SF 'up to the task of getting rid of armed groups'
Sinn Féin is up to the task of getting rid of all armed groups in Northern Ireland as part of a collective effort, the party’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness insisted today.
As the party gathered for the second day of its annual conference in Dublin amid continued criticism of continuing IRA activity, Mr McGuinness said attacks on Sinn Féin were motivated by its electoral rise on both sides of the border.
Following the attempted kidnapping eight days ago of dissident republican Bobby Tohill in Belfast last week in an incident blamed on the IRA, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair have both called for all republican paramilitary activity to end.
Mr McGuinness said today on the fringes of the party conference: “I said yesterday to a very large group of trainee teachers at an eminent college here in Dublin I agreed absolutely with the central theme of what the Taoiseach (Bertie Ahern) is saying at this time.
“That is the restoration of stable institutions that are power sharing and all-Ireland and a continuation of the Good Friday Agreement.
“I also said that I agreed with his assertion that all violence must be brought to an end and I do agree with that absolutely.”
The Mid Ulster MP said the challenge facing all in the peace process was how to achieve that.
He said it required everyone in the Irish Government working together “in a positive and constructive fashion” and not allowing forthcoming elections to upset that work.
In a reference to Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s recent criticism of republicans, Mr McGuinness said his party was not concerned so much with the Taoiseach’s comments but other “reactionary elements” in the Dublin Government.
He continued: “From our point of view we are moving forward in a very positive mood about all of this.
“We will all have to remember what Gerry Adams will say later today – the situation has been transformed. Where we are now is a far better place from where we were 10 years ago.
“If we continue with the peace process, continue with the work of implementing the Good Friday Agreement, where we will be 10 years from now will be a far better place than where we are at the moment.
“The big question for them is: do we have a role in that work over the next few years? Of course they have.
“Does the Taoiseach have a role? Absolutely. Does Michael McDowell have a role? Absolutely.
“Does David Trimble have a role? Well, that’s a matter for the Ulster Unionist Party to decide.
“Ian Paisley it appears is coming to the end of his leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party. There will be a new leadership of that party. Do they have a role?
“Of course, they have a role. We all have a role to work together but we can only do it if we have an inclusive process, by dialoguing with one another and, yes, of course, facing up to the big questions that are being asked at this time.”
