Gerry Kelly comments on second ETA statement
Commenting on the second statement by ETA in 15 days Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said;
“The fact that there has been a second statement is to be welcomed. The debate about and focus on a new peace process keeps this necessary way forward open.
“I am not in the least surprised by the mistrust and caution expressed about what has been stated. This was the Irish experience also. Trust and confidence can wait. What will not wait is momentum.
“There is not the slightest indication that Madrid will provide this. That was our experience of London also which sought to maintain an unacceptable status quo. In our case the task of creating momentum and overcoming resistance rested by and large with the Irish republican leadership and others who sought to change the status quo.
“Opportunity, we discovered, does not stop to pause; it passes. Clearly the signatories of the Brussels declaration and others support a momentum for change and have loaned their names to this attempt to achieve a process to do that. And importantly, as we witnessed in Ireland, the setting aside of armed actions places an onerous responsibility on political middle-leaderships and grassroots activists to grasp the opportunity provided and generate more momentum to move the project forward”.
