Sinn Fein Leaders Backed Raids!

[FightingFat]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4253627.stm

Senior Sinn Fein members were involved in sanctioning robberies including the Northern Bank raid, the Independent Monitoring Commission has said.
The four strong commission’s report said the party should bear its share of the blame for a series of robberies.

Does this change the issue? Should SF be marginalised now if they condone IRA criminal activity?

 

[Fitz]

Why would they back the raids at this point? It seems as if many believe it now.

Now ministers blame IRA:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4180363.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 17 January, 2005, 16:14 GMT http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif

Bank raid was IRA say ministers

Paul Murphy and Dermot Ahern were discussing the raid’s impact

The Northern Ireland Secretary and the Irish foreign minister have said they are 100% convinced that the IRA was involved in the Northern Bank robbery.

Paul Murphy and Dermot Ahern met in Dublin on Monday to discuss the impact of the £26.5m raid.

Mr Murphy said the prospect of power-sharing has been dealt “a very serious blow” by last month’s raid.

Mr Ahern said evasion and denial by republicans was increasing the gulf of mistrust in the political process.

 

[Matt25]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4253627.stm

Senior Sinn Fein members were involved in sanctioning robberies including the Northern Bank raid, the Independent Monitoring Commission has said.
The four strong commission’s report said the party should bear its share of the blame for a series of robberies.

Does this change the issue? Should SF be marginalised now if they condone IRA criminal activity?

No one has been convicted or, I think, charged in connection with this criminal activity. The information is based on ‘intelligence sources’. Recent experience leads me to doubt the wisdom of placing perfect trust in such sources.

Remember that the security apparatus in occupied Ireland (securicrats) makes a good living out of war and none at all out of peace. They have a vested interest in undermining the peace process. Ever since the Good Friday agreement was signed story after story has emerged linking Sinn Fein with activities contrary to the agreement. Can you remember any of them actually being proven.

The stumbling block in the way of peace is actually that section of the Unionist community who cannot bear the idea that Nationalists are their equals who have a right to take their place in what used to be “a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people” bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/factfiles/stormont.shtml

The nationalist population rejected the principle of a separate parliament and a devolved government within the United Kingdom for the six north-eastern counties of Ireland. The creation of Northern Ireland pitted two communities, nationalist and Catholic, unionist and Protestant against one another. The state was run on the basis of a Protestant majority who actively discriminated against the Catholic minority. To the unionist community Stormont became a symbol of their power but to the nationalist it was a symbol of oppression.

           *Between 1921                and 1972 Stormont was the political home of six Unionist prime ministers,                two of them, Craig and Brooke, held office for almost 40 years.                One of the first acts of the new Unionist government was to consolidate                its power. It did this by introducing legislation changing the voting                system and local council boundaries to ensure a perpetual unionist                majority. On various occasions Prime Minister and MPs used the Parliament                at Stormont to reinforce the message that it was a Protestant parliament                for a Protestant people.*

           *In 1933, J.                M. Andrews, prime minister between 1940-43, told MPs: "Another                allegation made against the government, and which was untrue, was                that, of 31 porters at Stormont, 28 were Roman Catholic. I have                investigated the matter, and I find that there are 30 Protestants,                and only one Roman Catholic there temporarily."*