NI: Collusion and Britain's Irish policy (feature)
01 July 2003
Amidst increasingly visible disagreements over Northern Ireland policy and further indications of polarisation within the North itself, charges of collusion between loyalist groups and the security services are gathering momentum. Some of these relate to the early seventies while others centre on the role of military intelligence agent Brian Nelson and the South African weapons shipment he helped to organise in the late 1980s.
British government policy has been to secure a settlement on devolved government for Northern Ireland through talks between Paisley's DUP, the Ulster Unionist Party, Alliance and Hume's SDLP; talks which in part have rested on the exclusion of Sinn Fein and reassurances to the SDLP and Dublin that Britain has no selfish strategic interest in the North and would "happily" withdraw. Such a settlement would in theory have the approval of the Dublin government and would come to supersede the Hillsborough Agreement. It would become the basis of a new consensus for Anglo-Irish and cross-border cooperation on security policies to finally eradicate the IRA. It might also institutionalise North/South cooperation on other matters such as economic development, infrastructure and tourism.
Since the talks broke down, however, the prospects of restarting them have look increasingly remote. Paisley and some other Unionists are insisting that they will not resume talks until the Irish government revokes Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution which states that the Irish nation consists of the whole of the island of Ireland but that for practical legislative purposes the jurisdiction excludes the six northern counties. Nationalists point out that this is a weaker "territorial claim" that Britain's own claim over Ireland under section 75 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
British-Irish talks
The stalling of talks led British Labour Party spokesperson Kevin Macnamara to publish his proposals for joint British-Irish authority over the North. Irish Labour Party leader and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dick Spring, has backed Macnamara and suggested that if no internal talks are possible the British and Irish governments have to by-pass local politicians. Prime Minister John Major's response to the joint authority proposal was to describe it as "a recipe for disaster". He may well have had his eye on the July votes on the Maastricht Bill for which his government relied on the support of the Unionist MPs. Despite Major's protestations that "nothing was asked for, nothing was offered, nothing was given", Ulster Unionist leader James Molyneaux seems well-pleased that his party has achieved a closer relationship with Major which may result in a Westminster Select Committee on Northern Ireland, increased powers for local district councils and new security measures. Such a deal would clearly discredit the idea that the British government can act as a neutral chair of talks between the British government and Irish nationalists.
Another factor behind the sense of disarray within the Northern Ireland Office is the widening consensus that a proper political settlement cannot be achieved without the inclusion of Sinn Fein in any talks process. Some commentators point to the inclusive basis of discussions on the new South African constitution as an example that could be followed, and although there is disagreement as to the basis of Sinn Fein inclusion, calls for talks with the party have recently come from US politicians, the Opsahl Commission, and former Prime minister Edward Heath. Notwithstanding strong objections from the British, the Irish President Mary Robinson met the Sinn Fein President in West Belfast in June. This meeting actually strengthened her already high popularity according to opinion polls and this is clearly leading to a re-think on policy towards Sinn Fein within Irish government circles. SDLP leader John Hume continues to meet with Adams following their issuing of a joint press re