The Five Demands

32CSM Bodenstown 2011 Address by Francie Mackey
The essential first step to be taken in resolving any problem is to recognise that the problem exists. For too often in our history this guiding maxim was abandoned to facilitate political illusions that the so called ‘Irish Question’ had been resolved. The process involved in formulating such treaties began with an Irish acceptance of a British definition of the conflict. This was followed by a war or peace scenario designed to portray Irish aspirations as inextricably linked with war whilst those of the British were allied to peace. What resulted was a conflict in the Irish position between continuing war and our sovereign independence. The ensuing agreements reflected this dichotomy and our right to sovereignty was subjugated as per British intentions.
The flawed political instincts inherent in these processes are currently at work again in Ireland today. The task facing republicans is to demonstrate that the conflict has not been resolved and that the political theatrics in Stormont are an illusion as far as achieving our freedom is concerned. This is an onerous task which requires fortitude and a pragmatic political outlook. We have moved beyond the blame game. We have moved beyond invoking history. We have moved beyond invoking ideology as a means to move us forward. We are now standing in the shoes of Wolf Tone and our actions will define how deserved we are in being so.
Let us first begin by defining the problem so that our people can recognise that it still exists. In doing so I first address this to fellow republicans because a unified voice can achieve this with more certainty. It is important for republicans to understand the necessity of adopting a common position on the conflict and to recognise that a particular politics is required to address this, independent of any politics envisaged for a post conflict Ireland. We need to introduce a politically crafted conflict resolution package into the current equation.
The problem is the violation of our sovereignty and the denial of our right as a people to national self determination. We define self determination as the Irish people determining our own future democratically and inclusively and without external impediment. Self determination is not defined as voting on what others have determined we should vote on. It is not a partitioned vote nor is it a vote which includes a section of our people being given triple-lock guarantees by a foreign government that their vote should prevail over the votes of others. This is the cause of conflict between the Irish people and the British establishment.
The Good Friday Agreement is not a resolution to the conflict. It is yet another political illusion designed to address the symptoms and not the cause as if both were one and the same. It was also designed to entrap and misdirect those who would pursue the separatist agenda but who are now forced to administer British rule in Ireland.
That rule continues to manifest itself in ways which advocates of the Good Friday Agreement would have us believe are a thing of the past. Those who dissent are interned. Those who are interned are brutalised. Those who are brutalised are criminalised. And those who are criminalised are labelled traitors. This is the nature of British rule and any surrogate or proxy administration will share this nature also.
We send greetings to 32CSM National Executive member and internee Marian Price. We send greetings to all internees and POW’s and pledge ourselves to work tirelessly on your behalf and on behalf of your families. And in as much as our work on this front is to alleviate their plight we will not flinch from the political realities that also need to be addressed on this issue. Strip searching is a vile and degrading practice. It was vile thirty years ago in the midst of the hunger strikes. Its political use was deployed to secure the same objective then, against those fighting for what we fight for today, to break our spirit and criminalise our struggle. It failed then and it will fail now irrespective of the deafening silence from establishment nationalists.
When the British government and its micro administration at Stormont tell us that the conflict is over we point to their activities towards republican prisoners and remind them that it is not. We point out the continued activities of the RUC against the republican people and remind them that changing its name in no way changes its function. We remind them of our challenge against their presence here at the United Nations and adjure them to respond. The conflict cannot be ended by ignoring its cause.
The IRA is not the cause of the conflict. Nor can they be used as a pre-condition for not seeking its ending. It is vital that both the British government and republicans recognise this. As republicans seeking a way forward it is not our function to try and influence the IRA concerning its actions; those actions are a reflex to the ongoing failure to address the issue of sovereignty. Talk of republican unity cannot be focussed around pro or anti armed struggle positions because armed struggle is an inevitable presence in this political theatre.
Nor must we fall into the trap of not being able to distinguish between the politics required to end armed conflict and the politics required to end social injustice in a post conflict Ireland. We cannot allow disagreements, real or imagined, on how we see a new, free Ireland to stifle republican cooperation to end the conflict that puts any new Ireland beyond our reach. The Sovereignty Movement is primarily concerned with resolving the armed conflict. No new Ireland can emerge unless this happens first. All visions of a new Ireland are hostage to this reality.
Here today we once again call on all republicans to come together and forge a way forward. We invite you to collaborate on a conflict resolution package which can focus our resources to that end. Republicanism needs ideas. We have ideas; you have ideas, let us take the best of them and make the most of them.
We say to the British government it is within your grasp to end the conflict. We recognise that the temptation to resist exploiting the flawed approach of previous republican leaders was too great given the longevity of the conflict between us. You know that Dublin is weak but you equally know the strength of our arguments as presented to you. Those arguments concern the cause of the conflict. Your refusal or inability to respond to them reinforces their veracity. But we also have arguments for resolving the conflict. They are as strong as they are imaginative and call for no pre-conditions whatsoever to engage with them.
Our vilification in the media and by the political establishment is a testament to our growing influence. The disgraceful smears levelled against republican activist Liam Kenny in the wake of his murder by drug dealers betrayed their panicked mindset. It is a mindset devoid of reasoned argument or insight. The glaring headlines were eventually reduced to humiliating and hidden admissions that Liam was an outstanding republican and community activist who gave his life in the service of both. We send our condolences and solidarity to his family and comrades.
But this episode once again throws into light the ever changing construct of the modern media. It is a light republicans need to step into also. The changing nature of mass communication has created opportunities for republicans to get our message across to an instant and massive audience. Section 31 type censorship is no longer the all powerful tool it used to be. Mass communication is no longer the preserve of a politically appointed media elite. We can reach a wide audience also and it is imperative that we do so. It is imperative that we attract to our ranks those who are instinctively familiar with this modernity and apply our gritty inventiveness to maximise its benefits.
The recent assaults on residents in the Short Strand underscores the continuing sectarian nature of the Six County Statelet. It further underscores that any so called peace process predicated on a sectarian headcount is doomed to failure. Partition has been a disaster for all our people yet throughout this process no one was obliged to make an argument as to why it should continue. There are no arguments to justify its continuance yet the political narrative was based on an automatic acceptance that it should do so.
We seek a new narrative with our unionist brothers and sisters. We seek a dialogue that is based on rational argument and which does not exclude options for the betterment of Ireland. But all dialogue needs an incentive for it to be engaged in. The Good Friday Agreement does not provide this incentive to unionists, rather it allows them to merely say no to any alternatives to partition. All other participants are obliged to work the constitutional status quo yet unionists are excused from even discussing other options. The claim that the aspiration of Irish unity is on an equal par with a maintenance of the border is another illusion.
Comrades our task is to break down these illusions. Working together we can achieve this. It is time to work together. Beir bua!