Maze breakout - Sinn Féin stunt must be condemned

The decision by republicans to mark the mass breakout from the Maze Prison 20 years ago was ill-advised, given the present stalemate in the North and the perceived anxiety to get the peace process moving again.

Last night’s function in Letterkenny, attended by prominent Sinn Féin members, sent out a wrong message because it was a reminder of an era which Northern Ireland has to leave behind if it wants to move on to a peaceful and positive future.

The prison breakout resulted in the loss of one prison officer’s life, although 16 escapees were eventually charged and acquitted of murder.

Neither was it appropriate that there was a Sinn Féin presence at the function, because it served to underline the connection between the two organisations, which the party steadfastly maintains does not exist.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams had what was regarded as a positive meeting with Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble on Thursday, from which emanated an anticipation that the IRA would make a significant move in the coming weeks which would at least facilitate an election in the autumn.

Yet, celebrating an event like the Maze escape must consolidate unionists’ fears and doubts about the sincerity of republicans to move forward, despite their ceasefire and previous decommissioning of some of their arms and explosives.

If the stalemate in the North is to end, with a return to devolved government there, then there must be trust between the constitutional parties which proclaim allegiance to the aims and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. That essentially means trust between Sinn Féin and the UUP.

Following their recent meeting, Mr Adams indicated that there was a form of trust developing between himself and Mr Trimble.

But, it must be asked, how can such a nascent trust flourish when four Sinn Féin Dáil deputies are pictured smiling in a photograph alongside the four killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and four other provos in Castlerea Prison?

The photograph was reproduced in An Phoblacht, the Sinn Féin newspaper, showing Caoimhín Ó Caoláin, Sean Crowe, Aengus Ó Snódaigh and Martin Ferris posing with the killers of the garda.

By doing so, they displayed a duplicitous attitude to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, the integrity of the Dáil and to the outrage of the vast majority of the people in this country who were abhorred by his murder.

That four elected members of the Dáil could cause hurt and insult to the family of the late Jerry McCabe, and to his memory, by associating with his killers is a callous and insensitive slur which must be condemned.

Sinn Féin has endeavoured to defend their actions by describing their meeting in the prison as an opportunity to update the prisoners on the state of the peace process and to inform them of the work of the TDs in Leinster House.

That is a disingenuous attempt to disguise what was a blatant publicity stunt to impress their Sinn Féin and republican constituency, with a cold indifference to the shock and indignation it provoked elsewhere.