SF is not a political party, it is a political wing
Not content with making this despicable claim, the Sinn Fein chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, went even further on last Monday's Questions and Answers. Responding to the following comment from Minister Michael McDowell: "Mitchel and his colleagues believe that any volunteer carrying out any authorised action on behalf of the IRA doesn't commit a crime because the IRA is the legitimate government of this country."
McLaughlin coldly replied: "Yes, and I believe it happened in the context of conflict."
With these few words McLaughlin answered a question I have posed here several times: Is Sinn Fein a political party or a political wing?
Sinn Fein may pretend that it is independent of the IRA, but with the one word "yes", McLaughlin confirmed it is just a political wing: totally subservient to an Army Council that it regards as the legitimate government.
Documents found in possession of the provisional movement have shown both the nature of the relationship between Sinn Fein and the IRA and its core belief. IRA members are required to subscribe to the following:
That the provisional army council and its successors are the inheritors of the First and Second Dail as a provisional government of the Irish Republic . . . this ethical fact should and must give moral strength to all volunteers and all members of every branch of the republican movement. The IRA is the lawful government of the Irish Republic.
This belief applies not just to the provisionals but to: "All members of every branch of the republican movement" ie Provos and Sinn Fein. McLaughlin has now acknowledged that this core tenet still holds true for Sinn Fein's leadership.
This is why we never hear Sinn Fein criticise or challenge the IRA. For Adams et al nothing the IRA does can be illegal, because they are above the law. Crime is the business of the IRA, North and South. It is estimated that in the North alone they net stg£12m a year from fuel laundering, cigarette smuggling and other activities. There is no room for ambiguity on criminality. There can be no more ambiguity between the "Armalite and the ballot box". There was a time when constructive ambiguity was necessary for progress. That time has long gone.
The two Governments and the SDLP have created the space for Sinn Fein to engage solely in the political process. At times the signs were hopeful. There were moments where it seemed that Sinn Fein was moving to real politics, only to return to their old recidivist ways. The Northern Bank robbery is the latest example of this. Friday's opinion poll results show that the public don't buy the hollow denials of Pinocchio Adams.
It is up to Sinn Fein to unambiguously demonstrate their bona fides. It is up to Sinn Fein to disavow the contemptible comments of McLaughlin, Arthur Morgan and others. It is up to Sinn Fein to say who is sovereign: the Irish people or the IRA Army Council.
Willie O'Dea is the Minister for Defence
- Willie O'Dea
