Community Activist
Ógra Shinn Féin
Ógra Shinn Féin
10 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, all has changed utterly, but a terrible beauty has yet to be born.
We have witnessed many groundbreaking achievements in 10 short years, major progress with the equality agenda, prisoner releases, disbandment of the UDR/RIR, commencement of major changes to the RUC, republican influence on the parades commission, divided unionism, forcing the DUP into power sharing and have continued to popularise the demand for Irish Unity.
Not forgetting our comrades in Castlerea, and others incarcerated in Portlaoise and Maghaberry, the early release of republican prisoners has played a hugely positive role in empowering the marginalised and neglected communities from which they came.
Former republican prisoners have also been pivotal in the progress of the peace process through engagement with their community and through crucial negotiations and at the assembly where some are now elected activists.
The Good Friday Agreement has introduced equality legislation which has ensured people being able to proudly express their Irish identity and has secured more funding on a needs basis for many republican/nationalist communities, which has been directed into many worthwhile educational and youth projects.
The progress of the Good Friday Agreement has witnessed increasingly more peaceful summer months, especially in interface areas, and while establishment media and other naysayers and begrudgers wish to over exaggerate growing sectarianism, interface clashes, and sectarian attacks have been on the decline. And the emerging peaceful society has made meaningful engagement between republicans and the unionist community possible.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but while sincere community activists confront the plight of sectarianism, the pen pushers, naval gazers and people of no responsibility snipe from the side lines.
I suppose a flourishing peace process and national reconciliation doesn’t make for good news!
We have witnessed many groundbreaking achievements in 10 short years, major progress with the equality agenda, prisoner releases, disbandment of the UDR/RIR, commencement of major changes to the RUC, republican influence on the parades commission, divided unionism, forcing the DUP into power sharing and have continued to popularise the demand for Irish Unity.
Not forgetting our comrades in Castlerea, and others incarcerated in Portlaoise and Maghaberry, the early release of republican prisoners has played a hugely positive role in empowering the marginalised and neglected communities from which they came.
Former republican prisoners have also been pivotal in the progress of the peace process through engagement with their community and through crucial negotiations and at the assembly where some are now elected activists.
The Good Friday Agreement has introduced equality legislation which has ensured people being able to proudly express their Irish identity and has secured more funding on a needs basis for many republican/nationalist communities, which has been directed into many worthwhile educational and youth projects.
The progress of the Good Friday Agreement has witnessed increasingly more peaceful summer months, especially in interface areas, and while establishment media and other naysayers and begrudgers wish to over exaggerate growing sectarianism, interface clashes, and sectarian attacks have been on the decline. And the emerging peaceful society has made meaningful engagement between republicans and the unionist community possible.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but while sincere community activists confront the plight of sectarianism, the pen pushers, naval gazers and people of no responsibility snipe from the side lines.
I suppose a flourishing peace process and national reconciliation doesn’t make for good news!
While we have made huge strides forward on many issues and created a relatively peaceful society, there are many outstanding key issues in order to embed a lasting peace.The demilitarisation of the British War Machine in Ireland has yet to be completed. Although progress has been made in regards this issue, 5000 British Soldiers still occupy a huge part of Irish national territory. This is completely unacceptable, flies in the face of the British Government’s commitments in the Good Friday Agreement and must be resolved in the short term ahead.
Recognising progress has been made on the issue of policing, we need the immediate transfer of policing and justice powers and even then and with republican influence now on DPP’s and the policing board, it will take many years to put right policing following the years of institutionalised sectarianism and state murder.
The Good Friday Agreement while not being a republican document does contain one major asset, the principle of consent. When a majority north and south vote in referenda for a United Ireland, the Brits under international agreement will finally pull down the watch towers and go home at last.
While this presents a huge opportunity, it is also a huge challenge and places huge responsibility on our shoulders to be the generation that imaginatively and energetically popularises the demand for Irish freedom and outreaches to Unionism re-assuring them of a positive and prosperous future in a United Ireland.
It is a challenge but no more and perhaps less of a challenge that was facing the women and men of Easter 1916 and the Armagh/Long Kesh prisoners of 80/81, a challenge that republicans will adapt to and overcome.
10 years into the Good Friday Agreement, as a young republican, I have witnessed huge transformations in my local community, society and in Irish politics. While some have been negative and have tested me as a republican, the majority of change has been positive.
In 1998 over two thirds of the Irish people, green and orange, voted for a better, a shared future. They entrusted their hopes and dreams in our hands, we must continue with that task and ensure that a terrible beauty is born.
3 comments:
good article.
gemma
I think it is important that the movement recognises that the GFA states that this referendum can only be called by westminister. The British government are knowen for underhandedness. Before we continue to push for unity it is important that the Republican movement gets some clarification with the finer details within the GFA i.e. were the document talks of a "majority"....isn't pretty vague and open to interpretation? I think the new Task Force for unity or whatever its called needs to build upon whats inculded within the GFA for real legal mechinisms for a unitied Ireland. Not some wishy washy 'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it' strategy.
maxi.
Brilliant article. I understand Maxi's concerns, but i think the contributor dealt with that, saying that it would be an uphill struggle. And we need to knuckle down to the task ahead. Although Maxi's point's should be amplified so that all activists are fully aware of all detail relating to our all ireland strategy.
C
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