Wanting the peace to work

Millions of words will be written about this year's events in the peace process in Ireland. Maybe millions of words have been written already. Certainly a million times that amount have been spoken. Sometimes in anger. Or with scepticism. Or disappointment.

Many times in relief and with pride. Or disbelief. I am referring of course, as attentive readers will have deduced by now, to the IRA leadership's decision to formally end its armed campaign.

From the Taoiseach to the British prime minister, from the South African president to the president of the USA, from the unionist leaders to loyalist leaders and leaders of the Opposition parties in Dublin, to opinion writers and editorials; they have all had their say. Their responses, predictably, have been mixed. By now the IRA initiative has gone famously into the history books. And into the news soundbites and newspaper headlines.

But how has the republican grassroots responded? How does the activist come to these ground-breaking moves? What does he or she think of recent developments?

There are probably three ways to categorise the response. Some are against the IRA's move. Some are for the move. Some are still undecided. Most republicans understand and support the primacy and the imperative of the peace process. They appreciate the need for strategic thinking. They can even entertain the notion of a strategic compromise.

But not on the issue of IRA weapons. In its July statement the IRA said that it had authorised its representative to engage with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) and to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use as quickly as possible. This is a matter for the IRA and the IICD. I am confident that the IRA will honour its commitment. But the reality is that this issue is the biggie for many people. They find it very difficult to get their heads around the IRA putting its arms beyond use at this time.

Not when the British Government has yet to fulfill its obligations. Not when the unionists shrug off their responsibilities with impunity. Not when anti-Agreement factions bomb and attack Catholic homes on a daily basis. In recent months unionist paramilitaries have killed five people and there have been more than 100 reported attacks on Catholic homes and property, including schools and churches and countless unreported attacks.

I have no doubt that all these actions are part of an effort to suck the IRA into conflict. At times of advances, when there is a potential for progress, the reactionaries can be counted on to redouble their efforts to destabilise the situation. So it is easy in this context to see why there is concern within republicanism about the IRA move.

There are suggestions that republican activism will be held together by its faith in the Sinn Féin leadership. That is not true. Republicanism will be held together by its commitment to the republican cause. Some activists do not like what has been done and the emotional outworkings have caused great pain.

That is what all of the various responses have in common. They are all hurting. And that is the level at which some republicans are absorbing these developments. At an emotional level. So even if they rationalise or stratagise, even if they apply the coldest of cold logic, at an emotional level nothing will change. They will always be against what has happened. Even if the process is seen to succeed because of the decisiveness and mould-breaking nature of the IRA move, there will always be republicans who will look back at this phase and say, "I'm glad it worked but I wouldn't have done it."

So the most we can expect from all the good people who are against what happened or who are not sure if is a good thing, is that when they have figured their way through all this they will decide to put up with it because they have a commitment to a better future for everyone on this island.

That is why I consider the IRA initative to be a patriotic act.

Patriotism requires both vision and bravery. But it can also involve self-sacrifice and a willingness and an ability to endure a lot. Most republicans have spent their lives in struggle. They have endured deprivations. It will therefore take some time for some republicans to work their way through all this. Activists coming back from the summer break will only now be starting to come to terms with the new situation. I expect the next few months will see an ongoing debate and discussion within republican communities.

I have no doubt concerns will be voiced about the danger of the IRA initiative being thrown back at republicans. By that I mean many republicans and nationalists fear that they will be shafted in the time ahead. Particularly by the Irish Government.

That has been put to me consistently by many people, including some who are not supporters of Sinn Féin. The fact is whatever the wider view, there is little confidence in how Dublin has handled the process recently. There is a widespread and justifiable view that electoral considerations have primacy within the main parties in Leinster House.

Efforts to re-establish the political institutions and to sustain them will help ease the situation. Movement by the British on the range of equality and related issues is crucial. The British government has to match its words of praise for the IRA action with its own actions to match the courage and the scale of the IRA breakthrough. The Irish Government has to do likewise.

Unionism has to respond also. Comments by the DUP leadership present a real challenge for the governments. A new start is needed. That is the one thing that we can be certain about.

Whatever they think about the IRA's move, all genuine republicans want this process to work. So do all other thinking people in these islands.