TUC GIVES MO A STANDING OVATION
TUC gives Mo a standing ovation
Mowlam calls on women to halt terrorists
ALL "mums and grannies" should help root out the last remaining terrorists, Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam urged yesterday.
It was only when the whole community turned its back on them and refused to offer them a hiding place that the last few men of violence could be hunted down, she said.
There were between 100 and 300 terrorists left in Ireland and they must not be allowed to ruin the peace which 99.9 per cent of people wanted, Dr Mowlam declared.
The Ulster secretary was speaking at the TUC conference in Blackpool, where she had a rapturous reception with standing ovations both as she arrived on the platform and at the end of her speech.
Rejecting criticism of the tough new security measures rushed through Parliament last month in response to the Omagh bombing, she said they had all complied with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Dr Mowlam said: "I'm a libertarian and I don't have a problem with this. We're dealing north and south of the border with 100, 200,300 maybe, people directly or indirectly involved in violence still in Northern Ireland.
"I don't think we should let them ruin what 99.9 per cent of people in Northern Ireland want to see.
"The final way to rid a community of terrorist activity is to make the Good Friday Agreement work.
"Because it is when a community reject them, don't give them any hiding place and everybody's mum and granny says 'they're not coming in this house', that it's easy to root them out of the community."
Dr Mowlam told delegates that progress was being made on implementing all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement in unison. .
"There is still an awful long way to go," she admitted, insisting that the talking between all sides must go on.
"At the end of her speech, the conference broke into a long standing ovation, and TUC leaders hugged and congratulated her.
As the clapping died down, John Edmonds, TUC president, said: "I hope we haven't embarrassed you, but sometimes Congress gets to tell you what it thinks and I think it did."
Mowlam calls on women to halt terrorists
ALL "mums and grannies" should help root out the last remaining terrorists, Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam urged yesterday.
It was only when the whole community turned its back on them and refused to offer them a hiding place that the last few men of violence could be hunted down, she said.
There were between 100 and 300 terrorists left in Ireland and they must not be allowed to ruin the peace which 99.9 per cent of people wanted, Dr Mowlam declared.
The Ulster secretary was speaking at the TUC conference in Blackpool, where she had a rapturous reception with standing ovations both as she arrived on the platform and at the end of her speech.
Rejecting criticism of the tough new security measures rushed through Parliament last month in response to the Omagh bombing, she said they had all complied with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Dr Mowlam said: "I'm a libertarian and I don't have a problem with this. We're dealing north and south of the border with 100, 200,300 maybe, people directly or indirectly involved in violence still in Northern Ireland.
"I don't think we should let them ruin what 99.9 per cent of people in Northern Ireland want to see.
"The final way to rid a community of terrorist activity is to make the Good Friday Agreement work.
"Because it is when a community reject them, don't give them any hiding place and everybody's mum and granny says 'they're not coming in this house', that it's easy to root them out of the community."
Dr Mowlam told delegates that progress was being made on implementing all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement in unison. .
"There is still an awful long way to go," she admitted, insisting that the talking between all sides must go on.
"At the end of her speech, the conference broke into a long standing ovation, and TUC leaders hugged and congratulated her.
As the clapping died down, John Edmonds, TUC president, said: "I hope we haven't embarrassed you, but sometimes Congress gets to tell you what it thinks and I think it did."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/305
Published Date: 18-Sep-98
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