SF's commitment to Good Friday feeble, and may now have to be disregarded
The saga of the recent sectarian outburst of Barry McElduff MP is just another sorry milestone in the political history of Northern Ireland, which is littered with such uncharitable words and actions.
The fact that Sinn Fein has only suspended him for three months effectively gives him a three months holiday, and adds insult to injury.
This reaction of Sinn Fein raises the question of their commitment to non-violence.
If the Mitchell Principles, which include the use of “exclusively peaceful means” [agreed in 1996 as a condition for parties involved in the talks process leading up to the Good Friday Agreement, or GFA] were not broken in fact they were surely, by this response, broken in spirit.
This is a real test case for Sinn Fein and unless they react with further action, both against McElduff and including a fulsome apology for the Kingsmills massacre, their already feeble commitment to the Belfast Agreement must be disregarded.
Brian Kennaway, Co Antrim