Government is wrong to talk to terrorists
IT is difficult to know what Martin McGuinness was at when he revealed that the British and Irish governments were talking to dissident republicans.
Was he simply stating a fact or was he seeking to sow seeds of doubt amongst the dissident foot soldiers that their leadership is starting off in the same direction as the IRA did and that the road they are going on will result in the same surrender and sellout that they criticise Sinn Fein and the IRA for.
At this stage it is hard to tell, but it should come as no surprise that the Conservative Party would authorise talks with terrorists even when they are engaged in stepping up their acts of violence. Don't forget it was the Conservative Party which talked to the IRA when its murder campaign was at its height and it was the same Conservative Party whose leader claimed that it would "make his stomach turn" if he had to speak to terrorists. It was also the same party whose secretary of state for Northern Ireland publicly stated that his government had no "economic, strategic or political interest in Northern Ireland" - words designed to draw the IRA further into negotiations.
I know there will be many Conservative MPs who will be totally dismayed at their own government if Mr McGuinness's words turn out to be true.
They are real friends of Northern Ireland and genuine in their abhorrence of terrorists. Equally, the UUP - which boasted of its links to the Conservative Party and the real influence which these links gave it - will once again be left with egg all over its face. So much for being at the centre of government, so much for giving the unionist community a voice where it really matters.
It may well be that the leaking of talks between the dissident leadership and the government will raise fears of a future sell-out. It may cause the organisation to start the type of bloody internal feuding which republicans do so well and, quite frankly, that would be a bonus because while they are going after each other they will perhaps leave innocent people alone. However, the more likely effect will be to raise their standing in the nationalist community, enable them to recruit more bodies and embolden them to step up their campaign. Talks only work if those who are being talked to know that their opponents have the ability to punish them. They have a chance of delivering an outcome if terrorists know that their opponents have the ability and the will to make them suffer. They should not be countenanced whilst terrorists are continuing to engage in violence - that is why the government is wrong to engage in them.
The current terrorist campaign has brought misery back to families here. It has diverted resources towards security measures at a time when public finance is under pressure, it has hit investor confidence in Northern Ireland and will increase the economic hardship across the province.
Instead of pandering to the peddlers of misery, the government should be putting all its efforts into sending out a clear message - namely that it will use all the power of the state to crush them. To do otherwise is to undermine the very democratic institutions that the terrorists are trying to overthrow.
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Weather for Belfast
Thursday 24 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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