Press Office

Aired: Sunday, 6 February, 2005 16:7
Please credit sunday with adam Boulton, Sky news

6th February, 2005

 

Interview with Martin McGuiness, MP, Sinn Fein Chief Negotiator

 

Any excerpts used to be attributed to Sky News’ ‘Sunday With Adam Boulton’

programme.

Boulton :  You have said that the decision to blame the IRA for the bank robbery just before Christmas scuttles the peace process,  but isn’t what really scuttles the peace process  the refusal of the Republican Movement to commit itself to exclusively peaceful means of pursuing its’ goals as it agreed to, under the Belfast Agreement?

McGuiness :  Well I have been involved in a number of meetings with Gerry Adams alongside the British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach and others from both governments over the course of the last few weeks and I haven’t heard anything or seen anything to convince me that the IRA were involved in that robbery.

I think we do have a very difficult situation. I think that there is a deteriorating situation. A deteriorating situation that needs to be arrested and I think there is a mighty responsibility on all sides to face up to what is required in order to resolve the difficulties. I think one of the big problems that we face is that there is a very dishonest analysis being put before the people in terms of the IRA being the only problem. The big problem that we faced was the refusal of  Ian Paisley to accept what was a first class offer from the IRA in December of last year which would have seen the IRA putting all their weapons beyond use within a 4-5 week period. And doing that in the presence of a Protestant Church man, and a Catholic Church man, moving it to a new mode and making a very forward statement saying that they would not be involved in any activities whatsoever which would undermine the agreement.

Boulton : I understand that but that is a question of words, what I think the critics of the Republicans would say is that we have seen actions. Even if you leave aside the bank raid which I would like to return to, there has been a recent killing, there have also been raids on security vans. There is the suggestion that Republican Movement is still involved in low level criminality in communities in Northern Ireland. Are you denying that?

McGuiness : Well could you tell me what recent killing the IRA was involved in?

Boulton : I think there has been a killing which has been attributed to the IRA in Belfast recently.

 

McGuiness : Well if you are talking about an incident in a pub in Belfast, that has not been attributed to the IRA. Certainly there have been incidents in Belfast in terms of robberies but there have been no suggestion whatsoever that the IRA have been involved in any of those. I think this is the difficulty of the type of situation that we find ourselves in. It is very easy, in a brash way to throw all kinds of muck at the IRA. But where is the evidence.

Boulton : We have Tony Blair, the head of the Northern Ireland Priest Service,  Commissioner of the Garda, Bertie Ahern all saying that on the bank raid and on other goings on in Northern Ireland that there is a level of criminality being conducted out by the IRA. I just want to get it clear from you, you are flatly denying that there is any criminality going on by the IRA in Northern Ireland at the moment.

 

McGuiness : What I am saying very clearly is that you need to give me specific incidents. I have no information whatsoever that the IRA are involved in criminality of any kind at this time. I think that from our perspective, within Sinn Fein, our focus is on the great difficulties that this peace process is facing as a result of the refusal of Ian Paisley to accept a first class offer from the IRA last year. And the pandering to Ian Paisley by the Taoiseach  Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair in relation to this business of a photograph. In terms of allegations against the IRA people need to stand up to their allegations. The allegations of the bank robbery have not been stood up because we have sort to hear from both Prime Ministers evidence or information that the IRA was involved in that robbery and thus far they haven’t produced one scrap of evidence. If we live in a democratic society then the rule of law is very important. I think there has been a huge debate in England about the rights of people who have been returned from Guantanamo bay. I think here in Ireland people would do well to recognise that the refusal to give justice in the past has been a major bug lading to massive conflict on this Ireland.

Boulton : If you look at the two IRA statements of last week. That phrase , do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation. The references to previous breakdowns of the ceasefire. Was that a threat? That the ceasefire could be broken by the paramilitaries on the Republican side?

McGuiness : As Gerry Adams has said in the course of recent days Sinn Fein is no longer going to interpret IRA statements. Those days are over. But I will say this from a Sinn Fein perspective. Sinn Fein is totally and utterly opposed to any return to conflict and we have made our position absolutely clear. We believe that the peace process is the best way forward. We want all our groups within our society, including of course the British Army to recognise the importance of making contributions to that.

Boulton : You would say categorically to Republican Paramilitaries, to the provisional IRA that whatever happens in this process do not break the ceasefire, do not return to violence.

McGuiness : Well that is very strongly my position. Not just to people on the Republican side. But to people on the Loyalist side. To undercover elements within the British military. To the British Army in South Omar where remember that there are more British soldiers in the North of Ireland than there are in Iraq. I think that makes the case for urgent de-militarization.

Boulton : What is your proposal to get out of this situation now?

 

McGuiness : It will not be resolved by confrontation. It can only be resolved by those people who put a huge effort into the peace process. Coming together and facing up to, in an honest way, the issues that lie at the heart of this difficulty. I think it is particularly dishonest of the Irish and British governments to try and focus all of this on the IRA being the only problem. There is a huge problem of Unionist political leaders refusal to share power with Catholics, Nationalists and Republicans. Unless the two governments accept that that is a huge problem we are going to make little progress. I think that progress can be made and we should always remind ourselves that the situation has been transformed here in the North of Ireland over the course of the last ten years and that only happened because people like Tony Blair, the Taoiseach, Gerry Adams and others in the process came together to chart a course away from conflict. We have to continue to do that work.

 

Boulton : Lets hope so Martin McGuiness thank you very much.