A university debate on decommissioning in Northern Ireland was delayed last night at UCC as heated exchanges took place about Sinn Fein representation.
Mr Ken Maginnis of the Ulster Unionist Party was the main speaker. However, the Sinn Fein representative, Cork-based ard chomhairle member Mr Don O'Leary, was not allowed to remain on the platform.
The student organisers explained that Mr Maginnis had been willing to share a platform with Sinn Fein, but not just with any member of Sinn Fein. He wanted to debate decommissioning and the Commonwealth with a senior Sinn Fein policy-maker.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, was in Munster yesterday but was said to be unavailable.
Sinn Fein offered Mr O'Leary but it was indicated that he was not who the UCC law society was looking for. "Why not?" asked Mr O'Leary. "I'm a member of Sinn Fein's ardchomhairle so that covers the policy-making side of things. This smacks to me of blatant censorship."
The debate was held up for almost 30 minutes while arguments took place from the body of the floor concerning his right to be there in the first place.
Some speakers pointed out that fax messages showed clearly that the party had been asked to send a representative and that Mr O'Leary had been asked to go to the debate.
It took some time before Mr O'Leary decided to leave the platform and take his place among the audience. After this, Mr Maginnis and Minister of State Mr Eamon O Cuiv (FF) arrived on the platform.
An officer of the law society, Mr Patrick O'Riordan, denied last night that there was any element of censorship.
The idea for the debate in the first place had been to bring together people such as Mr Maginnis, Mr O Cuiv and a Sinn Fein policy-maker to discuss decommissioning. Mr Maginnis, he added, had made it clear that he had no difficulty in debating such issues with senior Sinn Fein people.