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Sinn
Fein has reached a new low by claiming that the Police
Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is failing to clamp
down on the `Real IRA' in south Down. The Sunday
Business Post reported Sinn Fein MLA Mick Murphy
as saying that "There is a lot of dissident activity
in the area, but the PSNI has done nothing about it."
This is particularly sinister as less than three days
after those comments were published, the PSNI arrested
two Republican activists in the South Down area.
These quotes come not from the Sunday Times
or the Daily Telegraph, but from a paper fairly
sympathetic to the party. So far, neither Mick Murphy
or Sinn Fein have come forward to complain that their
position has been misrepresented.
How
are these comments to be interpreted? Sinn Fein is
probably testing the reactions of Nationalist grassroots.
First use a middle-ranking representative in a rural
area to see what the reactions will be to figure if
it is safe for a more proeminent figure to issue a
similar statement. If Mr Murphy's comments fail to
stir any controversies at a local or a national level,
Sinn Fein representatives are likely not to oppose
a tougher stance against so-called dissident Republican
groupings.
Mr
Murphy also added that "the PSNI is not accepted
in the south Down area". Is this because they
are failing to clamp down on the Real IRA? And if
the PSNI is not accepted, does this in turn authorise
the Provisionals to take actions against dissidents
like for example killing Joseph O Connor?
This
raises problematic questions. Sinn Fein representatives
have previously acknowledged that they recognised
the legitimacy of the Gardai in the 26 counties. Does
this mean that the party is not opposed to the repressive
stance against Republican groups down south? In particular,
does the party oppose the use of supergrasses like
David Rupert? Are Sinn Fein TDs opposed to the Special
Criminal Courts?
Mr
Murphy's comments are even further to the right than
the position of someone like the late Eamon Collins
- the South Down supergrass. In his book "Killing
Rage", Eamon Collins didn't criticize the
RUC for failing to clamp down on the activities of
the Provisional IRA, but argued that the way forward
was to boost the more moderated/centrist element within
Republicanism.
For
Mr Murphy to have a similar position would have been
to argue that the Sinn Fein leadership should try
to stengthen the 32CSM and encourage them to persuade
the RIRA to call down their campaign. There is a Republican
song called "The Supergrass", and
the supergrass is said to be "the lowest of the
low". With such comments, some people in Sinn
Fein are even lower than "lowest of the low"
supergrass Eamon Collins.
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