Sinn Féin representative speaks of negotiations

An audience eager for insight into the current peace negotiations in Northern Ireland crowded into Wilder to hear Mairead Keane, the Sinn Féin party's US representative, speak on Thursday.

Keane presented the Sinn Féin position on the current talks, and described the situation in Ulster and the Republic of Ireland from the Sinn Féin perspective. She also gave some historical perspective on the current conflict.

Sinn Féin is a political party that supports the union of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. It is often identified as the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Keane served as the director of the women's department of Sinn Féin before moving to Washington, D.C. to be the organization's U.S. representative two years ago.

Keane stressed that a united Ireland is the only way to actually achieve peace on the island. She sees the talks as a possible way for that peace to be achieved, but recognizes that negotiations will be hard and don't guarantee a solution.

"We have one again a moment," Keane said. Quoting the Irish poet Seamus Haney, she called the talks "a space where hope can grow."

Keane and Sinn Féin see success at the talks as dependent on the other parties involved. "In the next weeks and months we'll see the measure of the British intentions," she said.

"We are confident we will put forth our agenda in a way to bring dialogue," Keane said of Sinn Féin. "In all the repression, in all the injustice we have continued to move on with a strategy for peace."

Keane said success of the talks relies on their ability to deal with the real issues of the conflict . She named key issues as eliminating the partition, ending the British military presence, freeing political prisoners and working for equality between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

While a united Ireland was clearly the most important end that Keane and Sinn Féin support, demilitarizing the conflict is also key, according to Keane.

"[The British] use a military array in a situation that requires a political solution," she said. When asked by an audience member about Sinn Féin's relationship with the IRA and their use of violence, Keane stressed that ending violence in Ireland requires all groups to stop using violence.

"We want to see all guns out, not just the IRA guns," Keane said. She also said that before violence can end, justice must be secured.

Keane also touched on the social relations in Northern Ireland. She described the "repression, harassment and injustice" that Catholics experience in Northern Ireland.

"We would not be sitting around the negotiation table if the British had made Northern Ireland a success," Keane said. As an illustration Keane mentioned the two and a half times higher unemployment rate among Catholics than Protestants in Ulster.

Keane, aware of her audience, also discussed the important role that Irish America has played in the recent movement to negotiations. She commended the Clinton administration, as well as Irish Americans for being informed and influencing the situation.

"We believe that Ireland by itself is too small. It needs help from outside the frame," Keane said. She said interested and supportive Americans should remain informed of events in Ireland, and educate each others. Keane also suggested writing to Congresspeople.

She also urged Americans to visit Ireland to experience the conflict first hand. "Go to Ireland. Don't just go to Cork and the Blarney Stone. Cross the border and go to Belfast and go to Derry," Keane said. She told the audience to visit "occupied Ireland."