Irish
Americans Angry Over North
Irish Voice. Wednesday, October 22,2003
By
Georgina Brennan and Tom Deignan
IRISH American activists and observers
initially applauded Tuesday's historic news out of
Northern Ireland. However, the mood darkened when it
became clear that David Trimble had dashed the hopes of an
historic deal at the last moment.
Bill Flynn, the chairman of Mutual of America and a key
player on the American side of the peace process, was less
than enthused when after the news broke that elections
would be called, Trimble refused to sign off on what was
agreed.
"It was an enormous disappointment to all of the
people who worked on the peace process. It laid to rest
once and for all that it was not the Republicans, or Sinn
Fein, or the IRA holding up the culmination of the peace
process," Flynn said from his Manhattan office.
"Americans of Irish heritage now realize that it is
the Unionists who have the problem. The tail has been
placed on the donkey in exactly the right spot. A lot of
people who worked on this said it was Tony Blair that
worked hard to make it happen. We now ask that he let the
elections be held because if they are not held now, I
expect there will be an end to the peace process and a
return to the old ways in Northern Ireland."
Long Island Congress-man Peter King was among those who
chose to look on the bright side of things.
"Look, when you are dealing with Ireland, you never
exactly get what you like," said King, a longtime
observer of the North. "Having said that, things are
going forward. It's definitely positive news."
King and others argued that the IRA has generally done
what it was asked to do, and speculated that Trimble
seemed to be posturing or "getting cold feet,"
in King's words.
Congressman Richard Neal from Massa-chusetts, co-chairman
of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, was also
disappointed with Tuesday's events.
"What started out as a day that had the potential of
being the most significant on the island of Ireland since
the signing of the Good Friday agreement, turned into
another challenge for the peace process," he said.
"When it came time for David Trimble to live up to
his end of the bargain, he simply lost his nerve. I have
no doubt that Prime Minister Blair and Taoiseach Ahern
will redouble their efforts to find a solution to today's
unexpected development. But after today's unfortunate
events, it is the Ulster Unionists Party who must
demonstrate their commitment to the democratic
process."
New Jersey Congress-man Chris Smith, also long active in
Northern Ireland affairs, said, "The unfettered
operation of a power-sharing, democratically elected
government is a lynch-pin of the Good Friday Agreement in
Northern Ireland. Holding these elections is critical to
sustaining the confidence of the citizens of Northern
Ireland as well as the support of those of us who have
worked hard to promote human rights reforms, peace, and
justice in the north."
Father Sean McManus, president of the Irish National
Caucus, said: "We congratulate Prime Minister Blair
for correcting his mistake of May in canceling
elections." McManus also called upon Republican
dissidents to embrace the peace process.
Manhattan lawyer and activist Frank Durkan applauded the
move to hold elections after all this time. "I think
they should have held elections a long time ago, but now,
it's better late than never, so lets go ahead with
it," he said on Tuesday.
"With regard to the decommissioning, it would seem to
me that the Republicans made a judgment that there is more
to be gained by political action than any other action and
I would adhere to their judgment and support it."
Durkan, however, was scathing about Trimble's role.
"Nothing but the same old story," he said.
