Irish Political News

According to the reports about the memoirs of Tony's Blair former Number 10 aide Jonathan Powell, in 2006 Provisional Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams rang the then British Prime Minister to "express solidarity" over the latter's cash-for-questions problems. According to Powell, Adams rang Blair and amongst other things had the craic about the PIRA's campaign. The bearded one then, it is claimed, suggested to Powell that he and Blair should "seek political status" if they were arrested, and refuse to recognise the court.

Oh dear. The reputed leader of the republican movement joking with the British Prime Minister, a man who has been known to hold his predecessor Margaret Thatcher in high esteem, about the key issue that inspired ten PIRA and INLA men to starve themselves to death is quite startling. It's quite clear that the provisional movement has abandoned the vast majority of its core principles over the past number of years- opposition to a Stormont assembly, abstention from the Dáil, use of violence, etc., etc.- but surely this is a step too far.

This revelation ought to send shockwaves through those who believe in what the provisional movement reputedly stands for. However, the Adams/ McGuinness leadership has so deftly created a situation in which chuckling with arch-bigot Ian Paisley is seen as perfectly normal that hardly an eyelid will be batted in anger.

What next? An SAS colour party greeting delegates at next year's Ard Fheis?

Powell has also admitted in his new book, 'Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland', that the British government lavished attention of Sinn Féin on account of its ability to influence those in control of the guns. He writes: "Seamus Mallon's complaint is that we talked to Sinn Féin because they had the guns. My answer to that is: yes and your point is?" Now the SDLP is to a large extent its own enemy, but confirmation that Sinn Féin was ably assisted by the British government for the past decade certainly explains quite a few things. One would almost wonder why the spooks ran provo informers when the upper echelons of the British establishment already had such close links with Sinn Féin. Wonders never cease.

Yet again we find that provisional republicans and the British Crown Forces have been working hand-in-hand. The latest 'outting' has revealed that a person who drove senior Sinn Féin members- believed to be Roy McShane- left Ireland this morning and has been taken into protective custody by MI5 after it was revealed he was an informer.

Of course, this comes as no surprise. The provisional movement is riddled with informers and British agents. This chap was a mere minnow. If you look at the history of Sinn Féin and the IRA since the early 1970s, they've gone from being a staunch and violent anti-British guerilla organisation to group of besuited bureaucrats administering British rule alongside Paisley et al. Pure coincidence?

What the public now need to know is the extent to which provisional Sinn Féin and its military wing were and are infiltrated by the security forces. Countless people have died as the result of loyalist and republican collusion- the veil of secrecy needs to be lifted so people know what exactly went on. And as for those strongest supporters of the provisional movement, well they need to be told how many of their friends and family members who 'volunteered' and died violently were killed as a result of the collusion of the very organisation who perfidiously venerates said 'martyrs' to this day.

Collusion is indeed no illusion.