NORAID HARDLINER IN 32 COUNTY TALKS
Noraid hardliner in 32 County talks
AMERICAN lawyer and hardline republican Martin Galvin held talks with leaders of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee at a secret border location this weekend.
New York-based Galvin, banned from entering Britain because of his former role as a leading member of NORAID, is a friend of committee vice-chairwoman Bernadette Sands-McKevitt.
Mr Galvin, who split from Sinn Fein more than two years ago when the mainstream republican movement became part of the peace process, is an outspoken opponent of the Good Friday agreement.
He flew to Dublin at the weekend, and was believed to have made contact with Ms Sands-McKevitt at a secret location for what aides called "a full assessment of the current situation".
In a comment last week, Mr Galvin refused to condemn the Omagh outrage - in which 28 people died and more than 200 were injured - but said the loss of life was "a tragedy of immense proportions".
Three days after the bombing, the Real IRA said it was suspending its military operations for "a process of consultations" about its future.
Meanwhile, senior Sinn Fein strategist Martin McGuinness yesterday issued a new appeal to dissident republican paramilitaries to quit their campaign of violence.
He told the still-active terrorists: "You've nowhere else to go."
Mr McGuinness said: "The clear message for these people is that they should be stopping their activities."
"It is a source of dismay to us that there is still a small number of people, claiming to be republicans, who believe that they can destroy all of the work that we have been involved in over the course of recent years.
"I think they have to face up to reality. People are supportive of the Sinn Fein peace strategy. Our support is unprecedented at the moment.
"They should also recognise that the future for them moves between bleak and nowhere else to go."
Mr McGuinness said Sinn Fein was always prepared to meet representatives of a breakaway organisation.
"The primary responsibility of everyone in political society on the island of Ireland is to get the activities of the small dissident republican groupings who are involved in armed actions stopped - and stopped as a matter of urgency.
"Everyone is telling them they should be supporting the Sinn Fein leadership and all of the other parties that signed up to the Good Friday agreement."
Junior Irish Foreign Minister Liz O'Donnell yesterday claimed that the Dublin Government's "Draconian" anti-terrorist package of new laws and security measures had not been initiated as "an act of vengeance" for the Omagh attack.
"It is to make the state competent to deal with this threat to our society," she said.
The minister also confirmed that if the plan to combat the remaining terrorists failed, the internment without trial of suspects - still on the statute books in the Irish Republic - was "always an option".
Ms O'Donnell added: "We can reintroduce it by order, if it is judged to be necessary."
AMERICAN lawyer and hardline republican Martin Galvin held talks with leaders of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee at a secret border location this weekend.
New York-based Galvin, banned from entering Britain because of his former role as a leading member of NORAID, is a friend of committee vice-chairwoman Bernadette Sands-McKevitt.
Mr Galvin, who split from Sinn Fein more than two years ago when the mainstream republican movement became part of the peace process, is an outspoken opponent of the Good Friday agreement.
He flew to Dublin at the weekend, and was believed to have made contact with Ms Sands-McKevitt at a secret location for what aides called "a full assessment of the current situation".
In a comment last week, Mr Galvin refused to condemn the Omagh outrage - in which 28 people died and more than 200 were injured - but said the loss of life was "a tragedy of immense proportions".
Three days after the bombing, the Real IRA said it was suspending its military operations for "a process of consultations" about its future.
Meanwhile, senior Sinn Fein strategist Martin McGuinness yesterday issued a new appeal to dissident republican paramilitaries to quit their campaign of violence.
He told the still-active terrorists: "You've nowhere else to go."
Mr McGuinness said: "The clear message for these people is that they should be stopping their activities."
"It is a source of dismay to us that there is still a small number of people, claiming to be republicans, who believe that they can destroy all of the work that we have been involved in over the course of recent years.
"I think they have to face up to reality. People are supportive of the Sinn Fein peace strategy. Our support is unprecedented at the moment.
"They should also recognise that the future for them moves between bleak and nowhere else to go."
Mr McGuinness said Sinn Fein was always prepared to meet representatives of a breakaway organisation.
"The primary responsibility of everyone in political society on the island of Ireland is to get the activities of the small dissident republican groupings who are involved in armed actions stopped - and stopped as a matter of urgency.
"Everyone is telling them they should be supporting the Sinn Fein leadership and all of the other parties that signed up to the Good Friday agreement."
Junior Irish Foreign Minister Liz O'Donnell yesterday claimed that the Dublin Government's "Draconian" anti-terrorist package of new laws and security measures had not been initiated as "an act of vengeance" for the Omagh attack.
"It is to make the state competent to deal with this threat to our society," she said.
The minister also confirmed that if the plan to combat the remaining terrorists failed, the internment without trial of suspects - still on the statute books in the Irish Republic - was "always an option".
Ms O'Donnell added: "We can reintroduce it by order, if it is judged to be necessary."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0171
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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