15 October 2002

Securocrats turn tables on Sinn Fein?

Dissident Republican Anthony McIntyre, in the wake of charges against four Sinn Fein members, writes in the last week for Fortnight magazine :

"...the real difficulty faced by the party is not one that can be deferred by seeking refuge in sub judice. It is not that in the court of public opinion Donaldson may already unfairly be deemed guilty - legally it is not for the public to decide - but that republicanism is. And unlike lengthy judicial proceedings public opinion generates an immediacy that requires hard and fast corrective adjustment."

Ominously for Sinn Fein, he concludes:

"It is often claimed by Sinn Fein that moves such as the search of Sinn Fein offices at Stormont are the work of British securocrats who aim to destabilise the Good Friday Agreement. If some of the press reports from the Sunday after the event are reliable then - the case of Denis Donaldson totally aside - some may be forgiven for suspecting that the IRA intelligence system is infiltrated by securocrats. That system, allegedly, more than anything else has given both Sinn Fein and those in favour of the Agreement a headache that will be slow curing in the months ahead."

No comments: