An Irish Voice by Gerry Adams, Mount Eagle, 281 pp, £9.99, paperback
There's a certain symbolism in the fact that alphabetical order has determined that Gerry Adams's books on my shelves lie alongside Donal Akenson's Conor, a biography of Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien, dedicated to the Greatest Living Irishman.
In books, ideas can contend in a manner which Dr O'Brien would certainly have denied Adams before RTE's cameras, when he was Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, indeed in the newspapers also, had he succeeded in his attempt to extend Section 31-type legislation to the press.
Niall O'Dowd took an opposite view to O'Brien's. He thought Adams should be heard and acceded to Adams's suggestion that he write a regular column for O'Dowd's New York newspaper, the Irish Voice. This book is a compilation of the Voice articles. When one considers how fate conspired to prevent Michael Collins leaving behind little in print, beyond the articles compiled in The Path To Freedom, the importance of this collection from one of the foremost revolutionary figures of the late 20th century, becomes immediately evident.
O'Dowd is correct in stating in his foreword: " . . . these columns will serve as part of an important historical record some day, as a diary in progress from the principal architect of the Irish peace process which has given the world such hope that conflict resolution, wherever it happens, can make our planet a better place to live . . . "
Incidentally, by way of demonstrating his fidelity to the principle of free speech, O'Dowd has also opened his columns to Unionist spokespersons, chiefly Garry McMichael, like Adams, an original thinker in his own right.
Adams and O'Dowd have a good deal in common. They are both self-effacing (I mean apart from the fact that both wear beards). They are both pioneering spirits and, without them, working at different levels, and in different ways, on both sides of the Atlantic, there would be no peace process.
O'Dowd put together the coalition of Irish-American politicians, tycoons and trade unionists who brokered the peace from America. Adams led the new thinking from within the republican movement in Ireland. And, as these articles show, he is a thinker of considerable stature. I hope some day he will be able to write un-trammelled by considerations of either time, or politics. This last is no small concern. In Gerry Adams's world the term "the killer reviewer", has more than literary resonances.
But works like his Falls Road Memories, or Cage Eleven, indicate a humorous, compassionate talent awaiting the opportunity of a fuller flowering. In the meantime, An Irish Voice is a good read. For the humour as much as the philosophy or the politics. For example, the story of the man who was continuously delayed at a roadside by the RUC because he repeatedly told them he was going to "Derry".
"Not Londonderry?" they asked. "No, Derry!" More delay. Finally the man said: "I've changed my mind." The policeman beamed: "Good." But the motorist replied: "Aye, I'm so late now, I'm going to Strabane instead."
Gerry Adams is going to Stormont these days, for talks. There is every possibility that these may well lead one day to Sinn Fein's eclipsing the SDLP in the Six Counties. But there is a passage on the recent Irish general election (page 247) which should be read by 26 County politicians also:
"There is also a lot of anger at the establishment throughout the 26 Counties at the way it has been handling its own affairs within the State. We are hoping to provide a democratic outlet for this genuine and justifiable anger . . .
The cause of the anger is more obvious in the inner city areas . . . At a Mass for the dead in Dublin central, 82 names of the victims of this scourge (drugs) were read out. I met a young woman who is on treatment, and who had buried six members of her family, including her parents. It is a national disgrace that there is no coherent strategy to eradicate this problem . . .
There is also anger at the corruption in politics here. While many members of the Dail are hardworking, well-intentioned individuals, there is no doubt that graft has become a political way of life for others . . ."
Adams accepts that changing the system, like making a permanent peace, is not easy. But he and Sinn Fein clearly intend to give it a go. His last article concludes: "I have learned that sometimes the optimism of the will must overcome the pessimism of the intellect . . ." Whatever else people say about him, no one can accuse Gerry Adams of lacking will-power.
Tim Pat Coogan's books include Michael Collins and The Troubles. He has written extensively about Sinn Fein and the IRA.