Better Cancel The Trip Home, Boys
The airline industry will be reeling this evening with the news the Peter Hain has finally and sensibly withdrawn the On The Run legislation. Flights to Ireland are most likely being feverishly cancelled as you read this.
Of course, the motives for doing this are Sinn Fein-led. They got their cake, but just as they were tucking into it, they discovered an extra ingredient that..erm…disagreed with their collective digestive system. “What’s this?” thundered Gerry (presumably) “They’ve slipped in an amnesty for army bollockses! Tony didn’t mention that before…honest…”
Except, of course, they must have known. For one thing, the British Government are many things, but they are not (completely) stupid. Don’t you think the brains at Downing Street might have expected an SF backlash?
Double Standards
Aside from the hilarious PR cock-up, the episode exposed the nasty side of Sinn Fein. All that talk of ’spirit of reconciliation’ turned out to be completely one-sided. You forgive us for past attrocities. We reserve the right to dredge up any event by Loyalist groups or state forces, but just don’t mention the ‘Ra, OK? What happened to the election fodder of “Building An Ireland Of Equals”, Gerry? B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but what differentiates one set of killers from another? I thought we were putting the past behind us, moving on and growing up. The dilemma for Sinn Fein was, do they give up one of their trump cards - state murders of Republicans - to allow ‘the boys’ safe passage home? That must’ve been a hell of a decision to make.
But it’s not over yet. No. Hain thinks this will be back on the agenda as an anomaly that should have been dealt with at the time of the Good Friday Agreement. I don’t. Got the guts to kill for your cause? Then stay behind and take the consequences. Face the families you left bereaved across the courtroom and take the sentence you deserve. Only a coward runs away…why should we turn a blind eye?
I’ve been on the cyber equivalent of a pub crawl tonight, celebrating this :o)
I’m sure you are, Aileen. It’s a shame that it wasn’t your campaigning that eventually led to the legislation being pulled, but because it didn’t suit Sinn Fein. Congratulations!
“I don?t know about the rest of you, but what differentiates one set of killers from another?”
When they originate from the state.
I agree with much of what you are saying, but it would true were Sinn Fein complaining about Loyalist OTRs rather then Uniformed officers. More importantly it would have been totally undemocratic to pass a bill only one party supported. Both Loyalists and Republicans have “On the runs” who should go home (and stay out of trouble).
Uniformed officers should be held to a higher standard, if you are paid to enforce the law you do it within the law or pay the price.
Excellent graphic. Excellent article. Excellent news all round.
Excellent graphic.
One interesting side issue related to this and tied up with the recent revelations about British control of the Provisional movement is this:
Since the Provisional movement was clearly riddled with agents for the last 20 years, does that not make the IRA the biggest agent of collusion and most prodigious state killer of them all?
I mention it because you talk about the PIRA trump card being state murder of ‘republicans’. I think that ship is sailing anyway.
Republicans believe that their volunteers represent the legitimate government of all 32 counties in the form of the IRA Army Council (”successor to the Second Dail”). As such, their OTRs acted in the name of the state too. That’s why Sinn Fein’s hyprocrisy on this matter is so breathtaking.
Robyn says uniformed officers should be held to a higher standard. But the odds are that it’s only officers acting outside their remit that would have been covered in practice - redneck collusion, not official collusion. Just Loyalists with a job in the real world. Would that be OK?
I say it doesn’t matter who committed the crime. Life was taken. The perpetrators fled from justice. They opted out of ‘the system’.
The ‘Peace Process’ shouldn’t be about wiping the slate clean for criminals. Surely the early release scheme proved that?
OTR legislation is yet another blind alley - like decommissioning - that allows the politicians to hold real politics at arms length.
So the real question - coming soon in these here pages - is “How long are we prepared to tolerate this political pissing about?”
I think that Mr Hain etc is getting a bit fed up with (as you put it) this political pissing about.
I heard him last week on Talkback threatening to cut MLAs pay and allowances this summer if the assembly wasn’t showing signs of reforming.
It should have been done years ago!