BLIND BOMBERS CHOOSE PATH TO OBLIVION
Blind bombers choose path to oblivion
By Tommy McKeamey
THE era of the 'Fenian dynamiter' must surely now be at an end. No wisp of rationale remains to prolong a theory which believes that detonating explosives is a substitute for deploying the will of the people.
A certain section of Irish republicans has always held the erroneous view that the validity of their cause justifies any and all of their actions.
A view of the world which doesn't just ignore the prevailing mood, but in most cases is blind to the futility of dismissing public opinion.
This republican mindset is informed not only by its own analysis of the present but also by its reading of history.
The unmandated Easter Rising is quoted endlessly as evidence that direct military intervention is both morally correct and tactically capable of leading to ultimate success.
Such a view ignores the fact that Easter 1916 came at a time when Britain had flagrantly flouted the often and clearly expressed wishes of Ireland's people for self-government.
Clarke and Connolly, therefore, didn't defy the popular will - they anticipated it. Moreover, this Easter Week word view overlooks the caveat entered by other periods such as the Civil War when republicans suffered crushing defeat.
Until last week, two factors allowed the dynamiters to evade making a hard, penetrating assessment of their strategy.
Cm one hand, long years of often suffering greater casualties than they inflicted has permitted their adherents to sometimes seem more hard done by than sinning.
Secondly, their good fortune at finding themselves among the defenders of a victimised population in 1969 ensured their survival for a generation.
No longer though. The Omagh outrage was too awful to allow this wolf any hedge to hide in. And those of us who remain committed to a republican agenda must take the lead in slaying this beast.
Condemnation is not enough. An explicit scrutiny of the dynamiters' mistaken premise is essential.
There are two crucial points in rejecting the practice of engaging in the unsupported use of physical force.
In the first instance it makes for bad republican practice to ignore the people. A republic which is not democratic is not an objective worth working for and would be unworthy of support.
Second and equally pertinent, attempting to wage war in the face of universal popular disapproval is doomed to failure.
Failure of the kind that unavoidably brings rejection of the cause as well as to those whose actions discredit it.
And while on the topic of failure, it is important that no time is wasted considering the 'unfortunate cock-up' scenario or that improving procedure will prevent tragedy.
Fredrick Engels - a loyal friend of Irish republicanism - said after a fatal Fenian bomb attack in 1867: "The stupid affair in Clerkenwell was obviously the work of a few specialised fanatics, it is the misfortune of all conspiracies that they lead to such stupidities...."
So what now for those republicans who continue to reject the Good Friday Agreement? Has all opposition to the Belfast treaty been smothered by perfectly justified anger at the slaughter.
Time alone will tell if radical republicanism has gone the way of the Gaelic clan system and Jacobite rebellion. What can be said is that opposition to the Good Friday Agreement remains a perfectly legitimate political position.
A determination to break the connection with Britain remains a respectable opinion to hold. Creating a republican form of government remains a noble aspiration.
However, radical republicans must faceup to a fundamental challenge. The task now is to define the ways and means by which our eminently worthy goals can be achieved through properly democratic methods. Anything less and our hopes will forever lie buried with the dead of Omagh.
The writer is a former republican prisoner who has rejected violence and is against the Good Friday Agreement
By Tommy McKeamey
THE era of the 'Fenian dynamiter' must surely now be at an end. No wisp of rationale remains to prolong a theory which believes that detonating explosives is a substitute for deploying the will of the people.
A certain section of Irish republicans has always held the erroneous view that the validity of their cause justifies any and all of their actions.
A view of the world which doesn't just ignore the prevailing mood, but in most cases is blind to the futility of dismissing public opinion.
This republican mindset is informed not only by its own analysis of the present but also by its reading of history.
The unmandated Easter Rising is quoted endlessly as evidence that direct military intervention is both morally correct and tactically capable of leading to ultimate success.
Such a view ignores the fact that Easter 1916 came at a time when Britain had flagrantly flouted the often and clearly expressed wishes of Ireland's people for self-government.
Clarke and Connolly, therefore, didn't defy the popular will - they anticipated it. Moreover, this Easter Week word view overlooks the caveat entered by other periods such as the Civil War when republicans suffered crushing defeat.
Until last week, two factors allowed the dynamiters to evade making a hard, penetrating assessment of their strategy.
Cm one hand, long years of often suffering greater casualties than they inflicted has permitted their adherents to sometimes seem more hard done by than sinning.
Secondly, their good fortune at finding themselves among the defenders of a victimised population in 1969 ensured their survival for a generation.
No longer though. The Omagh outrage was too awful to allow this wolf any hedge to hide in. And those of us who remain committed to a republican agenda must take the lead in slaying this beast.
Condemnation is not enough. An explicit scrutiny of the dynamiters' mistaken premise is essential.
There are two crucial points in rejecting the practice of engaging in the unsupported use of physical force.
In the first instance it makes for bad republican practice to ignore the people. A republic which is not democratic is not an objective worth working for and would be unworthy of support.
Second and equally pertinent, attempting to wage war in the face of universal popular disapproval is doomed to failure.
Failure of the kind that unavoidably brings rejection of the cause as well as to those whose actions discredit it.
And while on the topic of failure, it is important that no time is wasted considering the 'unfortunate cock-up' scenario or that improving procedure will prevent tragedy.
Fredrick Engels - a loyal friend of Irish republicanism - said after a fatal Fenian bomb attack in 1867: "The stupid affair in Clerkenwell was obviously the work of a few specialised fanatics, it is the misfortune of all conspiracies that they lead to such stupidities...."
So what now for those republicans who continue to reject the Good Friday Agreement? Has all opposition to the Belfast treaty been smothered by perfectly justified anger at the slaughter.
Time alone will tell if radical republicanism has gone the way of the Gaelic clan system and Jacobite rebellion. What can be said is that opposition to the Good Friday Agreement remains a perfectly legitimate political position.
A determination to break the connection with Britain remains a respectable opinion to hold. Creating a republican form of government remains a noble aspiration.
However, radical republicans must faceup to a fundamental challenge. The task now is to define the ways and means by which our eminently worthy goals can be achieved through properly democratic methods. Anything less and our hopes will forever lie buried with the dead of Omagh.
The writer is a former republican prisoner who has rejected violence and is against the Good Friday Agreement
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0293
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
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