Conference tallis::celt

1007.0. "Peace Meeting at Mansion House, 22/2/92" by MACNAS::TJOYCE () Mon Feb 24 1992 10:26

    
    
    

The meeting was held by a group calling itself New Consensus, under the
banner "Intensifying the campaign for Peace". I had heard of New Consensus,
and vaguely knew they had a connection with a movement called Peace Train so
I decided to get to the meeting to see what it was all about. It meant 
that I had to miss the Anti-Amendment march in Dublin that day, but I 
reckoned I could make my opinion felt on that at any time, whereas this
was a one-off chance to find out more about Northern Ireland peace
movements.

Anyone who has read some of my contributions to this conference will know
where my own bias lies. What follows is an attempt at straight reportage
but you can allow for my bias in any way you like.
 
First of all, the symbolism of the Mansion House venue and timing must 
be explained.

New Consensus had picketed the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis for the past three
years, and this year the Dublin City Council had banned Sinn Fein from
using the Mansion House, forcing them out to Ballyfermot Community Centre, 
where New Consensus pursued them with another picket line. Having both
meetings on simultaneously meant of course that some Sinn Fein people
would naturally attend the Peace meeting.

The Mansion House is the residence of Dublin's Lord Mayor, but has a 
massive historical symbolism: here in 1919, Ireland's first Dail (National
Parliament) met and proclaimed independence from Britain. Banning Sinn
Fein meant reclaiming the venue and challenging their claim to 
legimacy arising from that First Dail.

I was happy to find that I recognised nobody on the platform, so this
group wasn't going to be just the same old faces. In the audience I
recognised Bernadette McAliskey and Des Wilson, with Conor Cruise O'Brien
nearby. There were also three camera crews prowling about, one from ITN.
The ages in the hall ranged from teenagers to senior citizens. I
estimated about 300 attended.

For a start a man with a guitar sang an couple of peace songs so that
for a middle aged fogey like me, there was a pleasant sixties ambience 
when the meeting commenced.

The first speaker, whose name I do not recall, was a Fine Gael member of
Dublin County Council. She began by commenting (in Gaelic) on Arthur 
Griffith and the original Sinn Fein. Instantly, Bernadette McAliskey
was on her feet protesting (also in Gaelic) and a hubbub of shouts
and catcalls broke out. After some difficulty, the chairman imposed
order stating that all after the platform speakers had finished,
after the interval anyone who gave in their name would be allowed
to get their say.

It was evident that a fairly sizable contingent in the hall had generally
hostile feeling towards the meeting. One gentleman who was patrolling the
aisleway like a caged tiger was removed or sat down. Some were Sinn Fein,
some not.

The lady continued and finished by wishing that on the Unionist side she
would like to see a similar movement against paramilitaries. She wanted
to ban Sinn Fein by getting all parties to re-register, forbidding those
who accepted the use of violence. 

As each speaker went on, there were periodic interruptions, but I will
only remark on the most significant of these.

The mext speaker was Fred Ward from the English Labour movement. He
stated that New Consensus in the UK was led by a Labour peer and had
two MPs (a Labour and a Conservative) in its ranks who were trying
to engage British public opinion. Both had put down a motion to 
re-open the Widgery enquiry into Bloody Sunday. He said that British
public opinion did not fully understand the "Troops Out" issue, as
the British Government feared a Civil War not only in Ireland but
in the United Kingdom if they got out of the North.

Next was a lecturer from Queen's University, Belfast, whose points I
do not recall in detail. 

Next was Nancie Gracie, of Families Against Intimidation and Terror 
(FAIT). She said she had formed FAIT after the IRA kneecapped her
son (i.e. blew his knewcap off with a revolver bullet). 
[Shouts: "He was an informer". "What about my husband?"]
She produced waht she called "the weapons of the armed struggle" from
a bag, these were a hurley stickm, an axe and a hammer. She started to
tell two stories .....
[At this point Mrs. McAliskey, Des Wilson and about half a dozen others
 were on their feet shouting, but non-one could catch their points as the
 indomitable lady on the platform outshouted them "Shut up and listen to
 the truth for a change" was her refrain. I lip-read that Mrs. Mcaliskey
 was referring to Mrs. Gracie's son. A woman managed to get in during a
 lull "Bernadette, how can you attack a mother for defending her son?"
 Mrs. McAliskey started to reply "Because I am a mother ....." but the
 shouting began again... eventually order was restored]

One story concerned the IRA killing of a young man who was seen taking
out a Strabane girl in his car. He was well dressed, and the car was pretty
flashy. Charge: he must be a member of the security forces. Verdict: Guilty
Sentence: death by a car bomb. Later they found out they were mistaken,
but there was unfortunately no appeal.

The other story concerned a young man who was in his bath when an IRA 
punishment squad arrived. He was found cowering naked behind a water
tank in the attic, dragged (still naked) into the yard where his hands
were smashed with a sledgehammer, and his ankle was hacked with an axe.
Mrs. Gracie said that the group were getting Amnesty International
involved in investigating human rights abuses by the paramilitaries.
Finally, this lady gathered up her axe, hammer and hurley stick and
left the platform to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

Next came Jim Woods of the Cooley Stop! Committee. This was formed
when the IRA shot local farmer Thomas Oliver for "informing".
[Note: Cooley is south of the border, so that if he was in touch with
the security forces, they were the Gardai]. They had had a day of
protest with over 90% turnout in the area, and Sinn Fein supporters
had been ostracised locally [Ironic shout: "Wonder you didn't shoot
them." Other shouts "What about the RUC? What about the Army?"]

There were other organisations with speakers: Freeman Wilson of the
Lurgan Inter-Friendship group described their efforts to bridge the
sectarian devide. A lady from Women Together described similar 
efforts on their part.

From Newry, was a gentleman from the Save our Sons committee. He described
how the IRA had ordered 6 young men out of Newry for a year. He explained
this was so that the IRA/ Sinn Fein could dominate a local community centre
and housing estate. The young men had gone, but the group was doing its 
best to highlight other cases and help the men when they returned.

Lastly, a member of the Peace Train movement spoke about their efforts to
stop the IRA bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, commenting that it
was strange to have the organisation that claimed to be trying to unite
Ireland, to be also destroying a major means of communication between two
halves of the island. He proudly stated that there were more people applying
to travel on the peace trains than there was tickets to go round.

After the interval there were about a dozen speakers, I will go through them 
in turn (as far as I can remember them and what they said):

Bernadette McAliskey: Explained that she protested about someone in Fine Gael
mentioning Arthur Griffith. Mentioned the death of 4 IRA men in Clonoe under
a hail of SAS bullets and an anti-tank rocket which had set a church on
fire. Asked why it was that talented young men would go with a heavy
machine gun to attack the local police station. Stated the fear and hatred 
she felt from people in the room in her interventions, and that she was a 
member of the poorest and most powerless group on the island. She said she 
had never heard poverty mentioned, she never heard justice mentioned. She
said that New Consensus was a movement that was trying to exclude her and
the people she came from. Ended by describing her fears for her own two 
teenage sons.

Alan Shatter (Fine Gael T.D.): Said that Mrs. McAliskey should stop encouraging
gullible young men to join the IRA.

[Woman in 2nd row with a powerful voice: "Rubbish! Rubbish! Lies! Lies!
 Shatter (gesturing): "This is an example of Sinn Fein's democracy"
         Woman:     : "I'm not Sinn Fein! I'm Fianna Fail!"
        Shatter     : "Then you are a disgrace to your party." 
 Laughter, applause.
 The chair appealed for quiet for the speakers, pointing out that Mrs.
 McAliskey was the only speaker to have got complete silence from the 
 audience during her speech]

He went on to praise New Consensus and its activities.

Fiona O'Hagen: Stated husband had been shot [Loyalist paramilitaries]
Said Mrs. Gracie at least had her son, kneecapped or not, she would 
like her husband back in that state [Shouts of "Disgraceful"].
Said New Consensus had nothing to offer her.

Triona Dooney (Worker's Pary): Said that Mrs. McAliskey must have been 
shouting too loud to have heard justice mentioned. Called the Sinn
Fein supporters in the room "Fascists". Said that the IRA men at 
Clonoe were "only armed with Kalashnikovs and a heavy machine gun",
the 8 workers murdered at Teebane had only lunchboxes and pay packets.

Des Wilson: Attcked Peace Train. Asked if travelling on a train from
Beirut to Damascus would bring peace to Lebanon. Claimed that New
Consensus had shirked an invitation to visit him in West Belfast.
Said he saw UDA men in the New Consensus picket outside Sinn Fein
Ard Fheis last year. It was therefore not surprising that New 
Consensus could picket the UDA with impunity. Asked what would 
Amnesty would do when they found the state were running one of the
paramilitaries [UDA]. Said that when the people spoke, all would have 
to listen, no-one sould tell the people who their leaders should be.

[After Des Wilson left the platform, the Sinn Fein group and their 
 supporters left the meeting, followed by most of the media.
 There was a perceptible relieving of tension.]

Conor Cruise O'Brien: Pointed out that every second speaker so far
had been pro-Sinn Fein. Said this was very fair of New Consensus,
but Sinn Fein would hardly extend the same courtesy of having
every second speaker at their Ard Fheis advocating peace.
He went on to propose selective internment for IRA and UDA 
"godfathers".

???????, from a movement called the National Reform Association:
Said that the problem was in Leinster House, that the Southern
politicians had betrayed Nationalism, and people should start 
with them.

*******, Said he was running his own peace movement in Northern
Ireland, trying to help people and children afflicted by violence.
Deplored the abuse he had heard and the term "Fascists". Said that
a peace movement must be open and tolerant towards people with a 
different attitude, while despising their methods.

This was the last speaker for the floor. The Lord Mayor of Dublin,
Sean Kenny, spoke and said that he was happy that Sinn Fein had been
excluded from the Mansion House, that it showed the people of Dublin
rejected them and the IRA.

The Chairman (whose name I did not catch) spoke on New Consensus. He
said its aim was to challenge ambiguity and ambivalence about the use
of illegal violence in Northern Ireland. He said that they were not
opposed to the security forces, that every civilised society needed
security forces, but that they condemned illegitimate violence by
anybody. He also told the audience that no invitation by Des Wilson
had been received by New Consensus as he had claimed. He called on
Senator David Norris to close the meeting.

Norris congratulated the meeting on its openness and democratic 
nature. He praised the audience for hearing Bernadette McAliskey
respectfully throughout, and said she should be listened to though
she might say some things uncongenial to our ears. However, he
added that Mrs. McAliskey was one of the shrewdest politicians 
in Ireland and had played a role for the media at the meeting,
first by heckling from the floor, and then by coming to the front
and doing her "unpriveleged minority" act. He reflected that the
venom and bitterness of Des Wilson was a sad sight, and that his
claim that the UDA was involved in New Consensus was shameful, and
possibly life-threatening to its members. 
Going on, he said he had been on the picket line at the Sinn Fein
Ard Fheis in Ballyfermot, and had been impressed at how much local
support the picketers had got, and that the local "ould wans" were
now manning that same picket line.
He said that he was trying to gather support among members of the
Dail and Seanad to march with New Consensus to the GPO, just like
the 3,000 anti-amendment campaigners had marched that day. He hoped
the Taoiseach would use the occasion to formally call on the IRA to
cease its campaign of violence in the name of the Irish people.

With that he finished. A girl came to the front and sang a peace 
song she had composed for the occasion. It was all very Joan Baez,
so that the meeting finished for me just like it started, with 
a pleasing echo of the faraway and innocent sixties.

Toby
    

    Thanks for the report Toby.
    
    Do you think anything was achieved at the end of the day ?
    
    It sounded like the meeting was just another excuse to shout across the
    floor at each other, accuse each other of various crimes and to condem
    Sinn Fein and the IRA. That gets us nowhere, it's all been said before.
    
    Did anyone come up with any constructive ideas ? Is there any plan in
    place ? What's the next step ?
    
    I can't see ANY peace movement getting anywhere unless ALL parties are
    invited to attend, that includes Sinn Fein. It's too easy to say
    "You're not coming to the party until you renounce violence". They rely
    on violence to get their message across. If they didn't use it I think
    we might be back to the pre-equal rights marches where Nationalists or
    catholics were discriminated against and didn't have a voice that could
    be heard. Violence is the only language that the British Govt.
    responds to.
    
    
    Tony.
    

    
    Re: .1
    
    I'm glad you asked!
    
    The meeting was pretty harrowing, the raw emotion on display was
    frightening even.
    
    You will be glad to know that Sinn Fein were invited, and (as you read)
    several turned up. Unfortunately, they did not seemed to want to 
    participate in a movement that did not adopt their point of view.
    Like I said, they left before the end and the summary of their views
    seemed to be "What a load of Rubbish!" So I do not think that Sinn Fein
    will join any peace movement in the near future, unless run by
    themselves.
    
    Besides it is contradictory for Sinn Fein to be in any peace movement,
    which is bound to protest the "armed struggle". Are you actually
    suggesting that FAIT or the Cooley Stop! Committee should link with
    Sinn Fein when these groups were set up as a direct result of IRA
    violence?
    
    I think there is a place for a peace movement that does what the 
    last speaker proposed (I think I labelled him *******): engages 
    and challenges Sinn Fein, the UDA etc in debate, tries to being
    the communities together, works on the ground to relieve the 
    terrible tensions and fear that people live under, organises
    peace rallies where people can assert their rejection of violence,
    tolerates and values people while rejecting their opinions. It 
    can give a platform to courageous people like Nancy Gracie and
    also support specific measures like amending Articles 2 and 3 of
    the Irish Constitution.
    
    I do not think there is a place for a peace movement that advocates
    banning political parties and introducing internment. Let the 
    politicians do that.
    
    For what it's worth that the input I gave the organisers. And I
    think if New Consensus goes in for a little less of the Sinn Fein
    bashing (they are an easy target!) and more of adopting a positive
    agenda for peace, something will have been achieved. At the very
    least, the Mansion House has been reclaimed as a venue, and a message
    has gone out to the people of the North and the world, that Sinn
    Fein is a pariah party in the Irish Republic until it ceases
    supporting the IRA.
    
    Toby
    

    
    I neglected to mention that New Consensus are circulating a Peace
    Pledge, signing the peace pledge means working on behalf of peace
    for at least 10 minutes per week.
    
    Some things suggested that you might with your ten minutes:
    
    Send a letter to a victim of violence.
    Pray for peace.
    Contribute money.
    Recognise/ greet someone from the other community. 
    
    I have a sheaf of pledges, or you can write to New Consensus at:
    
    Peace through Action Pledge
    26, Vernon Court,
    Clontarf,
    Dublin 3.
    
    Toby

    
    About 1000 people travelled on two peace trains from Dublin to Belfast
    on Saturday 29th Feb. Though delayed over 2 hours by bomb hoaxes, the
    trains got in about 2:00 p.m. Among those travelling were the Lord
    Mayor of Dublin, Sean Kenny, and Ken McGinnis, Unionist M.P. for
    Fermanagh.
    
    As I said above, many were turned away for lack of tickets. However,
    more peace trains are being organised. If you want to travel on 
    one, write to:
    
    Peace Train,
    c/o Chris Hudson,
    90, Georges Avenue,
    Blackrock,
    Co. Dublin.
    
    Phone: 01-2886442
    
    A good days shopping can be had in Belfast, providing a much-needed
    boost to the local economy. Not only are the VAT rates lower, but
    many city centre shops accepted Irish punts at a one-for-one rate
    against sterling for the day. 
    
    Have a nice one.