The war is over: but how will Labour respond?

Andrew Allison, one of few bloggers from the UK mainland who seem to have a handle on what is going on in Northern Ireland, has a superb post on how the recent terrorist atrocities will not derail the political process and the Executive and Assembly that has been so difficult to achieve.

Sinn Féin have acknowledged long ago that the war is over, and that Irish Republicanism will use exclusively peaceful and political means – and not the gun and the bomb – to attempt to achieve its aspiration.  While a United Ireland is a frightful concept, in a democracy they have the right to argue the case.

What the CIRA/RIRA splinter groups do not believe in is democracy.  They are trying to collapse the Institutions that are a lynchpin in the peace.  It was difficult for the Democratic Unionist Party to agree to restarting the Executive a few years back, as no doubt it was difficult for Sinn Féin to support the police.  But it has meant that we have moved on immensely in Northern Ireland.

The Republican dissidents, however, having failed in their objective to bring down the Institutions (the local politicians haven’t panicked), may well launch further attacks – but to what end?

One of the worrying aspects to these attacks was the lack of security; for example, at Massarene, civilian security contractors had one handgun and did not shoot the gunmen. Army marksmen would have given the terrorists their rightful swift descent into Hell where they belong. Now they must be caught and tried for their diabolical acts.

What Brown and Labour need to realise is that demilitarisation and weak security hasn’t worked. Appeasement of Al Qaeda wouldn’t work – just as appeasement of the RIRA/CIRA thugs. It has given such devils time to breed and has enabled disaffected ex-Provos to join these splinter groups.

It will be interesting to see how Labour, which has attempted but failed to show itself as “tough on terror” in GB, will respond to this new threat which has for the first time brought fear on the streets of Northern Ireland – and potentially could damage our economy, and blight many lives.

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