Old material vomited up again.
Subject: RE: BS: IRA Apologizes
From: Teribus - PM
Date: 22 Jul 02 - 08:01 AM

It should be remembered that the IRA we are talking about here is the PIRA. Very early on the Official IRA took the stance that there was no role to play and that, through dissention in it's membership, brought about the birth of the Provisional IRA who were responsible for the events of Bloody Friday.
The comment above


"The Irish Government tried to raise the NI problem at the UN in 1969, but UN intervention was blocked by the way the dice are loaded in the Security Council (UK permanent membership)."


Is incorrect wrt how the UN works. The UN are not allowed under the terms of its charter to involve itself with the internal affairs of any country unless invited to do so by the country in question. During the period 1972 - 1974 Harold Wilson proposed an international force. Parties approached were the Americans, the Canadians and NATO (British Forces excluded) - All refused to get involved.

There also seems to be some confusion as to the role of UN peacekeeping forces, which are clearly defined in the UN Charter. They cannot be sent anywhere to impose any settlement or solution, they are deployed to keep warring factions apart, normally along clearly defined borders/front lines (examples: The Lebanon and Cyprus), so that dialogue can commence. They basically arrive to maintain the status quo until a political solution can be worked out by the parties involved. UN peacekeeping forces are lightly armed purely for self defence, they are deployed with no heavy support units as they might be viewed by one side or the other as provocative. Almost always if UN peacekeeping forces come under heavy and sustained attack they are withdrawn immediately.

The second paragraph of the Apology Statement posted above by McGofH states:


"While it was not our intention to injure or kill non-combatants, the reality is that on this and on a number of other occasions, that was the consequence of our actions. "


Twenty bombs were placed in Belfast City Centre, timed to detonate within a period of two hours (one bomb every 6 minutes) while the city was at it's busiest. Damn right they intended civilian casualties, the only reason that the death toll was as light as it was, was through the efforts of the RUC, the emergency services and the British Army.

The role of the army in Northern Ireland was that of "Aid to the Civil Power" - at no time did the army operate independently from civil control. Internment without trial and trial without jury were first used against the IRA in Ireland in 1938 at the instigation of Eamon De Valera, to protect Ireland's neutrality in the war that was foreseen in Europe (The IRA were keen to promote their cause by assisting Nazi Germany) a brief bombing campaign was carried out on the British mainland ( re the song The Auld Alarm Clock).

The statement made should be welcomed and recognised as significant. It clearly demonstrates that the organisation is fully committed to the ongoing peace process - That is the only game in town.

Subsequent to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement there were two referenda held, one in Northern Ireland relating to the Agreement itself, and a second which encompassed the whole of Ireland regarding the use of arms. The results of that second referendum was virtually unanimous in the condemnation of the use of force. Any talk about a return to "the armed struggle", is purely that - talk. It has been clearly shown that they have no mandate to do so and they would be universally vilified if they attempted to return to the use of terror.

How the statement is viewed by the relatives of those killed can only be expressed by those people themselves, but the statement taken at face value shows what I believe to be an honest desire to aid reconciliation and heal the wounds of the past. I hope that along those lines that a further step is taken in the form of accurate information being given in relation to the locations of the graves of those abducted and executed by the PIRA in the course of their campaign.