Congressional Hearing on the Northern Ireland Peace Process
Published: 31 December, 1969
A chairde:
Today, Wednesday, May 25th, I attended the congresional hearing of the House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats. As you know, Mitchell Reiss testified, giving an overview of his recent trip to Ireland and Britain, as well as his prospectus for the future there.
I have provided an informational summary below, which is followed by my personal analysis of the hearing:
In his testimony, Dr. Reiss acknowledged the assistance and support he has received from Irish America, and emphasized the Bush administration's commitment to the peace process and to the Good Friday Agreement
Today, Wednesday, May 25th, I attended the congresional hearing of the House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats. As you know, Mitchell Reiss testified, giving an overview of his recent trip to Ireland and Britain, as well as his prospectus for the future there.
I have provided an informational summary below, which is followed by my personal analysis of the hearing:
In his testimony, Dr. Reiss acknowledged the assistance and support he has received from Irish America, and emphasized the Bush administration's commitment to the peace process and to the Good Friday Agreement
With regard to his recent trip, he noted the meetings he had with business and political leaders in Ireland, and commented on the North's economic progress. The remainder of his testimony was a re-cap of the political developments from the failed peace deal last December, up to the recent UK elections, including the Northern Bank robbery and the murder of Robert McCartney.
Due to conflicting commitments, Chairman Gallegly turned the hearingover to Congressman Pete King (R-NY), who chaired the remainder of the hearing.
Reiss was questioned initially by King with regard to the possible political landscape if the IRA responds favorably to Adams' request to pursue exclusively peaceful means. Reiss responded by saying he believes if the IRA responds favorably, the next step would be to attempt to ensure that the marching season passes peacefully, in order to prevent a situation in which republicans could use loyalist violence against them
to justify an active IRA. He stated that given Prime Minister Tony Blair's dedication to the peace process, the British would like to achieve a political solution by the end of his premiership. This was followed by a discussion of the 5th IMC report. Reiss stated he believes negotiations could be back on track by September, assuming a peaceful marching season.
Reiss responded to a question by Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) with regard to Ian Paisley's "the GFA is dead" comment. Reiss implied Paisley had put up a front to some extent with that comment, and suggested Paisley was taking a different approach to the situation in his meetings
with Dr. Reiss. Reiss confirmed that there are obviously elements within the DUP strongly opposed to the GFA, but that in principle the DUP had accepted the GFA during the last round of negotiations, and implied they may do so again if pressured.
The McCartney incident was briefly discussed. King raised a question as to what its impact would be. Reiss responded by stating his belief that Robert's death is emblematic of a criminal community that is tolerated. He said he believed one consequence of the incident was that the Sinn Fein candidate in the Short Strand did not win in the recent elections.
King then raised an important question: If the IRA does stand down soon, can the PSNI protect the Short Strand and other sensitive areas in the midst of ongoing loyalist paramilitary and criminal activity (particularly during the marching season)? Reiss' response was that this is a key question in the peace process, and that he has all confidence in Hugh Orde.
King followed up with questions about the current status of the Finucane and Nelson inquiries, respectively. Reiss responded that in a recent meeting with the head of MI-5 he had been told that every piece of MI-5 evidence related to the Finucane case would be made available to the tribunal, though he acknowledged this did not mean all information would
be made public, in view of the recently passed Inquiries Bill.
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) raised the issue of Rita O'Hare's visa denial, expressing strong displeasure with the State Department, and stating his belief that it was bad policy for the U.S. to "express annoyance with Sinn Fein" in this way. He praised Rita's work in the U.S., and stated, "This woman is no threat to anyone."
Due to conflicting commitments, Chairman Gallegly turned the hearingover to Congressman Pete King (R-NY), who chaired the remainder of the hearing.
Reiss was questioned initially by King with regard to the possible political landscape if the IRA responds favorably to Adams' request to pursue exclusively peaceful means. Reiss responded by saying he believes if the IRA responds favorably, the next step would be to attempt to ensure that the marching season passes peacefully, in order to prevent a situation in which republicans could use loyalist violence against them
to justify an active IRA. He stated that given Prime Minister Tony Blair's dedication to the peace process, the British would like to achieve a political solution by the end of his premiership. This was followed by a discussion of the 5th IMC report. Reiss stated he believes negotiations could be back on track by September, assuming a peaceful marching season.
Reiss responded to a question by Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) with regard to Ian Paisley's "the GFA is dead" comment. Reiss implied Paisley had put up a front to some extent with that comment, and suggested Paisley was taking a different approach to the situation in his meetings
with Dr. Reiss. Reiss confirmed that there are obviously elements within the DUP strongly opposed to the GFA, but that in principle the DUP had accepted the GFA during the last round of negotiations, and implied they may do so again if pressured.
The McCartney incident was briefly discussed. King raised a question as to what its impact would be. Reiss responded by stating his belief that Robert's death is emblematic of a criminal community that is tolerated. He said he believed one consequence of the incident was that the Sinn Fein candidate in the Short Strand did not win in the recent elections.
King then raised an important question: If the IRA does stand down soon, can the PSNI protect the Short Strand and other sensitive areas in the midst of ongoing loyalist paramilitary and criminal activity (particularly during the marching season)? Reiss' response was that this is a key question in the peace process, and that he has all confidence in Hugh Orde.
King followed up with questions about the current status of the Finucane and Nelson inquiries, respectively. Reiss responded that in a recent meeting with the head of MI-5 he had been told that every piece of MI-5 evidence related to the Finucane case would be made available to the tribunal, though he acknowledged this did not mean all information would
be made public, in view of the recently passed Inquiries Bill.
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) raised the issue of Rita O'Hare's visa denial, expressing strong displeasure with the State Department, and stating his belief that it was bad policy for the U.S. to "express annoyance with Sinn Fein" in this way. He praised Rita's work in the U.S., and stated, "This woman is no threat to anyone."
Reiss responded by saying he is under constraints with regard to what he can say about the matter as he is not permitted to comment on individual visa applications, but stated his belief that Rita's visa denial should not set a precedence, and praised Rita for being a valuable interlocutor in the peace process.
Engel asked Reiss to convey his strong displeasure with the visa denial directly to the State Department. The hearing was then concluded.
My personal analysis is as follows:
Much of the discussion was grounded in the assumption that the IRA will respond to Adams' request prior to the marching season. No possible scenarios for a post-marching season answer were discussed.
In my opinion, Reiss dodged King's question regarding the PSNI's ability to protect the communities in the North equally in a post-IRA era. He stated the past two years' marching seasons had passed smoothly, which is arguable, and he provided no support for his assertion that Hugh Orde can or will enforce sound policing policy with an unarmed republican
community existing alongside a heavily armed loyalist community still greatly involved in criminality. Reiss did not address the possible problems and human rights issues that could arise from this situation, nor did he address the ongoing infighting in the loyalist community.
I was disappointed by Dr. Reiss' comments on last year's marching season. He told the sub-committee about Gerry Kelly's attempts to calm the situation in the Ardoyne last year, but he used this in the context of an example of the republican community looking to the IRA rather than the PSNI for protection (implying Gerry Kelly is a member of the IRA to
whom the residents were going for intervention rather than a
democratically elected representative for the area). This was
interesting given Reiss' praise of Kelly last year in a State Department briefing following the incident. Reiss failed to mention the fact the problems in the Ardoyne last year began when the PSNI ignored a legally binding Parades Commission ruling, and he omitted the fact that Kelly was injured attempting to quell the violence that would not have begun had the PSNI actually enforced the ruling in the first place.
Reiss stated that Sinn Fein had accepted to join the policing board in December, however it was my understanding that they simply agreed that if a deal were struck, Adams would then approach the Ard Chomhairle and recommend that it call a special Ard Fheis to decide the issue.
Slan,
Brooke Murphy
Washington, DC
Engel asked Reiss to convey his strong displeasure with the visa denial directly to the State Department. The hearing was then concluded.
My personal analysis is as follows:
Much of the discussion was grounded in the assumption that the IRA will respond to Adams' request prior to the marching season. No possible scenarios for a post-marching season answer were discussed.
In my opinion, Reiss dodged King's question regarding the PSNI's ability to protect the communities in the North equally in a post-IRA era. He stated the past two years' marching seasons had passed smoothly, which is arguable, and he provided no support for his assertion that Hugh Orde can or will enforce sound policing policy with an unarmed republican
community existing alongside a heavily armed loyalist community still greatly involved in criminality. Reiss did not address the possible problems and human rights issues that could arise from this situation, nor did he address the ongoing infighting in the loyalist community.
I was disappointed by Dr. Reiss' comments on last year's marching season. He told the sub-committee about Gerry Kelly's attempts to calm the situation in the Ardoyne last year, but he used this in the context of an example of the republican community looking to the IRA rather than the PSNI for protection (implying Gerry Kelly is a member of the IRA to
whom the residents were going for intervention rather than a
democratically elected representative for the area). This was
interesting given Reiss' praise of Kelly last year in a State Department briefing following the incident. Reiss failed to mention the fact the problems in the Ardoyne last year began when the PSNI ignored a legally binding Parades Commission ruling, and he omitted the fact that Kelly was injured attempting to quell the violence that would not have begun had the PSNI actually enforced the ruling in the first place.
Reiss stated that Sinn Fein had accepted to join the policing board in December, however it was my understanding that they simply agreed that if a deal were struck, Adams would then approach the Ard Chomhairle and recommend that it call a special Ard Fheis to decide the issue.
Slan,
Brooke Murphy
Washington, DC