MP'S ADDRESS:FIANNA FÁIL'S organisation in Northern Ireland could add to the complexity of achieving consensus among pro-Irish unity parties in both parts of Ireland, South Down MP Eddie McGrady warned.
In his address, Mr McGrady said: “We face a new dimension with the advent of Fianna Fáil into the politics of Northern Ireland. This move came at a time when we in the SDLP were working with Fianna Fáil discussing future initiatives and working together for the benefit of the community.”
He said this move “was seen by some to be welcome, others as unhelpful, and indeed in other quarters as endangering the process of achieving Irish unity, an aspiration that can only be achieved by a genuine and evolutionary relationship of trust and respect between unionists and nationalists”.
The move to organise constituency forums by Fianna Fáil in the North complicated this process, he claimed. “I call on Fianna Fáil to work in tandem with us to achieve this goal as we continue to work with other parties.”
Mr McGrady also criticised both the British and Irish governments. He said the DUP and Sinn Féin were driving the communities in Northern Ireland further apart, when the primary purpose of the Good Friday Agreement was “to bring people together by encouraging them to work together”.
“The governments must step up to the mark on this and abandon their attitude of acquiescence and acceptance of political and community polarisation,” he said.
“By the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, both governments are duty bound to protect the interests of all, and despite their efforts in recent weeks they have failed to ensure fair, equal and transparent negotiations which are vital for the future of Northern Ireland.”
Such polarisation, he said, and the drift to further community division “is being exacerbated by the secret meetings between the DUP, the Ulster Unionists/ Conservatives and the Orange Order”.
He added: “The result of this conspiracy would be to bring our community back towards the obscenity of religious division.
“I sincerely hope this process can be stopped and reversed and the community saved from the destruction of all we have gained together.”