Sir, - In an article on Sinn Fein (Opinion, November 18th) Vincent Browne writes:
"Certainly the contention of [Bob McCartney] and his then political ally, Conor Cruise O'Brien, that Sinn Fein would resort to the use of IRA violence in the course of the talks to `divvy' things along proved wrong."
Neither Bob McCartney nor I ever "contended" that "Sinn Fein would resort to the use of IRA violence in the course of the talks." For one thing, the formula is anomalous, and seems to reflect a surprising unawareness of the actual workings of Sinn Fein-IRA. Sinn Fein never resorts to violence: that is the exclusive province of Sinn Fein's masters, the IRA. Sinn Fein's role is exclusively in the domain of politics and propaganda. When the IRA determines that a ceasefire has ceased to pay political dividends for the time being and resumes the "armed struggle", Sinn Fein then tries to negotiate a new ceasefire. That happened when the last ceasefire - also loudly proclaimed by peace processors as "permanent" - broke down at Canary Wharf.
The IRA's insistence on retaining all its weapons, during this ceasefire as during the last one, is designed to apply silently the threat of the resumption of violence, if Sinn Fein-IRA does not get enough of its own way, quickly enough. This ceasefire will almost certainly hold until after Sinn Fein-IRA gets its most cherished immediate objective: the "reform" of the RUC at the behest, and close to the specifications, of the people who have murdered 300 of the force's members over the past 20 years.
When that "reform", demoralising the RUC, has been obtained, the IRA will be able to resume violence with enhanced prospects of satisfactory results. How soon that will be is solely a matter for the IRA's Army Council. When the IRA does resume, Sinn Fein's function will again be to work for a new ceasefire with new concessions to Sinn Fein-IRA. And so this corrupt "peace process" of ours will roll on until enough people finally see through it and turn it off. But that will not happen this year, and probably not next year. - Yours, etc., Conor Cruise O'Brien,
Howth Summit, Dublin.