DUMP ARMS NOW GERRY
Dump arms now Gerry
By MERVYN PAULEY
Moving Omagh debate hears blunt challenge
GERRY Adams was directly challenged yesterday to launch a bold personal initiative to get rid of the IRA's vast armoury.
The Sinn Fein chief was put on the spot by Sir John Gorman, the most senior member of the new Assembly, during a moving if at times acrimonious debate on the Omagh bombing atrocity.
The newly elected members were in sombre mood and there were several disarmament calls as they were given their first chance to voice their feelings since the Real IRA's bomb claimed 29 lives and injured and maimed more than 200 men, women and children on August 15.
Sir John, an Ulster Unionist in his mid-70s and former chairman of the Northern Ireland Forum, used his allotted time to make an impassioned plea across the floor to Mr Adams.
With the Sinn Fein president sitting impassive, Sir John asked why arms and explosives were needed if the republican movement was dedicated to democracy. Looking straight at Mr Adams, whom he has met at public events, the Father of the House said:
"Now, Gerry, here is the chance for you to show that leadership and discipline I know you are capable of. Gerry, you brought the Semtex here; what about a big bang to get rid of as much of it as you can?"
Sir John described the arms issue as the last major hurdle to be dealt with and said it should happen now, not in the year 2000. "What is the need for explosives?" he challenged. "What defensive quality has a bomb got?"
Earlier, there was all-party condemnation of the self-styled Real IRA for committing the worst atrocity in Northern Ireland's history and tributes were paid to the dignity of the victims and to the bereaved families.
Praise was also heaped on members of the emergency services for their dedicated and tireless work in dealing with the dead, dying and injured.
The London and Dublin governments came under DUP and UKUP fire for not tackling terrorism years ago.
Members of other parties, including Sinn Fein, said that the bombers had tried to wreck the peace process but had actually united politicians and people in a renewed determination to make it work.
The three-hour debate, described afterwards as "deeply painful and emotional" by Presiding Officer Lord Alderdice, was opened by Omagh-born Ulster Unionist Derek Hussey, who echoed the words of one of the injured: "The devil visited Omagh."
He asked that the names of the dead be inserted in the minutes and said: "I just hope and pray that the list does not get any longer." He highlighted the part played by the county hospital in saving lives and insisted its role must not be forgotten in plans for its future.
Mr Hussey warned that the potential for a similar tragedy must be removed and wondered why, if the IRA had called off violence for good, there was a need to maintain their arsenal?
Calling for decommissioning, he said: "This is the overwhelming public expectation, and for me it is the political imperative if we are to advance the return of right and proper powers to Northern Ireland's own elected representatives."
In a clear reference to Sinn Fein, Mr Hussey said there were those in the Assembly chamber who knew who the Omagh bombers were.
Looking at the Sinn Fein benches, he said: "They should be sharing their knowledge with the authorities north and south to assist in the apprehension of those responsible."
SF vice-president Pat Doherty sidestepped the decommissioning demands, but said: "We must make Omagh the last atrocity, we must put all of that behind us."
He said it was the duty of the Assembly to move on and implement the Good Friday Agreement with as much haste as possible.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness claimed it was republican pressure which had forced the Real IRA to call off its campaign after the Omagh bomb.
He insisted Sinn Fein was dedicated to the peace process and the political way forward. He understood it was difficult for unionists to believe that, and "our assertion that we want a fresh start", but urged them to do so.
Joe Byrne, SDLP Assemblyman for the Omagh area, said: "Dissident republicans wanted a so-called spectacular in order to wreck the current peace process and prevent the new political structures from functioning ...
"Quite simply, nothing in the wide world could justify the killing of our good people in such an inhuman and callous way."
Mr Byrne said resident Army helicopters had ferried people to hospital and there were many people alive today thanks to their efforts.
He told the Assembly: "The ambulancemen and women, the firemen, police officers, voluntary corps groups, and clergy, along with ordinary people who help others at the scene of bombs like Omagh, are much braver than the people who plan and plant these bombs,"
DUP leader Ian Paisley said decommissioning of weapons would be "the only proof that they have turned from their wickedness and violence".
But he argued that the gun would never be taken out of Irish politics until republicans realised that the majority of people in Northern Ireland were never going into a united Ireland.
He accused the Government of being "neither tough on terrorism nor the causes of terrorism" and said the whole Mid-Ulster area had been a "killing field for the IRA".
He added that the Government had made concession after concession to buy off terrorists and stop them bombing the mainland.
Alliance Party leader Sean Neeson said it was the darkest summer in the history of Northern Ireland. Omagh had been a "tragedy waiting to happen".
UKUP leader Robert McCartney told the Assembly the Real IRA and the Provisional IRA shared the same political goals and there was no moral or ethical difference between them. There was only a difference in tactics to obtain those goals.
That was why the IRA saw it as "absolutely necessary" to retain their arms and explosives.
PUP chief David Ervine said he hoped Omagh was the last atrocity. He sensed that it was a watershed. In the main, it had brought politicians to their senses.
He told members he was "well worthy of condemnation". He accepted his complicity in past events and he expected others to do the same.
"But the moralists never do; they are better people than everyone else; better moralists than everyone else. They do well for themselves but they don't really offer my society very much."
Mr Ervine hit out at politicians who attacked Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and who thought it right to re-run the referendum on the Stormont agreement.
On the arms question, he declared: "What happens if Martin McGuinness can't deliver? What happens next? I hope and pray that the sense of caring and sympathy, and indeed the outpouring of love directly towards Omagh, continues."
DUP man Oliver Gibson, who lost a niece in the bombing, said people in Omagh felt they had to respond to the genuine outpouring of sympathy.
He praised the "heroic contributions" of all who had rallied round after the explosion and said people who were mentally and physically scarred would have to be welcomed back into the life of the community.
"Esther Gibson is dead and buried but her boyfriend is left behind," he told the hushed House.
Mr Gibson suggested it was not so much a debate as an exposure of the facts of "terrorist horror". Terrrorism had been exposed on the international scene for what it really was.
He hit out at leading politicians who visited Omagh and expressed sympathy and in the next breath delivered a political message. Holding up a copy of the Agreement, he asked what relevance it had to the grieving families.
Eileen Bell, of the Alliance Party, said Omagh had brought all traditions together. "Let us hope the war is really over for all of us and that we can go forward together."
Cedric Wilson, UKUP, insisted: "The whole peace process is being driven by terrorism and by concessions to terrorism."
Dr Joe Hendron, SDLP Assemblyman for west Belfast, wrapped up the debate with a "last appeal" for parties to work together "so that our children and our children's children will have a peaceful and an agreed future".
Earlier he praised the "great courage and leadership" of people like First Minister David Trimble and his deputy Seamus Mallon and criticised some anti-agreement politicians."
"Some people seem to regret the fact that there is a peace movement," he said.
By MERVYN PAULEY
Moving Omagh debate hears blunt challenge
GERRY Adams was directly challenged yesterday to launch a bold personal initiative to get rid of the IRA's vast armoury.
The Sinn Fein chief was put on the spot by Sir John Gorman, the most senior member of the new Assembly, during a moving if at times acrimonious debate on the Omagh bombing atrocity.
The newly elected members were in sombre mood and there were several disarmament calls as they were given their first chance to voice their feelings since the Real IRA's bomb claimed 29 lives and injured and maimed more than 200 men, women and children on August 15.
Sir John, an Ulster Unionist in his mid-70s and former chairman of the Northern Ireland Forum, used his allotted time to make an impassioned plea across the floor to Mr Adams.
With the Sinn Fein president sitting impassive, Sir John asked why arms and explosives were needed if the republican movement was dedicated to democracy. Looking straight at Mr Adams, whom he has met at public events, the Father of the House said:
"Now, Gerry, here is the chance for you to show that leadership and discipline I know you are capable of. Gerry, you brought the Semtex here; what about a big bang to get rid of as much of it as you can?"
Sir John described the arms issue as the last major hurdle to be dealt with and said it should happen now, not in the year 2000. "What is the need for explosives?" he challenged. "What defensive quality has a bomb got?"
Earlier, there was all-party condemnation of the self-styled Real IRA for committing the worst atrocity in Northern Ireland's history and tributes were paid to the dignity of the victims and to the bereaved families.
Praise was also heaped on members of the emergency services for their dedicated and tireless work in dealing with the dead, dying and injured.
The London and Dublin governments came under DUP and UKUP fire for not tackling terrorism years ago.
Members of other parties, including Sinn Fein, said that the bombers had tried to wreck the peace process but had actually united politicians and people in a renewed determination to make it work.
The three-hour debate, described afterwards as "deeply painful and emotional" by Presiding Officer Lord Alderdice, was opened by Omagh-born Ulster Unionist Derek Hussey, who echoed the words of one of the injured: "The devil visited Omagh."
He asked that the names of the dead be inserted in the minutes and said: "I just hope and pray that the list does not get any longer." He highlighted the part played by the county hospital in saving lives and insisted its role must not be forgotten in plans for its future.
Mr Hussey warned that the potential for a similar tragedy must be removed and wondered why, if the IRA had called off violence for good, there was a need to maintain their arsenal?
Calling for decommissioning, he said: "This is the overwhelming public expectation, and for me it is the political imperative if we are to advance the return of right and proper powers to Northern Ireland's own elected representatives."
In a clear reference to Sinn Fein, Mr Hussey said there were those in the Assembly chamber who knew who the Omagh bombers were.
Looking at the Sinn Fein benches, he said: "They should be sharing their knowledge with the authorities north and south to assist in the apprehension of those responsible."
SF vice-president Pat Doherty sidestepped the decommissioning demands, but said: "We must make Omagh the last atrocity, we must put all of that behind us."
He said it was the duty of the Assembly to move on and implement the Good Friday Agreement with as much haste as possible.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness claimed it was republican pressure which had forced the Real IRA to call off its campaign after the Omagh bomb.
He insisted Sinn Fein was dedicated to the peace process and the political way forward. He understood it was difficult for unionists to believe that, and "our assertion that we want a fresh start", but urged them to do so.
Joe Byrne, SDLP Assemblyman for the Omagh area, said: "Dissident republicans wanted a so-called spectacular in order to wreck the current peace process and prevent the new political structures from functioning ...
"Quite simply, nothing in the wide world could justify the killing of our good people in such an inhuman and callous way."
Mr Byrne said resident Army helicopters had ferried people to hospital and there were many people alive today thanks to their efforts.
He told the Assembly: "The ambulancemen and women, the firemen, police officers, voluntary corps groups, and clergy, along with ordinary people who help others at the scene of bombs like Omagh, are much braver than the people who plan and plant these bombs,"
DUP leader Ian Paisley said decommissioning of weapons would be "the only proof that they have turned from their wickedness and violence".
But he argued that the gun would never be taken out of Irish politics until republicans realised that the majority of people in Northern Ireland were never going into a united Ireland.
He accused the Government of being "neither tough on terrorism nor the causes of terrorism" and said the whole Mid-Ulster area had been a "killing field for the IRA".
He added that the Government had made concession after concession to buy off terrorists and stop them bombing the mainland.
Alliance Party leader Sean Neeson said it was the darkest summer in the history of Northern Ireland. Omagh had been a "tragedy waiting to happen".
UKUP leader Robert McCartney told the Assembly the Real IRA and the Provisional IRA shared the same political goals and there was no moral or ethical difference between them. There was only a difference in tactics to obtain those goals.
That was why the IRA saw it as "absolutely necessary" to retain their arms and explosives.
PUP chief David Ervine said he hoped Omagh was the last atrocity. He sensed that it was a watershed. In the main, it had brought politicians to their senses.
He told members he was "well worthy of condemnation". He accepted his complicity in past events and he expected others to do the same.
"But the moralists never do; they are better people than everyone else; better moralists than everyone else. They do well for themselves but they don't really offer my society very much."
Mr Ervine hit out at politicians who attacked Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and who thought it right to re-run the referendum on the Stormont agreement.
On the arms question, he declared: "What happens if Martin McGuinness can't deliver? What happens next? I hope and pray that the sense of caring and sympathy, and indeed the outpouring of love directly towards Omagh, continues."
DUP man Oliver Gibson, who lost a niece in the bombing, said people in Omagh felt they had to respond to the genuine outpouring of sympathy.
He praised the "heroic contributions" of all who had rallied round after the explosion and said people who were mentally and physically scarred would have to be welcomed back into the life of the community.
"Esther Gibson is dead and buried but her boyfriend is left behind," he told the hushed House.
Mr Gibson suggested it was not so much a debate as an exposure of the facts of "terrorist horror". Terrrorism had been exposed on the international scene for what it really was.
He hit out at leading politicians who visited Omagh and expressed sympathy and in the next breath delivered a political message. Holding up a copy of the Agreement, he asked what relevance it had to the grieving families.
Eileen Bell, of the Alliance Party, said Omagh had brought all traditions together. "Let us hope the war is really over for all of us and that we can go forward together."
Cedric Wilson, UKUP, insisted: "The whole peace process is being driven by terrorism and by concessions to terrorism."
Dr Joe Hendron, SDLP Assemblyman for west Belfast, wrapped up the debate with a "last appeal" for parties to work together "so that our children and our children's children will have a peaceful and an agreed future".
Earlier he praised the "great courage and leadership" of people like First Minister David Trimble and his deputy Seamus Mallon and criticised some anti-agreement politicians."
"Some people seem to regret the fact that there is a peace movement," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/300
Published Date: 16-Sep-98
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