07.12.1995

Clinton boosts imperialist peace

IF ANYONE was in any doubt that the Irish ‘peace process’ will end in anything other than an imperialist settlement, surely after US president Bill Clinton’s Irish visit last week those doubts must now be gone.

Hated by millions in the USA for relentlessly grinding them into deeper poverty, Clinton was feted by Irish workers. Ironically they see in him the personification of their hopes of a better life - an end to repression, a just peace and a way out of poverty.

At an eleventh-hour summit on the eve of Clinton’s visit, John Major and John Bruton had reached agreement on the next stages of the imperialist ‘peace’ deal. Their agreement was correctly described as a fudge, as it postponed until next year a decision on the ‘principle’ of whether the IRA must begin handing over its arms before substantive talks can begin. But it served the purpose of diverting US pressure from the British onto Sinn Fein to make the next concession.

This pressure was intensified when David Trimble the new, ‘hard line’ leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, called on loyalist paramilitaries to unilaterally begin surrendering their own weapons. Even Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, offered distinctly muted criticism of the Bruton-Major deal after a meeting with Clinton.

The ‘peace process’ looks set to move forward again, with the IRA likely to agree to hand over some weapons in accordance with the newly established international commission’s recommendations.

In exchange the British will perhaps similarly disarm their undercover loyalist agents and make a further token withdrawal of troops, allowing full talks to begin on schedule next February.

John Major is now in a position to reassure his own supporters. He asked a Conservative women’s conference last week: “Can anyone who witnessed president Clinton’s remarkable visit to Northern Ireland seriously contemplate a return to bombing and shooting?”

The message is clear. The IRA will not resume its armed struggle, and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams must be given the space to carry the republican movement with him into a ‘peace’ settlement dictated by imperialism.

Jim Blackstock