SF seeks engagement with dissidents
A senior Sinn Féin leader has said his party wants to talk to all republicans, including armed dissident groups, on a future strategy for a united Ireland – achieved by persuasion.
In an interview ahead of this weekend’s Easter commemorations, Party Chairman Declan Kearney spoke of those within his community who don’t support Sinn Féin or endorse republican strategy,
“There are other republicans who have organised, directly in opposition to the peace process,” he told UTV.
“It is their political right to do that, but no republican has the right today to use armed actions or militarism to undermine the peace process, to tear down all-Ireland political institutions or to create the circumstances where by the British can remilitarise the North.”
He says his party is interested in talking with those opposed to the Sinn Féin strategy.
“The twin tasks facing all those who are committed to Irish republicanism are today, to address ourselves to reconciliation, and to then work out collectively how we can create the best circumstance for bringing about the unity of our people and moving incrementally through persuasion towards the achievement of a new Ireland, an agreed, united Ireland.”
Some of those who have moved away from mainstream republican politics have formed other groups, one which is Republican Network for Unity.
They have launched a new document, under the title of ‘revolutionary republicanism’, which talks of reclaiming all of Ireland but lacks detail on the question of armed actions.
“We’re honest about armed struggle,” Ciaran Cunningham, from the group has said.
“It’s a legacy issue. It’s as a result of the legacy of British occupation in Ireland, which has always been maintained by force.
“Armed struggle is, if you like, residue of that legacy.
“It is not something we’re going to be hypocritical about, it is not something we are going to be promoting or not something we are condemning.”
But speaking to UTV, former IRA prisoner Seanna Walsh said those involved in armed activity must explain their actions.
“We did it within a specific context where we believed it could achieve a political objective,” he explained.
“There’s nobody saying that what is happening today can achieve political objectives, it’s simply militarism for militarism’s sake.”
Earlier this month, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly also expressed interest in engaging with dissidents, after they made a death threat to deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in the same week a dissident plot to bomb a Londonderry police station was foiled.
Since then there have been a number of attempts to attack police and bomb alerts linked to dissident republicanism, the latest of which saw a 60kg bomb discovered in an abandoned car which police believed was destined for a PSNI station in Co Fermanagh.
Dissident republican group Óglaigh na hÉireann later claimed the intended target was the hotel where the G8 summit will be held.
SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has said he is also prepared to talk with dissidents.
“I have always believed in dialogue, I don’t believe we have anything to fear from dialogue,” he said.
“If you’re going to try and convince people who believe in violence that dialogue can work, you can’t do it by refusing to engage in dialogue with them.”
There is a sense of urgency for the Sinn Féin chairman to get all republicans to discuss the future.
“This should be a time for discussion within republicanism,” Mr Kearney explained.
“And then for republicans to engage in outreach much more expansively with all sections of opinion in Irish society to work out collectively how we as a society can create an agreed Ireland and an Ireland that ensures that we live at peace with ourselves.”
