Sinn Féin 'committed to peace process and decommissioning'

Sinn Féin leaders will “do everything” in their power to keep the peace process going and remove the guns from Irish politics, a senior member of the party vowed today.

In an address to the Parnell Summer School in Co Wicklow in the Republic, Mitchel McLaughlin said the British government could help bring an end to the “armed force dimension of Irish republicanism” by fully implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

But he also warned the cancellation in May of Assembly Elections in Northern Ireland could result in “the possible meltdown” of the political conditions that led to the Agreement.

The Sinn Féin chairman said: “The Sinn Féin leadership are totally committed to doing everything in our power to maintain the peace process and to removing the guns forever from the politics of our country.

“Decommissioning was addressed comprehensively in the negotiations leading up to Good Friday and is addressed directly in the Agreement itself.

“The section on decommissioning makes clear that addressing this issue is dependant on two key elements: a collective responsibility on all participants to work in good faith with the International Commission and the implementation of the overall Agreement.

“Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, all of the participants have a responsibility to deal with the decommissioning issue. This includes the two governments.”

Mr McLaughlin said the British government had been “a hugely negative factor” in Ireland but he acknowledged the role and the time British Prime Minister Tony Blair had devoted to the quest for peace.

“He knows that Sinn Féin’s position has been consistent and that we want to play a full and advanced role in this quest,” the former Foyle MLA said.

“But he knows also, as does the Taoiseach, that we have made it clear that through the good faith implementation of this Agreement we can achieve an end to the ‘armed force’ dimension of Irish republicanism.”

Devolution was suspended last October after the discovery of an alleged IRA spy ring at the Northern Ireland Office.

Efforts to restore the power-sharing executive and Stormont Assembly have so far failed.

Assembly elections scheduled for May 29 were cancelled by Mr Blair four days into the campaign after republicans failed to issue a declaration clearly stating an end to all paramilitary activity.

Mr McLaughlin said the denial of the right to vote in Northern Ireland had “sent shockwaves” around the world.

“What we are dealing with here is not a blip but the possible meltdown of the political conditions that led to the Good Friday Agreement,” he warned.

“We have all made mistakes, individually and collectively.

“Whilst it is true that clear majorities exist in both states on this island to support the Agreement, it is equally true that powerful anti-Agreement forces exist and in some instances are being aided and abetted by elements of the securocratic system.

“At a time when those, including the Sinn Féin leadership, have been arguing that politics can and will deliver change, change has been prevented.

“At a time when we needed an effective visible and dynamic alternative to conflict, we have been presented with a political vacuum, the abdication of political leadership and the initiative handed to those on all sides who want to return to the failures of the past.

“The Good Friday Agreement was signed up to by the British government. It is therefore British government policy. The British government have a responsibility to implement the Agreement as negotiated.”