After St. Patrick’s Day, Where Goes the Irish Peace-Process?

From The Blanket:



Father Sean Mc Manus, President, Irish National Caucus • 18 March 2005

Now that the St. Patrick’s Day anti-Sinn Fein feeding frenzy is over, where do things go from here?

Without doubt, the enemies of Sinn Fein and the enemies of the Irish peace-process have had a grand few days, and have landed some blows. And some politicians, being politicians, ran for the tall grass, while Senator John Mc Cain disgraced himself in a Paisley-like outburst of bigotry and ignorance. What gives Mc Cain — who participated in the totally unjust and indefensible Vietnam War, in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Vietnamese civilians were slaughtered — the right to hypocritically lecture the Irish on violence?

But what really is the end result? Has Sinn Fein been damaged?

Anyone who knows anything about the history of Irish-American nationalism will know that it’s when the Irish Cause is under the most severe attack that Irish-American rally the strongest. They “ get their Irish up” when they see the rich and the powerful, both in Ireland and the United States, through unjust and deceitful means attempt to demonize the man who has become the very symbol of the Irish Cause, Gerry Adams.


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