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Home Page > News > McGuinness warns IRA dissidents they are in a fool’s paradise

McGuinness warns IRA dissidents they are in a fool’s paradise

Former IRA leader slams ‘futile, stupid and selfish’ acts

JAMES FARRELL,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, April 25, 2011, 7:39 AM

Updated Monday, April 25, 2011, 7:39 AM

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Martin McGuinness have slammed dissidents actions

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Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, has told dissident IRA factions that they are living in a fool’s paradise when it comes to thinking violence can work.

He was speaking at a County Derry celebration of the 1916 Easter Rising.He also strongly criticised the dissident groups for claiming they were the true IRA.

"It is patently not possible to advance towards Irish reunification by any means other than peaceful and democratic processes.” he said.

"Those who believe that Ireland can be reunited without the support of the Irish people are living in a fool's paradise."

McGuinness claimed the IRA who fought until the recent peace accord were not war mongers.

"They were a revolutionary force who when an opportunity to advance the struggle for Irish unity through peaceful means was established it removed itself from the political equation," he said.

"The IRA by its nature was of the people and for the people.

"It could not have survived and fought the British state the way it did if it was small and unrepresentative.
"People should be under no illusion, the small factions currently engaging in armed actions are not the IRA and they are not advancing national and democratic objectives by their activities."

He said: "Irish people are united in support of the Good Friday, St Andrews and Hillsborough agreements, attempting to overturn the will of the Irish people is not only futile it is stupid and selfish.

"Ireland can now only be reunited by the further development and outworking of the power sharing and all-Ireland institutions which were endorsed by the Irish people in the referendum in 1998. No act of violence will advance the cause of reunification by one millimetre.

"When taken in the context of a conflict resolution process, change can be traumatic. And this can be made even more difficult when there are those, both within sections of unionism and within the British political and military establishment who still want to hold on to the old ways.

"Our goal as Irish republicans is an Irish unity that is inclusive, that unionists will feel welcome in, that they are a part of.

"There is much work to do. But we believe that we are in the countdown to a united Ireland. We believe that together we can make further progress and truly transform society on this island forever.”

"We are all on the journey. It is always easier to begin a journey. The hard thing is to end it.

"Sinn Fein is in this process to the end. We want the British government and the Irish government and the unionists to work with us and to finish the work we have all started.

"The length of the journey can be shortened and the ups and downs on the road can be smoothed out if we go at it collectively. If we do it together."

Nster.com

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barneyjo | Apr 27, 2011, 08:50 PM EDT

@anybody - if any harm were to befall Elizabeth in he course of her visit to Ireland, it will be the final nail in the coffin of the dream that the men of 1916 gave their lives for. Not only can the Irish not make peace with themselves, but such an act folly,to attack a visiting head of state, would clearly demonstrate that the Irish have forsaken any right to take their place in the world as a soverign nation state without a moral, social or political compass for guidance!!

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sirpeter | Apr 27, 2011, 08:27 AM EDT

TomSwinford.."a mish-mash of half-truths and hand-me-down nonsense." Typical answer from you. Explain yourself boy!! Let's be having what you consider a mish-mash of half-truths and hand-me-down nonsense. I'd challenge you anytime about the fact's leading up to the famine,during the famine and the aftermath of the famine..I promise it won't be a myth. Where do you want to start?

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ScullysSoulmate | Apr 27, 2011, 04:35 AM EDT

Swinford, You are an unadulterated fool - I am putting forth FACTS which MY FAMILY BARELY LIVED THROUGH. So accoding to you, us Irish are poorly educated, stupid, slow-minded lazy liars. Who have gotten this far on what, luck? PUHLLLEASE. A typical brit myth, which will someday be the end of them and your kind, no doubt, God is willing.

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sirpeter | Apr 26, 2011, 04:15 PM EDT

Scullys, old boy, your emotional rant is touching but quite beside the point - it adds nothing in the way of rational discussion on a serious subject. You are, mercifully, right on one thing, regarding "us," I happily exclude myself from your company and the company of your fellow travelers. Like the Birthers, no amount of evidence or proof will change your mind - and God forbid that you would actually read and educate yourself. I will bow out of this discussion for, as who should say, where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise.

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peterson | Apr 26, 2011, 03:37 PM EDT

If the IRA likes violence, maybe two of them could have a duel -- that way, both sides win.

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peterson | Apr 26, 2011, 02:35 PM EDT

bfahey7 & slainte39, it is clear that neither of you know much about the famine and what little you may know is a mish-mash of half-truths and hand-me-down nonsense. You know the soundbites, the compelling one-liners like "There was enough food grown in Ireland during the famine [but shipped out to England], hence the famine was the cruel, deliberate act of a heartless government." For simple and lazy minds that is an easy explanation and requires no further investigation. And, of course, it fits neatly into the pathology of victimhood and grievance. If you truly want to understand the causes of the famine, what the British government did and did not do, could and could not do, you need to do a good deal of reading on the subject - and while you're at it try educating yourselves a little on Anglo-Irish history. I stand by my comments. I will not attempt to enlighten you further. If you are interested in the truth go do the grunt work - I mean beyond the brief synopses for the lazy at google.com.

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ScullysSoulmate | Apr 26, 2011, 02:19 PM EDT

Swinford, the only one who is ignorant and infantile is YOU. My own relatives WERE VICTIMS of the attempted GENOCIDE when the brits tried to keep them even from FISHING off the island they lived (and still live) on. You are patently WRONG as well, in fact the brit parlaiment openly admitted that genocide would be a good thing, then their "loyal subjects" could inhabit the entire island. If you think it's enuf already, simply bow out of the conversation, because as you can see, everyone has seen through your bs, and quit saying "us" when you speak of the Irish, because you obviously are not one of US. We are hard working, honest, compassionate, loving and profoundly intelligent people, and you have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are NOT.

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slainte39 | Apr 26, 2011, 01:01 PM EDT

Well said Fahey. Swinford, why shouldn't John Bull be the whipping boy when enough food existed in Ireland to prevent famine deaths? After all, the British Government determined all policy concerning Ireland and created the pratie eaters. You may know Irish history but your interpretation,to me, is sad.

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bfahey7 | Apr 26, 2011, 12:05 PM EDT

Official records show that enough food was grown in Ireland and shipped out of Ireland past the starving Irish people during the HUNGER. There is no famine where enough food is produced to feed the people unless it is a man made famine.

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bfahey7 | Apr 26, 2011, 08:58 AM EDT

ScullysSoulmate, I have read Trinity. It was a good read but depressingly predictable, a doomed love story across a tragic devide. Uris was well known for his exhaustive research - in this case he and his wife Jill spending more than a year in Ireland before beginning his epic. But it was only a novel and the "historical" bit provided the anchor for exaggeration, an author's prerogative. I am a fair student of Irish history and did not need Trinity as a history lesson, though many used it as such. The essential truth of my commentary remains unchallenged and I will not comment on the infantile attacks of 'the usual suspects' who rarely have anything of substance to say and can only resort to insult and name-calling. As for your comment that the "the brits tried to commit genocide during the famine times...," I can only say that that is a profoundly ignorant statement. There is not an Irish historian of any competence or any serious student of the Great Famine who would agree with you - but this myth lives on amongst those who cherish the Irish pathology of victimhood and grievance. We are largely the makers of our own mess but unlike grown-ups who accept responsibility for our history too many of us prefer to endlessly dump on our old whipping boy, John Bull. Enough already.

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citizen69 | Apr 26, 2011, 07:42 AM EDT

The Provisional IRA certainly had no claim to be the 'real' IRA either (whatever that is). They too were a breakaway group that persued violence when there was an alternative. This is the reason why their words will ring so hollow. The Provisionals think they have the copyright on all things Republican, but it's just the same old story of in-fighting leading to splinter groups. The only thing that always has been and always will be certain is that violence will never unite Ireland.

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sirpeter | Apr 26, 2011, 05:10 AM EDT

Woodman & ScullysSoulmate..Well Said..Saved me posting a reality check to Tom Swinford. I don't know where these Pommy Tommy guys get their Irish history from, but they like to omit almost all reality. Don't expect a reply lads.They just like to post a comment and leave it at that. Their argument's lead to dead ends because they have to leave out so many fact's.

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greensod | Apr 25, 2011, 09:45 PM EDT

Trinity is a must read.Its all in this book.Most of it is not very pretty.Take Scullys advice. Written by Uris after years of researce.A Jewish man who spent most of his life trying to prove that the Irish were the lost tribe of the Jews.

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ScullysSoulmate | Apr 25, 2011, 07:18 PM EDT

TomSwinford, you really need to read "Trinity" by Leon Uris. Yes it is an "historical novel", but it is based on years of painstaking research, and you really need a reality check, really you do. The fact is, sadly, the majority of Irish were in no state, economically, physically, emotionally, "formally educated" intellectual-wise, or any other wise, to represent their NEEDS, yes their BASIC NEEDS, because they have been too busy working to FEED THEMSELVES since the brits tried to commit genocide during the famine times. Come on, they admitted it in Parlaiment, it's a fact. Sinn Fein and the IRA did for them what they could not, stood up and said NOT ON MY WATCH. That's why Sinn Fein was able to achieve the "peace accord", that's why Sinn Fein is still a major player, that's why Sinn Fein and people like Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams are so well respected internationally. And not just because they represented "Irish Catholics" as you suggest, but for the same reasons Parnell stood up and said NOT ON MY WATCH, which is what people the world over need to do NOW, as the bankers and "elected officials" perpetrate the latest rapes and frauds on the working people who make their lavish lifestyles possible by their hard work. So quit it, and quit laughing, it's really NOT funny at all. Sinn Fein needs more candidates throughout Ireland, and then maybe, finally, the Irish people can show the world how they really think and feel, and how profoundly intelligent most Irish are. Read the book, it may remind you of a lot of conveniently "forgotten" truths so many people need to be reminded of.

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Woodman | Apr 25, 2011, 06:24 PM EDT

An honest and objective history of Ireland needs to be written. And I would hope it would include the fact that a Home Rule law passed the British parliament in 1912, but British Officers in Ireland threatened mutiny if it was implemented, British loyalists in Ireland also publicly threatened violence, parading around with German weapons, if the new law was implemented and the British government caved into the threats. The Kaiser saw this as a weakness - that Britain could not control her own claimed territory and these antics contributed to outbreak of the First World War. And I hope they mention, in this objective history that the peace loving home rulers got thousands of Irishmen killed, far more than would be killed during Tan War and Civil War combined, when the Home Rulers pledged Irish lives for British Imperial ambitions and there were enough idealist to actualy believe the propaganda that they were fighthing for the rights of "small nations." And if it gets to more recent events, I would hope they acknowledge that people who falsely condemned the IRA as terrorists, prolonged the violence, by rebuffing IRA peace overtures, and made resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland almost impossible. There are indeed lessons to be learned, but nothing to laugh about.

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