SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has welcomed the Eta ceasefire and urged the Spanish government to seize the opportunity for what he believed could be a permanent end to the conflict.
According to a Sinn Féin spokesman yesterday, Mr Adams and other senior party figures have been involved in long-running contacts with senior Basque separatist representatives in the past year or more with the purpose of helping end the conflict.
He said that significant talks took place at the end of last year and earlier this year, where participants drew on the lessons to be learned from the Irish peace process. This was evident from the fact that a conference in Spain of the Abertzale Left Regional Assemblies in February decided that the Mitchell Principles on democracy and non-violence, which were critical in assisting the Irish peace process, should be adopted by Basque separatists.
In his regular Léargas blog in February, Mr Adams referred to those contacts and the adoption of the Mitchell Principles. He wrote about how Abertzale Left agreed a resolution to use “exclusively political and democratic means” to advance its political objectives.
The resolution sought to advance political change in a complete absence of violence and without interference and conducted in accordance with the Mitchell Principles, and with a political goal to achieve a “stable and lasting peace in the Basque country”.
Mr Adams said in February that the collapse of the Eta cessation in December 2006 after only nine months was a huge disappointment. He added: “Since then there have been behind-the-scenes efforts to restore the opportunity and hope that the cessation had created. These have included work by this blog and other senior Sinn Féin activists who have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with Batasuna and others in an effort to help create new momentum in the stalled Basque peace process.”
At the time Mr Adams also wrote: “There is a real opportunity for a fundamental change in the relationship between the Basque country and the Spanish state. There is an onus on everyone to grasp this in good faith and to make every effort to bring an end to conflict in that region.”
He reiterated that comment yesterday when welcoming the Eta announcement. “This is a significant statement and has the potential to bring about a permanent end to the long-running conflict in the Basque country,” he said.
“It is now vital that the Spanish government respond positively and grasp the opportunity to advance a peace process presented by announcement and quickly establish inclusive political negotiations.”