount of money but it pales into insignificance when set against the billions being spoken of in Europe or the billions more in the budgets of the rich states that make up what is called the developed or first world.

Thus far only about half the money needed by the UN has been received. The main aid agencies; World Vision, Action against Hunger, Save the Children and Oxfam and others like Concern, are urgently trying to raise money also. But they currently have only achieved 20% of their goal of $250 million.

The reports from the region are reminiscent of the accounts from the Ireland at the time of the Great Hunger when the dead lay at the side of roads their mouths green from eating grass.

One World Food Programme worker described what he has recently witnessed in the Sahel: ‘I’ve been to areas where some communities are reduced to eating wild plants, wild berries. Things that normally animals would eat. And they have no way of feeding themselves and their children. So you could say that technically in certain parts of the Sahel people are desperate and have nothing, literally nothing, left to eat but wild leaves.’

An aid worker with World Vision described the situation in Mauritania where many refugees from Mali have sought refuge. He said: ‘People are arriving with nothing. They’re living in camps which are just sheets on sticks with a few pots and pans. And there’s a fierce wind blowing across the desert. The heat is unbearable. And so there we’re able to see the extent of that suffering already playing out in those refugee camps.’

The reasons for this crisis are many. Climate change and drought are important factors. So too are issues like poverty, population growth, poor government and political infrastructure and governance systems, a lack of money, and the impact of several conflicts which have forced hundreds of thousands to be displaced.

It is generally accepted that a significant cause for the latter was the conflict in Libya which saw many foreign workers from the Sahel forced to return home. This has led to a loss of income into already very poor areas and increased instability.

A conflict in Mali has seen an estimated 160,000 people forced to flee their homes into neighbouring states whose resources are at breaking point. Another 200,000 Malians have fled their homes within the Mali state adding to its crisis.

All of this is contributing to an increasingly desperate situation.

In this tale of two worlds there is an onus on the richer world - despite its economic difficulties – to reach across the Mediterranean Sea and into the Sahel to provide the food and medicines and sustainable investment our neighbours need to live.

The EU, which is the biggest contributor of aid to the region needs to do more, both in direct funding and in pushing individual EU states and other countries to contribute. But there is a more fundamental issue that must be addressed – how to build indigenous sustainable economic and agricultural systems that can meet the challenges of nature and man without whole populations being put at risk of starvation and disease.

Where now for Europe?

There have been a whole series of elections in European states in the last week. Voters in Britain, Italy, Greece, Germany and France have all gone to the polls. Most of the media focus has been on the electoral outcomes in France, with the election of a Socialist President Francois Hollande, and on Greece where the government parties saw their support sharply decline.

In effect the elections in France and Greece were referendums on the strategy of austerity which French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel championed and successfully imposed on the EU in the last two years – austerity lost!

The defeat of Sarkozy and of other conservative parties and governments is evidence of a tide of change that is taking place in many European countries.

Since the economic crisis gripped Europe the conservative governments that dominate the EU have pursued austerity policies. In March they agreed to the introduction of an Austerity (Fiscal Compact) Treaty.

The result of this ideological adherence to austerity has been a deepening of the economic and banking crisis within Europe. State deficits have increased, public services have been slashed, unemployment has soared and poverty has increased.

Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the south of Ireland. Since 2008 there have been five austerity budgets and €24.6 billion worth of cuts. Government growth predictions for the economy have had to be reduced time and time again. In that same period the Irish state has seen its exchequer deficit – which austerity was supposed to cut - double from €12.7 billion in 2008 to €24.9 billion in 2011.

At the same time the social and human consequences of the austerity policies pursued by the government has been grave. Almost 15% or half a million citizens are out of work; emigration is again widespread; huge cuts have been inflicted on health and education and other public services; and new taxes have added to the distress of households.

Ordinary citizens understand, better than the governments of Europe and the spin doctors of austerity that you can’t cut your way out of a recession. Imposing deep cuts to public services; reducing wages and welfare payments, and imposing new taxes on low and middle income families in a recession just makes the recession worse.

Quite clearly austerity is not working. The election results across Europe are evidence that there is a ground swell of opinion among citizens now defiantly fighting back against austerity policies. They are voting out those politicians and parties pursuing austerity.

On May 31st citizens will have their opportunity to vote in a referendum. The choice before them is to either endorse austerity, by writing it into the constitution, or voting No and joining the growing European wide movement that is demanding an end to austerity, as well as investment in jobs and growth.

With the popular tide in Europe demanding jobs and in an effort not to be wrong footed by the growing opposition to austerity, Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil have rediscovered the importance of a jobs and growth strategy.

Monsieur Hollande is now flavour of the month for all three parties as they trip over each other rushing to declare their support for his position and some even claiming that they were saying all of this before he was!

Citizens will not be fooled by this. Or by the rhetoric. The truth is that prior to a succession of EU summits Sinn Féin urged the government to ensure that growth and jobs were at the heart of any subsequent agreement. It rejected this sensible approach.

On the contrary it chose to sign up to a Fiscal Compact Treaty that will lock this state into austerity policies for years to come and will see the government hand significant fiscal sovereignty over to bureaucrats in Europe.

Under the Troika deal the government and Fianna Fáil agreed to a bailout programme that commits this government to €8.6 billion of additional cuts for the next three years. Under the Austerity Treaty the work of reducing the structural deficit to 0.5% will mean more cuts of €6 billion. In addition the state has signed up to giving €11 billion to the European Stability Mechanism.

Where does the government plan to get this money? Thus far it has failed to say.

Of equal importance is the political direction the Austerity Treaty is taking. The head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi spelt it out last week. Speaking in Barcelona Draghi set out his vision for Europe in the next ten years. He said: “We want to have a fiscal union. We have to accept the delegation of fiscal sovereignty from the national governemnts to some form of central authority.”

This means that the Irish government has chosen to go down a path which will lead to Europe deciding what our tax regime is; how much citizens will pay in taxes and how much is paid out on welfare to those in need.

Do Irish citizens want to be a province of a European super state where technocrats – who have taken a succession of bad decisions for Europe in recent years - take decisions for Irish citizens with no accountability?

So, where to now? Austerity is in retreat but conservative governments across Europe, and Enda Kenny, Eamon Gilmore and Micheál Martin, remain ideologically committed to austerity. The referendum on May 31st is an opportunity for Irish citizens to say enough and no more to austerity. Vote No for Jobs and investment in the economy.

Who owns our natural resources?

This blog left the Dáil late last Wednesday night and traveled to Castlebar in County Mayo. It was a beautiful evening and a peaceful drive – if a bit long. Mayo is a beautiful part of the country. I have been there many times over the years most recently in March for a public meeting on the crisis in Rural Ireland.


After that event I met with some community activists from Rossport in County Mayo who have been involved for many years in the campaign around Shell and the Corrib gas field.


They briefed myself and Martin Ferris about their ongoing concerns, including the behaviour of the Gardai and the actions of the private security firm, Integrated Risk Management Services (IRMS), that is used by Shell in the area.


I told them I would visit the area and last Thursday morning we arrived into Bangor and met local Sinn Féin activists and Corrib gas community activists.


I travelled around several of the Shell sites and visited the Shell-to-Sea camp. This blog witnessed for myself the unnecessary numbers of Gardaí being used to protect the Shell facilities – the Garda presence has cost €20 million thus far and at a time when other communities are being stripped of Garda stations on Garda numbers.


There was also a large number of uniformed private security guards employed by Shell at all the sites and along parts of the road. These men were all dressed alike in dark blue uniforms, with yellow bibs and hard hats. On a cold, overcast morning they were all wearing dark glasses. Although we were on the public road they made a point of coming out from behind their gate to stand and stare. Their behavior was reminiscent of the RUC of old. The atmosphere was tense and intimidatory and for local people who have to put up with this everyday it is clearly intrusive and unwelcome.


At one point we were passed by a convoy of Shell lorries. A Garda Van preceded the convoy which then had a second Garda van at the head of the convoy proper. There was then an IRMS van behind that; then the lorries and then a follow up IRMS car and Garda car. I was told that this is typical and is used even when Shell is disposing of septic tank waste.


After touring the sites I met with some of the community activists, including some who were imprisoned, to discuss the situation. It is clear there are two broad dimensions to this issue. One is the Shell operation. And the other is the very invasive security operation that accompanies it.

We discussed the legal avenues available for challenging both. The Bay where the Shell operation is advancing is an NHA (National Heritage Area) and is also designated by the European Union as an SAC (Special Area of Conservation).

In addition last November the European Commission renewed its threat to impose substantial fines on the Irish government if turf-cutting takes place on protected bogs this year. EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik told MEPs that he may seek a legal injunction if it is found that EU environment law is being defied.

The Commissioner was speaking as environmentalists told the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament that the EU’s habitats directive has been consistently broken.

At the same time Shell is digging a huge tunnel through bogland to facilitate gas pipes coming ashore from the gas fields. It appears to this blog that Shell could well be driving a coach and horses through EU law. It is also likely that Shell may be in breach of a Parks and Wildlife recommendation.


There is work to be done in respect of all of this.

There is also the outstanding issue of the contracts under which Shell is carrying out this work and the absence of benefit coming to the state from the exploitation of this very valuable natural resource. The government needs to learn from the Norwegian approach to the exploitation of natural resources.


It also should also take urgent action to cut the excessive policing bill, lessen tension in the area by reducing the numbers of Gardai involved in protecting Shell, and by curbing the intrusive tactics of the private security firm.


Decades of mismanagement and dishonest decisions by government has resulted in a handover of our natural resources to multi-national companies with little benefit to the Irish people.


It was a corrupt Fianna Fáil Minister, Ray Burke, who introduced new licensing terms in 1987, abolished royalties and state participation in the exploration of our oil and gas reserves.


Companies were given 100% tax write offs for exploration and development costs. This was reinforced 5 years later when the then Finance Minister Bertie Ahern reduced corporation tax on oil profits to 25% and new licensing terms, beneficial to the multi-nationals, were also introduced.


But the exploitation of the Corrib Gas field also illustrates the failure of government to have a sensible partnership agreement with the exploration company. Corrib will bring little or no benefit either to the local community or to the Irish people. In addition, the gas will be sold to An Bord Gáis at the market rate.


This government, on behalf of citizens, should now move to acquire a majority state shareholding in our oil and gas. The government should also introduce an effective taxation and royalty regime that ensures that this state has the financial resources to get rid of the state debt, and regain our economic sovereignty by ending the involvement of the EU and IMF and ECB in our affairs.


A sensible exploitation strategy would also provide the funding necessary to create jobs and build a first class public service infrastructure fit for purpose for the 21st century.


The island of Ireland is rich in natural resources. The natural resources include natural gas, petroleum, peat, copper, lead, dolomite, barite, limestone, gypsum, silver and some zinc. Industries based on these and other natural resources include fishing, farming, forestry and mining.


The Democratic Programme of the First Dáil Eireann declared that ‘the nation’s sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation’s soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation’ and that ‘all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare’.


Contrary to this successive Irish Governments have sold off our natural resources. Far from ensuring that those resources have been used to the benefit of the Irish people Irish governments have squandered them in a most shameful manner. This has to change.

No place for censorship or silence

What if I told you that there is a state which has censored and silenced those in its ranks who have criticised its policies and that denies them the right to express their opinion without first submitting their views to a censor to ensure that it conforms to the opinion of the state!

You might think China or North Korea or Burma or any one of a number of other states which deny citizens their right to freedom of speech.

But you would be wrong. It’s the Vatican state in Rome.

In the last two years five prominent theologians and priests in Ireland and the Redemptorist Magazine ‘Reality’ have been officially silenced and censored by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in the Vatican. It is believed that there have been others.

The most recent example to come to light was that of Fr. Brian D’Arcy, a member of the Passionate Order, who was ‘censured’ for four articles he wrote. Fr. D’Arcy, who is based in the Passionate Monastery in Enniskillen, has been writing for the Sunday World for decades, as well as contributing to other publications and to the broadcast media. 14 months ago he was contacted by the head of his order and told that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith were accusing him of being involved in scandals.

Fr. D’Arcy says this is a reference to his criticism of the way the Vatican handled the issue of child abuse in Ireland. He has refused to submit material to the CDF and has said he will continue to write on the issue of sexual abuse.

Fr. Sean Fagan is an 84 year old Marist theologian who was silenced. Fr. Owen O Sullivan is a Capuchin who was silenced because of an article in a Catholic journal ‘The Furrow’. In his article he argued for a more tolerant attitude to homosexuality. He too has to submit anything he writes to a censor.

Fr. Tony Flannery is a Redemptorist priest who helped establish the Association of Irish Priests. He has expressed his support for the ordination of women. And Fr. Gerry Moloney who is the editor of the Redemptorist magazine ‘Reality’ has been accused by the CDF of publishing articles which breach Catholic doctrine on issues such as women priests, celibacy and homosexuality. His articles too must pass the censor.

This blog is a Catholic. I am not a doctrinaire catholic but I do believe that my views in support of women in the priesthood and for a greater democratic process within the Church are shared by many Catholics.

Two years ago I visited Palestine and Israel for a programme on Jesus. It was an exploration of his teachings and his life. One fact was inescapable. He mixed with all of the ‘wrong’ sort of people, the prostitutes, the poor, the sick, and those who disagreed with the established religious leadership of his day.

When I think of Jesus I don’t see someone who would censor or silence but who would welcome dialogue and conversation and embrace all opinions.

My own experience of censorship also confirms for me the stupidity and futility of censorship. It doesn’t resolve issues or differences of opinion but makes finding agreement more difficult.

The desire by an individual or group or state to impose its views and beliefs and opinions on others is as old as human kind. The ancient world experienced this as well as the modern.

In our own time Irish republicans have been victim of censorship. For almost three decades the southern state applied Section 31. It was introduced in 1972 by a Labour Minister Conor Cruise O Brien and banned republicans from the broadcast media. Its effect was pernicious and an attack on the rights of citizens to hear the views and opinions of others.

The British, under Thatcher introduced their own version of this in 1988. Under the Broadcast Ban the voices of republicans were banned. This led to some broadcasters coming up with novel ways of circumventing it. Actor’s voices were used and on one occasion the late Mary Holland produced a Dispatches programme for Channel 4 which had Stephen Rea doing my voice and the programme makers lip-synced it perfectly. It made a nonsense of the ban and was so effective that the British government instructed the media not to lip-synch future interviews.

So frequently Sinn Féin television interviews took on the form of badly dubbed Italian spaghetti westerns!

However the political impact of censorship was far reaching and effective. The frequency with which republican spokespersons were interviewed declined sharply. The Ban ensured that to a large extent only the two government’s version of events was presented to the public. There were honourable exceptions within the media but they were few and far between.

In the view of this blog censorship extended the conflict and facilitated the demonising of one side by the other. It made the possibility of finding a resolution very difficult.

This was especially true when the talks between John Hume and I became public and there was a ferociously critical reaction from the governments and its media.

Censorship is the enemy of truth. It reinforces the conditions for division and conflict. It is an obstacle to dialogue which is essential for understanding and agreement and reconciliation.

When methods of communication were limited and the power and influence of the Church was at its height, censoring and silencing those who disagreed with it might have worked but not today. If it persists in this approach this blog believes that the silencing of priests will ultimately be counter-productive.

Vote NO on May 31st

This blog has written much in recent time about the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union or for short the Austerity Treaty.

As most readers will know there is to be a referendum in the south of Ireland on May 31st. The vote will determine whether this state does or does not sign up for a Treaty which in this blogs view is a bad deal for citizens, for the state and for Europe.

The public debate has well and truly begun. Yesterday Sinn Féin launched our analysis of the Treaty and I addressed the Oireachtas sub-committee on the Treaty. The Taoiseach is before the same committee this morning giving the government view.

Across Europe also there is growing opposition to the Treaty. I’m told for the first time ever the European Trade Unions Confederation has come out against a European Treaty.

The Dutch government has collapsed because of a disagreement over austerity policies.

And the Socialist candidate for the French Presidency, François Hollande, is quoted in the media this morning saying: “There will be a renegotiation ...Will the treaty be changed? I hope so. Or another treaty arranged? That is up for negotiation. But the treaty, as is, will not be ratified.”

In recent days some of the largest trade unions have come out calling for a NO Vote. At the weekend the Mandate Union came out against the Treaty. On Monday the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union rejected the Treaty. And the Unite union is also calling for a NO vote. SIPTU has demanded a €10 billion jobs package or it will vote NO. So to all intents and purposes SIPTU is saying NO.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions met on Thursday and found it could not achieve agreement on a position on the Treaty. ICTU’s General Secretary said there was no one in the trade union movement in agreement with the treaty. The Treaty was “completely inimical to our interests and our particular analysis on what is wrong in Europe at the moment”.

The government’s spin which connects a Yes Vote for the Treaty with further access to the European Stability Mechanism, in the event that a further bailout was needed, is what is causing concern for some in the trade union leadership.

But as I explained to the Dáil’s Oireachtas Sub-Committee on the Treaty on Thursday afternoon, this is a government bluff which doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

The Government parties and Fianna Fáil are claiming that if we don’t sign up to the Austerity Treaty we will not get access to emergency funding from the ESM.

This is utter nonsense. The simple fact is that this is not a done deal. For the European Stability Mechanism to come into effect it has to go into the EU Treaties (Article 136) and all 27 member states, including the Irish state have to ratify this. The Dáil will only debate this issue after the referendum.

This decision about access to the ESM therefore is in the hands of Fine Gael and Labour.

The government has the power to ensure that there is no block on access to the ESM. Are Enda Kenny and Éamon Gilmore seriously suggesting that they would if the referendum was lost then sign up to an EU Treaties provision that would jeopardise access to emergency funding, if the state needs it?

So, the Yes side’s claims on this issue are as bogus as were the claims during the Lisbon Treaty campaign that passing that Treaty would create jobs.

Since Lisbon 170,000 jobs have been lost.

As part of the battle for hearts and minds over the Treaty Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil have asked Sinn Féin how would we pay for running the state in the event that their bailout scheme fails?

This is the same government which boasts that the bailout will not fail and that we won’t need further emergency funding!

The real question is how are the government going to pay for anything. Currently the government is committed to further cuts to public services of €8 billion over the next three years. The Austerity Treaty will add a further €6 billion in cuts and taxes. Where is this money to come from??

Sinn Fein has argued consistently that there are alternatives to the Government’s austerity policies and bank bailouts.

The Sinn Féin approach is based on fair taxes, investing in jobs, debt restructuring and growing the all-Ireland economy.

Sinn Féin would :

• not pay the promissary note.

• support those on low and middle incomes

• introduce a third tax rate and a wealth tax,

• bring in savings by for example, capping public sector salaries at €100,000.

• And critically we would invest in jobs and growth.

• And Sinn Féin would not sign up to a Treaty that would drive the country deeper into recession.

Sinn Féin has also called for:

• Increasing the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank to stimulate activity in the real economy.

• Cleansing the European Banking system of toxic debts.

• Debt-restructuring agreements involving debt-write-downs for heavily indebted states

• Ending the obligation on the state to pay the Anglo Irish Promissory Note and un-guaranteed senior bondholders in Anglo and other banks.

Sinn Féin has also set out in budget submission after budget submission exactly how we would close the deficit and fund the state and put public finances back on a sustainable footing. This includes paying the wages of nurses, teachers and Gardaí and providing decent frontline services.

For all of these reasons and because there is an alternative this Austerity Treaty must be opposed. Vote No on May 31st.