Bertie crosses the line

A small group, mainly of former republican political prisoners, initiated a project last year to publish significant and progressive books about Irish politics which are out of print or not widely available. Their first republished work was C Desmond Greaves' definitive book Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution.

Desmond Greaves was a very significant writer, activist, political strategist and thinker in his own right. In due course, his literary executor Anthony Coughlan will deposit Greaves' papers in the National Library. They should make interesting reading.

His Mellows book was first published in 1971. Mellows was one of the most radical and intellectually questioning of the 1916 - '22 republican leaders. Greaves' book gives an incisive insight into the social and class politics which underpinned the republican split over the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. The establishment of the Free State Provisional Government at that time gave the forces of Irish conservatism and large property a new rallying point when they were made homeless after the destruction by Sinn Féin of John Redmond's Home Rule party in the 1918 general election. Then they found a new home in Cumann na nGael, later Fine Gael. And in the new Free State.

Liam Mellows, a 1916 veteran, opposed the treaty and partition. He fought in the Four Courts, was subsequently imprisoned. In his Notes from Mountjoy Jail, he outlined his thoughts on the situation at that time. He advanced propositions and strategic methods that are generally applicable to national independence struggles and indeed to all broad democratic movements everywhere. Much of what he wrote may be just as valid today as it was then.

One part of his writings is particularly prophetic. He wrote, "No doubt they [the English government] will continue to make use of Irish men as long as the latter can be duped or dazzled by the Free State idea; but even to this there will be an end and then the British will, by using the arguments against republicans that the Free State now use, cloud the issue greatly. For the British to calumniate Republicans and belittle their cause by besmirching them is one thing; but for the Free State (and supposed potential republicans) to do it is another, and different and worse thing. Because the British will not use British arguments to cloak their action but Irish ones "out of our own mouths" etc. Therefore an object – a target – must be presented for the enemy (Free State or British) to hit at – otherwise it becomes a fight (apparently) between individuals..."

It is that passage that moved me to bring the above to your attention. Anti-agreement and anti-peace elements within the British government, and Ian Paisley and others like him must be laughing all the way to the bank at the current state of the peace process. The airwaves and the media are full of the invective of "arguments out of our own mouths". It is my view that this is going to continue for some time. It might be that the government will change its style but the substance of what they're saying will remain the same. At its core is this: that Sinn Féin is dishonest about the peace process. That's the line the Taoiseach crossed when he said that Martin McGuinness and I had prior knowledge of the Northern Bank robbery. Not only are we accused of conspiracy to rob. Not only are we accused of being criminals. But we are duplicitous because we allegedly engaged in bad faith negotiations while being privy to the planning of the robbery.

This is nonsense and the Taoiseach knows it. But he decided to say it anyway and to repeat it. I frequently wonder what the plain people of Ireland think of the war of words that has erupted since then. I wonder if some think it has become an argument, in Mellows' words, "between individuals". Certainly for all of their protestations the Government has set aside the peace process for now.

They will meet Sinn Féin of course and use the rhetoric of inclusivity when it suits, but for now they will make no real effort to sort things out. This Government is very good at speaking out both sides of its mouth at the same time. For example, the Taoiseach makes placatory remarks which are then contradicted by the Tánaiste, who makes particularly negative and provocative comments. She of course would be better off spending her time and effort resolving the crisis in the health service. Especially given that she has not attended one meeting about the peace process.

The publication of the so-called "Independent" Monitoring Commission report this week has further exacerbated the situation. The IMC is a child of the British and Irish governments. To create it, they had to step outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, and the Taoiseach has a representative on it. The IMC is entirely dependent upon the British security and intelligence agencies for its information. The same malign forces who, 16 years ago this week, colluded in the murder of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, and who then tried to cover it up with lies. The same malign forces that established unionist death squads in the early 1970s, which went on the kill hundreds of people. The Taoiseach says he is against sanctions. Yet he set up the IMC whose sole function is to bring in sanctions.

If Bertie Ahern is really against sanctions then he should withdraw the Irish government's representative from the IMC.

In the current climate, putting the process back together again and restoring common sense and a feeling of stability is going to be very difficult.

It is my strong view that the people of this island want their political leaders to sort out this mess. The progress that has been made, the transformation in the daily lives of the people of Ireland, but in particular those who live in the north, has been enormous. And they want that progress to continue. Sinn Féin is for doing just that, but this is being made impossible at this time by the deliberately negative and malicious messages coming from Irish government Ministers.

Michael McDowell's piece in the Irish Star last Sunday, when he threatened to, "crush the IRA and Sinn Féin if they return to violence" gives an insight into his thinking.

Liam Mellows would have understood all of this. On 7 December 1922, the Free State Cabinet ordered the execution of four republican political prisoners, Rory O'Connor, Joe McKelvey, Dick Barrett and Liam Mellows. Michael McDowell's grandfather, Eoin MacNeill, seconded the motion supporting the executions. The following morning at 9am, the four were executed. Mr McDowell's grand uncle Hugo Mac Neill was in charge of the firing squad.

Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution by C Desmond Greaves is published by An Ghlór Gafa