03.10.1996

Major jeopardises imperialist peace

The murder last week of Diarmuid O’Neill by British state forces is reminiscent of the notorious 1988 shoot-to-kill slaughter of three unarmed IRA members in Gibraltar. Although British authorities alleged that O’Neill was himself an IRA member, Sinn Fein’s weekly paper, An Phoblacht (Republican News), described him simply as “an Irishman”.

Despite having first declared that their victim was killed in a gun battle - a claim dutifully reported as fact by virtually all the British media - it was eventually admitted that he was in fact unarmed. A quantity of arms and explosives linked to O’Neill was discovered by police at an entirely different location.

The murder occurred at a sensitive time for some members of the British establishment, particularly the leader of the Labour Party. Tony Blair was embarrassed because two Labour MPs were due to host a meeting with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams in the House of Commons. That would have been a setback for his plans to promote his party, in the eyes of the ruling class, as every bit as reliable as the Tories when it comes to defending the bourgeois establishment and British imperialism.

The fact that Adams has shaken hands with Bill Clinton in the White House is of no relevance to the public relations priorities of mainstream politicians. After an incident such as the discovery of an arms cache, it is the normal, hypocritical practice of the ruling class to defer official contacts with opponents involved in a ‘peace process’ (a delay of a week or two is usually deemed sufficient).

But MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Benn at first declined to play the game, refusing to cancel their meeting in the Commons, despite being threatened with withdrawal of the Labour whip and subsequent loss of their parliamentary seats. Fortunately for them, Adams himself conveniently decided to pull out, meeting them instead at a different, and apparently acceptable, location.

Jeremy Corbyn’s justification for wishing to meet the Sinn Fein leader was fully in tune with imperialist thinking. Corbyn said he abhorred incidents like those at Canary Wharf and had asked Adams to use his influence to restore the IRA ceasefire. “If there’s to be a peace process in Ireland,” he said, “clearly it has got to involve Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams.”

That is obviously true, even if the settlement is to be imposed overwhelmingly on imperialist terms. But John Major, totally supported by the consensus-seeking Labour leaders, is more concerned to be seen as forcing an unconditional surrender from the IRA.

This attitude, unrealistic even from imperialism’s point of view, may end up jeopardising a settlement. Earlier this week, a republican splinter group, the Continuity Army Council, attempted to plant a bomb in Belfast city centre, and influential loyalist prisoners associated with the Ulster Defence Association announced that they were withdrawing their support for the ‘peace process’.

Alan Fox