Sir, - I write to you in relation to the comments made recently by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, regarding the future of the peace process. I believe Mr Ahern is reflecting the views of most nationalists on the island, including John Hume, when he calls on the republican movement to cease violence permanently and enter the democratic process of building peace.
For republicans to enter talks in a forum where unionists are present, they must establish some measure of credibility. Failure on their part to build this credibility in the eyes of politicians, of whatever shade, will result in an even slower pace of movement toward the conclusion of a settlement. Mr Ahern's assertion that republicans appear to be unaware of the damage being done to their negotiating position, in my view goes to the very heart of the present dilemma.
Sinn Fein can hardly be surprised at the distance established by John Hume when he wrote about the current situation in a recent newspaper article. If they are surprised, they should ask themselves where the political cover is for politicians like Hume, Bertie Ahern or indeed the Government, for that matter, in terms of closer Sinn Fein relations running alongside IRA violence.
I am not proposing that we go back to the pre-1994 levels of exclusion in terms of broadcasting and so forth. However, republicans must attempt to put themselves in the shoes of constitutional politicians who would gladly count them among their number, if the IRA war was ended for good. The Taoiseach's remarks calling for the prior acceptance by Sinn Fein of the principle of consent is, in my view, somewhat premature. In any case they will not publicly accept the clause before political negotiations are complete, thus keeping with the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
With this reality, I would be content if republicans in their own mind accepted the need to negotiate all the interlocking relationships pertaining to the two islands. And following that process of negotiating all the institutional arrangements for the governance of the island, they" could then examine how democratic expression could be given to the people of the island, both North and South, as to their membership of either or both nationalities. - Yours, etc.,
Moreen Road, Sandyford, Dublin 16.