INTERN THEM NOW
Intern them now
By CONOR CRUISE O'BRIEN
SATURDAY'S HORRENDOUS bombing in Omagh is being widely seen as a grim violation of "the peace process.'' In reality the Omagh bombing was fully within the logic which has shaped what was wishfully and falsely called "the peace process.''
That logic was based on the concept of buying off the IRA, by political concessions to the IRA's political front, Sinn Fein. This process is expected to reach a climax this autumn, when Sinn Fein representatives will be seated in the new Executive for Northern Ireland, while Sinn Fein's masters, the IRA, retain all their weapons.
The effect, and the purpose, of this retention is to signal the IRA's capacity to return to violence once more, whenever they determine that blackmail alone isn't paying fast enough political dividends. Sinn Fein have been hanging on in there, with the consent of the IRA, in order to win, first, release of all IRA prisoners, and then reforms'' of the RUC, which will undermine the morale of that force and so facilitate the task of the IRA, whenever it decides to resume "military action.''
All that is quite logical, but it takes time, and a determined group within the IRA now calling itself the Real IRA recently decided that time had run out. The Real IRA broke with the leadership of the Provisionals and took the decision to resume violence without waiting for anything.
In human terms the bombing at Omagh was a ghastly tragedy. But in the shadowy world of Republican paramilitary politics Omagh was a triumph for the Real IRA. At Omagh, the "Real IRA'' succeeded in killing more people than the IRA, in any of its guises, has ever managed to kill at one stroke before. In the head-hunting culture of the IRA, that means that the leaders of the Real IRA now have more prestige than anybody else, including the present leaders of the Provisionals. Sticking in a mindless groove of their own making, the leaders of the parties committed to "the peace process'' are saying that the atrocity at Omagh simply means that the "peace'' parties must be more determined than ever to press ahead with the process in question.
Why? Last Good Friday the peace processors were assuring all concerned that the great historic breakthrough to peace had already been made. After what happened at Omagh, that claim now looks sick, even unto death. "Oh but'' say the peace processors in chorus, "there is no alternative.'' If that were so, the peace process would have to roll on, even it meant ten more Omaghs. But it is not so. There is an alternative, and I shall now set out the outlines of what it would have to involve. The thing that is most urgently needed is to put the emphasis back where it belongs, on security. This means taking the emphasis off the vain quest for the Holy Grail a political solution for Northern Ireland which will satisfy the conflicting views which divide the two main sections of the inhabitants of the province. The proper moment to put the emphasis back on security is right now, while the horror of Omagh is fresh in the minds of people throughout these islands. There is no need officially to call off "the peace process'' which will die of its own momentum and in its own way, probably before the end of the present year. The heads of the British and Irish Governments, and their security advisors, should now meet as a matter of urgency to consider one specific matter: the threat to security posed by the existence and capabilities of the Real IRA. If the security advisors agreed as I believe they would internment should again be activated North and South. In the Republic the power to intern still exists; it would only need to be reactivated. In Britain, where the power to intern has been removed, it would need to be restored. From a carefully worded statement, made by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on RTE yesterday, I infer that the reactivation of internment is now being seriously considered in the Republic. Internment, once restored, should be applied immediately to all persons identified by the two police forces as belonging to the paramilitary forces now active, including the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, believed to be in partnership with the Real IRA. Also to whatever sections of the loyalist paramilitaries are judged by the RUC to be at present active.
Whenever the subject of internment has been mooted which has been comparatively rare we have been assured by a chorus of wiseacres that "internment has been tried and failed: don't let us discuss it.'' In fact internment has been used three times in recent Irish history and it was only on the third occasion that it failed, for readily discernible reasons, which can and should be avoided in the future.
The first time was during the Second World War when Eamon de Valera successfully used internment against the IRA. The second was in the late 1950's when Sean Lemass also successfully used internment against the IRA, then attempting to use the Republic as a base for attacks on Northern Ireland. The third use of internment the one that was later abandoned as a failure was applied by Brian Faulkner in the dying period of the old Stormont regime. The reason for its failure was that, on introduction, it was applied against Catholics only. This naturally aroused the Catholics of Northern Ireland against it, and the Government of the Republic and Catholics of Irish origin in the United States, equally naturally, joined in the protests which eventually succeeded. If internment were to be introduced right now, in both jurisdictions, and impartially applied, it would meet with no such widespread resistance. The Real IRA are widely and deeply unpopular, having no allies outside the narrow circle of the active Republican movement, and the same applies to the Continuity IRA.
As for loyalist paramilitaries, these are widely unpopular, not merely among all Catholics, but among most Protestants, as the small electoral support in the Protestant community for the political fronts of the loyalist paramilitaries shows. So present conditions are ideal, politically, for the application of internment to those groups who are now engaged in paramilitary activity. Sinn Fein would, however, vigorously oppose internment, even for the Real IRA, because they know it would also be used against the Provisional IRA, in the probable event of a return to "military operations'' by that body. But Sinn Fein's motives for opposing the internment of members of the Real IRA would be transparent and widely discounted. Fianna Fail, the only political party in the Republic which would be at all likely to oppose the return of internment after Omagh, would find such opposition unpopular.
FIANNA FAIL would be suspected of collusion with Sinn Fein-IRA and such a suspicion with no respectable "peace process'' veil to cover it would be politically unrewarding. So, politically as in other ways, the present is pre-eminently the right moment to reintroduce internment.
And then, in the highly probable event of the IRA's returning to "military operations'' internment could be immediately used against them, with the predictable support of public opinion both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. The security forces, North and South, working well together, as they now do, and adequately supported, would have an excellent chance of beating all the IRA's and also with much less difficulty all the loyalist paramilitaries. The task would take some years but unlike the flawed so-called "peace process'' it could lead to real and lasting peace in all Ireland.
By CONOR CRUISE O'BRIEN
SATURDAY'S HORRENDOUS bombing in Omagh is being widely seen as a grim violation of "the peace process.'' In reality the Omagh bombing was fully within the logic which has shaped what was wishfully and falsely called "the peace process.''
That logic was based on the concept of buying off the IRA, by political concessions to the IRA's political front, Sinn Fein. This process is expected to reach a climax this autumn, when Sinn Fein representatives will be seated in the new Executive for Northern Ireland, while Sinn Fein's masters, the IRA, retain all their weapons.
The effect, and the purpose, of this retention is to signal the IRA's capacity to return to violence once more, whenever they determine that blackmail alone isn't paying fast enough political dividends. Sinn Fein have been hanging on in there, with the consent of the IRA, in order to win, first, release of all IRA prisoners, and then reforms'' of the RUC, which will undermine the morale of that force and so facilitate the task of the IRA, whenever it decides to resume "military action.''
All that is quite logical, but it takes time, and a determined group within the IRA now calling itself the Real IRA recently decided that time had run out. The Real IRA broke with the leadership of the Provisionals and took the decision to resume violence without waiting for anything.
In human terms the bombing at Omagh was a ghastly tragedy. But in the shadowy world of Republican paramilitary politics Omagh was a triumph for the Real IRA. At Omagh, the "Real IRA'' succeeded in killing more people than the IRA, in any of its guises, has ever managed to kill at one stroke before. In the head-hunting culture of the IRA, that means that the leaders of the Real IRA now have more prestige than anybody else, including the present leaders of the Provisionals. Sticking in a mindless groove of their own making, the leaders of the parties committed to "the peace process'' are saying that the atrocity at Omagh simply means that the "peace'' parties must be more determined than ever to press ahead with the process in question.
Why? Last Good Friday the peace processors were assuring all concerned that the great historic breakthrough to peace had already been made. After what happened at Omagh, that claim now looks sick, even unto death. "Oh but'' say the peace processors in chorus, "there is no alternative.'' If that were so, the peace process would have to roll on, even it meant ten more Omaghs. But it is not so. There is an alternative, and I shall now set out the outlines of what it would have to involve. The thing that is most urgently needed is to put the emphasis back where it belongs, on security. This means taking the emphasis off the vain quest for the Holy Grail a political solution for Northern Ireland which will satisfy the conflicting views which divide the two main sections of the inhabitants of the province. The proper moment to put the emphasis back on security is right now, while the horror of Omagh is fresh in the minds of people throughout these islands. There is no need officially to call off "the peace process'' which will die of its own momentum and in its own way, probably before the end of the present year. The heads of the British and Irish Governments, and their security advisors, should now meet as a matter of urgency to consider one specific matter: the threat to security posed by the existence and capabilities of the Real IRA. If the security advisors agreed as I believe they would internment should again be activated North and South. In the Republic the power to intern still exists; it would only need to be reactivated. In Britain, where the power to intern has been removed, it would need to be restored. From a carefully worded statement, made by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on RTE yesterday, I infer that the reactivation of internment is now being seriously considered in the Republic. Internment, once restored, should be applied immediately to all persons identified by the two police forces as belonging to the paramilitary forces now active, including the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, believed to be in partnership with the Real IRA. Also to whatever sections of the loyalist paramilitaries are judged by the RUC to be at present active.
Whenever the subject of internment has been mooted which has been comparatively rare we have been assured by a chorus of wiseacres that "internment has been tried and failed: don't let us discuss it.'' In fact internment has been used three times in recent Irish history and it was only on the third occasion that it failed, for readily discernible reasons, which can and should be avoided in the future.
The first time was during the Second World War when Eamon de Valera successfully used internment against the IRA. The second was in the late 1950's when Sean Lemass also successfully used internment against the IRA, then attempting to use the Republic as a base for attacks on Northern Ireland. The third use of internment the one that was later abandoned as a failure was applied by Brian Faulkner in the dying period of the old Stormont regime. The reason for its failure was that, on introduction, it was applied against Catholics only. This naturally aroused the Catholics of Northern Ireland against it, and the Government of the Republic and Catholics of Irish origin in the United States, equally naturally, joined in the protests which eventually succeeded. If internment were to be introduced right now, in both jurisdictions, and impartially applied, it would meet with no such widespread resistance. The Real IRA are widely and deeply unpopular, having no allies outside the narrow circle of the active Republican movement, and the same applies to the Continuity IRA.
As for loyalist paramilitaries, these are widely unpopular, not merely among all Catholics, but among most Protestants, as the small electoral support in the Protestant community for the political fronts of the loyalist paramilitaries shows. So present conditions are ideal, politically, for the application of internment to those groups who are now engaged in paramilitary activity. Sinn Fein would, however, vigorously oppose internment, even for the Real IRA, because they know it would also be used against the Provisional IRA, in the probable event of a return to "military operations'' by that body. But Sinn Fein's motives for opposing the internment of members of the Real IRA would be transparent and widely discounted. Fianna Fail, the only political party in the Republic which would be at all likely to oppose the return of internment after Omagh, would find such opposition unpopular.
FIANNA FAIL would be suspected of collusion with Sinn Fein-IRA and such a suspicion with no respectable "peace process'' veil to cover it would be politically unrewarding. So, politically as in other ways, the present is pre-eminently the right moment to reintroduce internment.
And then, in the highly probable event of the IRA's returning to "military operations'' internment could be immediately used against them, with the predictable support of public opinion both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. The security forces, North and South, working well together, as they now do, and adequately supported, would have an excellent chance of beating all the IRA's and also with much less difficulty all the loyalist paramilitaries. The task would take some years but unlike the flawed so-called "peace process'' it could lead to real and lasting peace in all Ireland.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/028
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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