Sinn Fein issues peace process challenge
Sinn Fein today became the last main party to launch its general election manifesto, calling for action from both the Irish and the British governments if the IRA agreed to move beyond “armed struggle”.
The IRA is not expected to respond to Gerry Adam’s call for them to move to purely political operations before the election.
Today Sinn Fein said it wants the repeal of anti-terror legislation, an inquiry into alleged security force collision in the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane and for the Irish government to address Irish unity.
It wants the Irish government to draw up a green paper on its strategy for a united Ireland.
Other key demands include the scaling down of the British troop presence in Northern Ireland.
On public services, it promises the end to selection at 11 in schools, the abolition of top up fees and rejects privatisation of Northern Ireland’s water services.
Commenting on the publication, SDLP candidate for Newry and Armagh Dominic Bradley said the question was not about Sinn Fein promises, but what it would deliver.
Mr Bradley said: “Before the Assembly elections they promised that they would put manners on the DUP and would deliver peace.
“Instead, they renegotiated the Good Friday Agreement for the DUP and covered up the truth about murders and robberies. The SDLP hopes that this will now be brought to an end. But past experience shows why people need to be cautious and keep the provisional movement under positive pressure to deliver the decent peace that we all want.”
