91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳

Sinn Féin national executive member, Dodie McGuinness, is currently touring Australia. Dodie, a native of Derry, has been actively involved in republican politics since the early '70s. Her party responsibilities include international work, party building, electoral strategy and she is a party organiser on the six-county executive. McGuinness spoke to 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly correspondent and Australian Aid for Ireland member, Sean Magill. This is the first part of her interview. Question: It is 15 months since the Irish Republican Army cease-fire. What progress has been made towards talks involving all political parties? There has been very little movement from the British government. Prior to the cease-fire John Mayhew [British Secretary for Northern Ireland] and others in the British establishment called on republicans to be adventurous, imaginative and to take risks. Now it is their turn to show these qualities. The main bonus is the Peace and Reconciliation Forum which the Dublin government has set up, where all the nationalist parties in Ireland are sitting at the one table. The only empty chairs are those for the representatives of the unionist parties. Question: Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, who recently walked out of talks because British officials rejected a proposal from Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), was accused by someone from the British side as being too easily discouraged. What's your response? The British government have used every stumbling block that they could find, from [demanding] "clarification" to the "decommissioning" of weapons. All these were never part of the secret discussions that McGuinness and others were involved in 18 months before the cease-fire. The British know they would not have got a cease-fire if they had demanded that decommissioning be a prerequisite to all-party talks. The proposal taken to the British government was for all-party talks and we pressured them to set a date. That then [put the responsibility on] the British government to convince the unionists that they had to be part of the peace process. It is Sinn Féin's, the Irish government's and the SDLP's view, that this is the only way to move forward. Question: What is your opinion about British support for an international arms commission to supervise the decommissioning of weapons? The British have said that there could be an international arms commission. But what they have not said is that they will accept the findings of the international commission. They are saying that there should be a gesture from the Irish Republican Army. Our view is that a gesture is meaningless. What is the point of handing in say 1% or 5% of IRA weaponry when you have unionist weaponry, the British military machine and armed Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) members which [the British government] doesn't want to talk about. There are thousands of legally held and illegally held weapons within the unionist community and all they want to talk about is IRA weaponry. What if the nationalist community said, "We don't want armed RUC men raiding our homes, patrolling our streets and we don't want British soldiers living in our community"? The recent removal of 600 troops looks fine, but they're bringing in the paratroopers who were guilty of Bloody Sunday and the murder of civilians. Question: One of the excuses the British give for dragging their feet is that they want the Protestant community to have confidence in the process. How do you answer that and what assurances can you give that community? I think the Protestant community can have confidence in an all-Ireland government. At the moment, the Protestant community have had a six-county state carved out for them, where they have had privilege and control. They have been given that by the British government. It's actually enshrined in the Downing Street Declaration even though they talk about self-determination for the people of Ireland, they still reinforce the unionist veto over change. That means a small minority of the people of the whole island of Ireland are allowed to dictate how the rest of us live. There have been big changes in the 26 counties on divorce, on social legislation and the role of the Catholic church. We see many problems with the 26-county state that have to be changed [and the Dublin] government agrees with that. We say the constitution needs to be rewritten and that it has to guarantee the rights of all the people of Ireland. It doesn't at the moment and that's part of the argument the unionists use. It's also a whitewash because they know there have been changes. Question: David Trimble, Ian Paisley and other leading loyalist politicians, considered the leaders of the Protestant community, do not appear accept arguments for an all-Ireland solution. How do you get around them? By sitting down and talking to people from those communities who will talk to us. Paisley and Co. will not talk to republicans. They believe they have the God-given right to rule the six counties. But the fringe loyalist parties, who are very working class, have more of a gut feeling about what the unionist community wants, and they're moving forward. They were talking to the Irish government even before Trimble went to talk to them. Members of the Popular Unionist Party and the Ulster Democratic Party have had prison sentences and been involved with paramilitary organisations but they are saying that the unionist communities that they are involved with are insisting that people talk. Question: Has the change of government in the 26 counties since the cease-fire affected the peace process? Albert Reynolds [Irish prime minister at the time of the cease-fire] was very adventurous in the way he dealt with the situation. He saw [the Peace and Reconciliation Forum] as a way forward and he invited the unionist parties to be part of it as well. He accepted that the cease-fire was going to continue and he set the wheels in motion for the release of political prisoners. Unfortunately his political arrogance brought about his downfall about this time last year. John Bruton of Fine Gael then became Prime Minister. With his conservative background, we saw him as pro-unionist leader. The refusal to meet Gerry Adams and John Hume, a few weeks ago was a disconcerting signal. This was shortly after he had met with David Trimble and other unionist leaders in Belfast. But nobody at the Irish government level wants to be seen to be the weak link in the peace process. Bruton [has since] had a meeting with Hume and Adams and agreed with the joint proposals that they were taking to the British government. That means he is on board again but it's been hard work because he doesn't see it as his project. Question: I know you can't speak for the IRA but can you tell us of any feedback you are getting from that quarter? There is an anger and frustration that the British government have tried to con people and draw out the process so that the unity in the republican movement will fracture. What you see from Adams and McGuinness walking out on the talks is an indication that there is something wrong at that level of discussion with the British government, but there is no indication that there is any fracture. I would be confident about that because we have a political responsibility, and the IRA have a responsibility as well, to ensure that nobody else loses their life or goes to prison needlessly in this conflict. I can't predict what will happen in 10 years time, if the situation hasn't changed. I cannot say what the next generation will do. History has shown that every 10 or 20 years there is armed conflict in Ireland and maybe that's the bottom line the British government need to be looking at. There has always been an armed response to their involvement in Ireland. I would presume there will continue to be so. Question: What do you hope to achieve from your trip to Australia? We're calling on the international community to be more actively involved. On a local level we're asking support groups such as Australian Aid for Ireland to challenge their local and federal politicians, to ensure that your government puts pressure on the British to involve themselves in the peace dialogue. I would hope that by talking to the press club while I am here, I can put forward the view of the nationalist community that I represent. I can explain some of the problems we have. I will be talking to the [federal government] foreign affairs committee. I hope that will influence government structures to put pressure on the British government. The peace process has stalled; it's in danger of collapsing. I have three teenage children and I don't want them to go through what we have endured for the past 25 years.