The announcement that the Irish Republican Army formally ended its armed campaign at 4pm on Thursday, July 28, 2005 marks an historic departure in Irish politics. It also represents a new opportunity for lasting peace here in Ireland.
The peace process in Ireland has been stalled for some time. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 won the overwhelming endorsement of the Irish people in referendums held on the same day on both sides of the border which divides our country.
That Agreement provides for an Assembly in the six counties and an inclusive, power-sharing Executive, as well as All-Ireland structures which emphasise the common interest of the people who share our island. The sad fact is that for most of the period since the Good Friday Agreement those structures have not been in place and the Agreement has not been fully implemented.
It's time for the DUP to become peace-builders, to work with other parties to create a just and equal society for all.
A first step must be to enter dialogue with Sinn Féin and to re-establish an inclusive Executive in the north of Ireland. Republicans have suffered at the hands of unionists and unionist paramilitaries. I have a number of reasons not to talk to Ian Paisley, if that was my position.
However, I have one imperative to speak with him. That is, to build peace. Sinn Féin recognizes that his party has an electoral mandate that entitles it to a place in the Executive – but only if it shares power with Sinn Féin. We will be working ever harder now to ensure that power is shared and the Agreement is implemented.
However, if the DUP are not willing to talk, if they are not willing to embrace the Good Friday Agreement, then the governments need to move the process forward.
No-one should lose sight of the responsibility of the British government in this situation. Since 1998 it has indulged those unionists who oppose the Agreement, allowing the Agreement to be undermined. The British government must now step up to the mark. It must demilitarise the six counties. There are similar numbers of British troops in the North East of Ireland as there are in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. They must go.
For decades the state police in the North of Ireland were part of the counter-insurgency apparatus of the British government. While reforms have taken place they do not as yet go far enough and one of the essential requirements now is a police service that truly serves and represents the whole community and that is under local democratic control.
For Sinn Féin, developments in the past few weeks represent another phase in the ongoing struggle of Irish republicans for a united and independent Ireland. That struggle now goes forward through exclusively peaceful means. And it will go forward until we secure an end to British rule, build Irish unity and an all-Ireland Republic.
I also want to take this opportunity to say that the safe return to Ireland of Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan is a matter of great relief. The men are now with their families, where they belong.
