Long Kesh U-Turn

Martin Galvin with a letter which initially featured in edited form in the Irish News on 6 September 2013

A chara

As we await the end of Robinson’s holidays and the coming of Richard Haass’ magic wand to disappear all flags and parades troubles, one question remains paramount.

Will Robinson keep any deal, if he can disavow his commitments to Republicans with impunity?

Robinson’s Florida poolside u-turn on the Peace Centre deal played well within his party and with other unionists who think any promise of concessions to nationalists should be broken or “unpicked”. His declaration of intent to withdraw from the Long Kesh centre was unambiguous. Robinson proclaimed that all promises to Republicans are hostage to our subsequent good, meaning docile, behavior.

When Republicans dared to march against new forms of Internment on Internment Day or to honor the memory of Republican patriots, Robinson declares that Republicans breached his unwritten code of conduct and nullified any deal. The Croppies failed to lie down and will get no Long Kesh centre, even one built by DUP ally Terence Brannigan.

Robinson’s bullying will only be a “mistake” if Republicans stand up to him and make it so. Thus far he has not been forced to shorten his holiday much less reverse his u-turn. If Robinson can bully Republicans into more concessions, it will hardly be a mistake for unionists.

Robinson is copying the example of his British mentors. The British discarded their Weston Park promises by jailing Gerry McGeough and arresting John Downey, safe conduct letter in hand. They waited as Sinn Fein sat still for it at Stormont instead of walking out and showing the party would not swallow broken promises. The British think they hobbled their former foes with Stormont titles and dreams of becoming junior coalition partners north and south. Why should Robinson not take advantage?

My own view is no secret. The Hunger Strikers were patriots whose names, legacy and victory over Thatcher’s attempt to criminalize their struggle against British rule will never be forgotten, no matter what happens to the spot where they died.

Thatcher could not bully or break the Hunger Strikers in Long Kesh. Will those elected to represent Republicans today allow the likes of Peter Robinson to use Long Kesh to bully them? 

15 comments:

  1. well said Gavin.

    The major problem with SF is, they have allowed themselves to become part of the British establishment for their own Monetary gain, and , nothing to do with a United Ireland.

    Robinson could play Golf with SF "balls" , and get away with it , he is appeasing his grand masters.

    Poor old Martin Mc Guinness must feel a right prick, sitting beside Robinson , who squints at him with a wry smirk , Its like saying to Mc Guinness , "you will do as we say" , "not as we do". SF must walk out of that British establishment , sooner rather than later because they are close to the point of Coat trailing themselves.

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  2. I think Martin Galvin wants to return to the movement-he cant shut up about us-he is even calling a Sinn Fein march in Castlederg Republican-you were allowed to leave kid-no one needs you-

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  3. I endured a bit of" slaggin"this morning over on fb when I said that I was going to the dentist,I was told by friends to "man up",I subsequently gritted my teeth and went.now whats the moral of this story ,well if I can survive a trip to the dentist ,then quisling $inn feinds should set aside their lemming like rush to to the cliffs of nowhere,man up and tell the arch bigots in the dup and Villiers and co that enough is fucking enough, those who have been elected to represent nationalist interests have failed us miserably in all areas ,ie., peace and justice(try telling that to Martin Corey)jobs (well unless your one of the boys ,but even that is a tenuous link)housing ffs dont even go there,the name O,Donnell must now go into the history books alongside Boycott,and Gerrymandering,once again the republican /nationalist population of the sick counties has been shafted by carpetbaggers who have,nt the balls to confront their partners in crime,indeed they should have taken heed of that old saying "if you sup with the devil use a long spoon".

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  4. The Movement michaelhenry - What fecking Movement?

    I asked you during the week what SF have changed since they sat their arses in Stormont and you hid...

    They have moved nowhere.

    The fact is SF is being bullied up in Stormont, slapped about by the Unionists, they are a disgrace to the memory of the Hunger Strikers and should not be allowed to use those Ten Brave Men to endorse their own cowardice and betrayal.

    In fact Michaelhenry SF made a deal with the DUP over the Girdwood Barrack site in return for the so called Peace Centre. Where does this leave Girdwood?

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  5. Very interesting post and the comments are very much in tune with my own thinking.
    I had actually considered voting Sinn Fein due to the lack of any other party to vote for. On further inspection of my idea, I feel it may be a wasted vote and surely one for the continuation of Unionist control. I believe 100% that the DUP hold this country back and the current fiasco with these " fleg " protestors certainly does reinforce that opinion. SF really screwed up when they signed the GFA. Owning an extensive library on the Irish conflict and the insights to the likes of Stakeknive and possibly higher, I wonder who has been steering SF this whole time? How does one go from a struggle against Stormont to being power of that exact same ruling system? How do we find a way forward?

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  8. I think Dixie's point is correct here MH in that Sinn Fein no longer represents the republican movement - certainly not where you and I are from anyway, which was borne out at Easter on the streets of Carrickmore. Also I feel it was more than evidenced by the fact the party had to bring bus-loads of people from outside the county in for 'Tyrone Volunteers' Day' in Castlederg - we both know that's NEVER how this event functioned. It was totally superficial and if you're honest you'll admit so and that it was a fruitless attempt to reclaim lost ground. It hasn't worked, more and more people within your own organisation are questioning its direction and looking for an alternative - I know this firsthand. You's can't blind yourselves to this reality (though of course like the perennial ostrich you's somehow manage to do so) regardless of what you believe Martin Galvin's intentions may be, though somehow I doubt this man has any intention of joining New Sinn Fein - he has a lot more integrity than that.

    For the offensive and arrogant British presence in our country is very much still reality Mick, and Martin Galvin is more than aware of that fact don't worry. Theresa Villiers recent attempts to preempt the Haas process, as decried in this month's An Phoblacht, is but yet another illustration of this. That the likes of Villiers would attempt to preempt anything does not shock me in the slightest - she's a Brit serving the Brit interest in Ireland - yet somehow your party amazingly can't seem to get its head around this basic concept, perhaps because you's are sadly now woven into the very fabric of British rule here (Francie Molloy conceded this long, long ago in another time when it must have been felt statements such as "we are really going to administer British rule for the foreseeable future, the very principle of partition has been accepted" were somehow clever or acceptable).

    Sadly those who remain in Stormont despite all that Martin has consistently pointed out, regardless of their intentions, are serving the same British interest as Theresa Villiers serves. Given the structural correlation between the British produced Framework Documents (rejected by the republican movement) and the institutions set up under the 1998 Agreement then clearly the Agreement represents the British position in terms of its constitutional preferences and therefore the British interest - give our take a few reforms, many of which Martin alludes to, themselves subject to the stalling and renegotiation of the Unionists. If you honestly believe otherwise you're fooling yourself. Despite best efforts, and of course I concede that best efforts were made, absolutely nothing has changed beyond who is administering the British occupation of our country and sadly that now includes yourselves. The most salient point I feel you need to embrace is the sorry fact that what was once the republican movement has accepted the integrity of the very rule of law it once sought to oppose and for this reason, in my personal opinion, Sinn Fein no longer represents Irish republicanism - though yes of course, like many other political parties before it, it emerged from the republican movement.

    In terms of Martin's letter itself I'd just say well done a chara, you're doing a tremendous job of exposing the inherent failures of the Sinn Fein strategy and the fact they continue to lie down while the Brits and their lackeys drive the boot in again and again to what they believe to be the lifeless carcass of republicanism prostrate at the foot of the Empire. Or is it bended knee? ('Bury my heart at Bended Knee' has a nice ring to it - could make a good title for McGuinness' autobiography.) It's a good job for all concerned anyway that the soul of republicanism now resides elsewhere and is once again beginning to come into its own. As we've discussed before Mackers it's only a matter of patience - "bide your time... bide your time"

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  9. A sizeable chunk within Loyalism think the DUP are being walked all over Sinn Fein, similarly a sizeable suave of Republicans think the DUP are bossing the Shinners about.

    This says to me some people are extremely deluded about NI politics and can't see as far as their noses.

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  10. I think Andy we only need look at who has given what to determine the veracity of what you say - just because loyalists feel as such doesn't make it so. To suggest that because they feel it is they who are being walked over means then that SF must be doing something right, or that both sides must be wrong, fails to take account of the starting position. Sinn Fein has abandoned its entire political philosophy and replaced it with a version of republicanism more akin to Fianna Fáil. They have accepted the British constitutional claim, the Unionist veto, the institutions of the state in their entirety including PSNI and the role of British Military Intelligence. They've accepted political policing, their own members being brought up on historical charges, internment by remand, secret evidence and closed material proceedings, the continued use of Diplock Courts, the abuse of political prisoners, on and on it goes. Someone please tell me it isn't so and somehow I've just imagined it all. What have the loyalists given? Nothing of political substance, in fact they've gained through all of the above and more. The problems in loyalism are of its own paranoid making but sure isn't that what happens when you breed a mindset of sectarian hatred? The problems in loyalism do not detract from the fact that Sinn Fein time and time again has given and given and given to keep their own hands on the greasy till and to suggest otherwise indicates to me that you are the one who's deluded here and need to look past your own nose and examine the facts

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  11. Andy your comment is a bit like the answer to the question,the answer being cock Robin ! the question and this applies not only to Gerry Itwasntme but those who blindly follow quisling $inn Feinds and that is What this up my arse batman? quisling $inn £einds have been shafted at every turn in this so called new beginning .loyalism have begun to paint themselves up as somehow the oppressed without giving anything other than a few less fleg flying days in Belfast, they recently denied nationalists the democratic right to walk through Belfast city center in protest against internment,which could affect their community also,they raised merry hell about republicans commemorating their dead in Tyrone while turning out in their droves to honour a sectarian murderer on the Shankill rd . hypocrisy how are ya! the bigots within unionism have been cranking up the ante here to give themselves and their cronies even more leverage against quisling $inn £einds at the upcoming Hass talks all in order to maintain the status quo which in their opinion has always been not an inch. quisling $inn £einds have nothing left to surrender,loyalism has an eye on a return to a norn iorn pre 69, the way things are heading here the only thing nationalists can demand is the right to life and even that could be very tenuous.

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  12. Michael H

    Dixie asked you a fair question, so I'll repeat it,

    What have SF changed since they sat their arses in Stormont ?

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  13. Andy

    having a taig about the place is a surrender in some unionist eyes.

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  14. MH

    SF are essentially SDLP business type people now who have decided not to waste time waiting for reunification. They are not working class physical force nationalists/republicans. The likes of Marty McGuiness in NY and his brother and wife running extremely popular businesses in Derry are testament to this. Doesn't make them NOT republican. Republics like republicans come in all manner of shapes and sizes. Their retention of IRA paraphernalia is hard to swallow for many. But they are non-violent republicans in the best SDLP tradition. AND well regarded in their own communities as a means to an end, no war!

    They are NOT recognisable from the people who cheered people on to 'murder' die and waste away in jail. They serve a political purpose today (mostly for themselves-as always) but they will do the Judas on the very people they profess still to speak for, the Irish patriot dead.

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  15. Martin, a cara, don't worry too much about the Long Kesh site, covered nowaday's in ruas unionist bulls(hit)
    the memory of the men who died there, and as a result of their suffering there, will remain alive, like their Irish predecessors since the invasion.
    Few will remember the new stoop down low party leaders and their new middle class ideals selling out for the queen's shilling and St. Patrick's day trips to Washington.

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