TELL US THE WAR IS OVER BRUTON ASKS OF PROVOS
Tell us the war is over, Bruton asks of Provos
By FERGUS BLACK
FINE GAEL leader John Bruton yesterday challenged the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein to declare that they accepted the Good Friday Agreement and that their war was over.
In a hard-hitting statement to the Dail Mr Bruton said there was no continuing justification for either the maintenance of a military capacity by the IRA or for the IRA to fail to say that its war was over.
He described the Omagh massacre as the "worst mass murder in modern Irish history" which was committed by former Provisional IRA members now travelling under the banner of the Real IRA.
He attacked the IRA's recent statement, describing it as a carefully nuanced Republican strategy to allow the luxury of an "each way bet" on the Good Friday agreement.
And he said that Sinn Fein and the IRA were two organisations in one movement, with one purpose, one strategy and one direction.
It was criminally wrong for the IRA to deny the Good Friday vote. In doing so they were providing an implicit justification for the Real IRA and it was wrong for Sinn Fein to support or condone that continuing Provisional IRA position.
Challenging the IRA to declare its war over, Mr Bruton said no one was suggesting unconditional disarmament but one was expecting a progressive political commitment to disarmament that would be followed, step by step, with other aspects of the Good Friday deal.
Sports Minister Jim McDaid was critical of Mr Bruton's speech.
The Minister said that at a time so sensitive following the clear and unambiguous Sinn Fein statement that the war was over and Mr Trimble's courageous invitation to all party leaders to come together, one had to wonder at the direction in which Mr Bruton was leading his party.
Democratic Left spokesperson on Justice Liz McManus said that a hasty knee-jerk reaction to the Omagh atrocity would hand the terrorists a victory.
Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain said his party was certain it had done all in its power to end the conflict and the onus was on all those democratically mandated by the people of Ireland to create a new political dispensation.
The bombing of Omagh was an attack on the peace process in general and on the Sinn Fein peace strategy in particular.
Departing from his prepared statement, Deputy O Caolain said Mr Bruton was "out of step" and he (Mr O Caolain) would not be goaded into a political cul-de-sac of Deputy Bruton's construction. He was disappointed that Mr Bruton had failed to grasp the reality or show an acceptance of the changing political realities of the day-to-day process of the Good Friday agreement.#
By FERGUS BLACK
FINE GAEL leader John Bruton yesterday challenged the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein to declare that they accepted the Good Friday Agreement and that their war was over.
In a hard-hitting statement to the Dail Mr Bruton said there was no continuing justification for either the maintenance of a military capacity by the IRA or for the IRA to fail to say that its war was over.
He described the Omagh massacre as the "worst mass murder in modern Irish history" which was committed by former Provisional IRA members now travelling under the banner of the Real IRA.
He attacked the IRA's recent statement, describing it as a carefully nuanced Republican strategy to allow the luxury of an "each way bet" on the Good Friday agreement.
And he said that Sinn Fein and the IRA were two organisations in one movement, with one purpose, one strategy and one direction.
It was criminally wrong for the IRA to deny the Good Friday vote. In doing so they were providing an implicit justification for the Real IRA and it was wrong for Sinn Fein to support or condone that continuing Provisional IRA position.
Challenging the IRA to declare its war over, Mr Bruton said no one was suggesting unconditional disarmament but one was expecting a progressive political commitment to disarmament that would be followed, step by step, with other aspects of the Good Friday deal.
Sports Minister Jim McDaid was critical of Mr Bruton's speech.
The Minister said that at a time so sensitive following the clear and unambiguous Sinn Fein statement that the war was over and Mr Trimble's courageous invitation to all party leaders to come together, one had to wonder at the direction in which Mr Bruton was leading his party.
Democratic Left spokesperson on Justice Liz McManus said that a hasty knee-jerk reaction to the Omagh atrocity would hand the terrorists a victory.
Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain said his party was certain it had done all in its power to end the conflict and the onus was on all those democratically mandated by the people of Ireland to create a new political dispensation.
The bombing of Omagh was an attack on the peace process in general and on the Sinn Fein peace strategy in particular.
Departing from his prepared statement, Deputy O Caolain said Mr Bruton was "out of step" and he (Mr O Caolain) would not be goaded into a political cul-de-sac of Deputy Bruton's construction. He was disappointed that Mr Bruton had failed to grasp the reality or show an acceptance of the changing political realities of the day-to-day process of the Good Friday agreement.#
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II/134
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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