The Futility of Partitionist Arrangements

national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Saturday August 21, 2010 19:58 by Sinead O Domhnaill

Below is the reproduction of a letter which appeared in the Donegal Democrat (Thursday 19/8/10)

The futility of partitionist arrangements

At the end of last week the Deputy First Minister of the Stormont Assembly, Martin McGuinness announced that he was sure that the “dissidents” were talking to the British and Irish Governments and that these same groups would soon realise the “futility of what they are doing”.

From a Republican perspective, I would consider Martin McGuinness as the one who is engaged in a futile exercise. Mr McGuinness is representing British Rule in Ireland and as such is engaged in attempting to rewrite history and stabilise the British occupation of part of our country.

Mr McGuinness and his party are no different from all the other constitutional nationalists who have gone before. All have compromised with British Rule and then attempted to sell it as a “settlement of the Irish Question”, the fact is though there will be no peace in Ireland until the British disengage from Ireland.

Today the Union between Britain and Ireland has never been stronger, Sinn Fein are now the stalwarts of the Union, the poachers have truly become the game keepers. Insisting that, what he terms, “dissidents” are talking to the two Governments is a ham fisted attempt to sew mistrust and paranoia in the ranks of groups opposed to the internal six-county settlement.

The main problem for Sinn Fein now is that they must eradicate the Republican tradition to safeguard their new position. However, all attempts so far to destroy Republicanism have failed and this one is no different.

Regardless of whether or not you believe in the use of armed struggle at this stage is irrelevant to the facts, to quote the late great Tom Barry, “as sure as day turns to night and night to day, while there is a British administration in Ireland, there will be those who will resist it”.

Sinead O Domhnaill

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