Sinn Féin árd fheis - Positive signs for peace process

Sinn Féin adopted a positive and conciliatory tone at its árd fheis over the weekend, holding out the prospect of coming to some kind of arrangement with other parties in a bid to continue the work of implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party have been engaged in dialogue and “a good bit of substantive work” was done before the most recent Hillsborough talks, according to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

However, only time will tell if the gap between Mr Adams and UUP leader David Trimble can be bridged.

Both have problems in carrying their parties with them but Mr Adams seemed confident that each is anxious to implement the Good Friday Agreement because it “remains the only show in town”.

To that end, Sinn Féin has been listening to the concerns of unionists, some of which Mr Adams described as “quite genuine”.

The message the party seemed to be sending to the country was that Sinn Féin recognises unionists have genuine difficulties and that everybody else should realise Sinn Féin has problems too.

That republicans and unionists are actually listening to each other is a distinctly encouraging indication because for too long the two sides seemed incapable of understanding one another.

People on all sides have acknowledged that working within the Northern Executive was a positive experience. Mr Adams no longer feels Mr Trimble’s aim is simply to get Sinn Féin out of government but many republicans still fear this was part of the motivation behind the call for sanctions, which proved a stumbling block during the most recent talks.

There would seem to be room for compromise because Sinn Féin is not against penalties or disciplinary measures. It would support rules designed to ensure the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Whether one talks of sanctions or penalties and disciplinary measures would seem to be more a matter of semantics than a fundamental issue.

However, the policing issue would seem to be causing problems for Mr Adams. To ease fears he had to give an assurance no decision would be taken to involve Sinn Féin in policing without the formal approval of the party.

Because of the shortage of time, there would seem to be no realistic chance of such a decision before the scheduled May elections.

The progress Sinn Féin has made since the Good Friday Agreement should be apparent to all.

The party is no longer a demonised minority. Its newfound respectability was demonstrated by the television coverage of the árd fheis, which was, in turn, a reflection of the party’s success in winning five Dáil seats in last year’s general election.

Joe Cahill was engaging in transparent hyperbole when he talked about Sinn Féin having won the war but we should welcome his call for the party to win the peace because he was realistic enough to warn that their “political enemies will not simply roll over”.

No, they will have to be won over by persuasion, which is the democratic way.