Sinn Fein awarded £120k Government grant

[Mon Ami Mate]

Ah well, at least they won't have to go robbing any banks or rely on American businessmen for funds...

£120,000 for Sinn Fein to speed return of Assembly
By David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent

TONY BLAIR was accused of making further concessions to Sinn Fein yesterday when he restored almost £120,000 in allowances to the Provisional IRA´s political wing after a monitoring group reported that the terrorists appeared inactive.
The Prime Minister admitted there would be “strong feelings” about the decision but said that it was “a sensible step” towards restoring the devolved institutions.



He was speaking at Commons question time after the Rev Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist leader, condemned the news as “outrageous and demeans the very name of Parliament”.

Danny Kennedy, of the Ulster Unionists, said that the move was “part of the latest concession choreography to republicans” and that the Independent Monitoring Commission should not be “manipulated by the Government”.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, announced earlier that the party’s Stormont Assembly allowances would be restored on November 1. They were withdrawn after the IRA stole £26.5 million from the Northern Bank in Belfast.

The restoration of funds comes after the latest report by the Independent Monitoring Commission on paramilitarism, which said that it was too early to draw firm conclusions about the IRA ending all activities, but that signs were encouraging. “Clearly we are looking for cumulative indications of changes in behaviour over a more sustained period of time,” it said.

Mr Hain also said a recommendation would be made to MPs to restore the party’s Westminster allowances. These were also withdrawn after IMC reports which showed that IRA members carried out the murder of Robert McCartney in Belfast and a number of robberies, including the Northern Bank raid in December.

Mr Paisley said he had warned Mr Hain that the decision would cripple Unionist confidence, seeing the IRA rewarded for doing nothing. He said the allowances had been removed because of Sinn Fein’s clear association with, and involvement in, decisions that led to criminal terrorist enterprises.

Nothing taken in a series of robberies had been recovered and it meant that the proceeds of those crimes were being used by Sinn Fein.

“For the Government to ignore this and recommend the payment of Parliamentary allowances simply frees up those ill-gotten gains to be laundered in other ways,” Mr Paisley said.

Mr Blair replied: “I am sure that people will voice their opinion about it but I think it is important that we make step by step progress in Northern Ireland. There will be difficult things done along the way on all sides.

“I understand the strong feelings on this . . . We have come a long way in doing this but we have to complete it.”

But Mr Hain and Dermot Ahern, the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister, said that the IMC would have to give the IRA a clean bill of health in its January report before any power-sharing talks could begin.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1834016,00.html

[up-the-dubs]

If they are a member of your parlement, they're entitled to their fair share of expenses and grants. Whats the problem?

[JagLover]

If the IRA has indeed ceased its activities then, as unpalatable as it may seem, they are entitled to the same funding as any other party.

[Mon Ami Mate]

The IMC and the Irish Government have both expressed grave reservations over the truth and permanence of the recent IRA statement.

There is no proof at all that they have disarmed or changed their policies in any way. Essentially the terrorists have said "trust us, we have disarmed and renounced violence." Blair's response has been "Oh, jolly good show, we knew you'd see it our way in the end. Here, have some taxpayer's cash."

[Vipers]

I am speechless.....................

[bor]

Er, what's your point exactly ? Sinn Fein have effectively brought an end to the criminal activities of PIRA and moved the peace process dramatically forward. Yet you don't want them to receive the parliamentary expense allowance available to all the participating parties ?

Let me remind you that Sinn Fein and by the same token, the DUP, are elected representatives of the citizens of N.I.

[Mon Ami Mate]

bor said:

Er, what's your point exactly ? Sinn Fein have effectively brought an end to the criminal activities of PIRA and moved the peace process dramatically forward. Yet you don't want them to receive the parliamentary expense allowance available to all the participating parties ? Let me remind you that Sinn Fein and by the same token, the DUP, are elected representatives of the citizens of N.I.

Sinn Fein hasn't done anything that can be proved, except issue a statement in which they claim to have renounced violence. They have an excellent history of turning violence on and off when it suits them. Nothing should be restored until they furnish evidence that they have done what they claim to have done.

[bor]

You can't be remotely serious ??????

Decomissioning is an irrelevance, a red herring, but the mere act of stating that all PIRA activity is being ended and that weapons are to be destroyed is in itself a MASSIVE gesture towards peace.

Quite rightly it needs to be monitored to demonstrate that criminality has been stopped, but how long do you expect to wait before moving forward ?

This opportunity has to be grasped now.

[Irish]

there is a big difference between funding terrorism and progressing the political process.

very hard to rationalise what goes on in NI. what is worrying is the way SF are moving into the South....

[thelemming]

These would be the same "members of parliament" that I would rather see shot for treason than setting foot inside the halls of power.

These are terrorists, self confessed members (and leaders) of terrorist groups, their spokesmen and supporters.

Would the US let Bin Laden sit in congress and give him party funding if he promised to stop crashing airliners into buildings? Or perhaps some of their extremist bombers (responsible for the earlier WTC attacks who IIRC were US citizens) Somehow I think not.

Sounds like an extreme parrallel Im drawing there, but I honestly dont see the difference.

[C C]

Money well spent if it helps to stabilise the democratic process.
It’s time Paisley and his crew accepted the situation and started looking forwards not back.

[Mon Ami Mate]

bor said:

You can't be remotely serious ?????? Decomissioning is an irrelevance, a red herring, but the mere act of stating that all PIRA activity is being ended and that weapons are to be destroyed is in itself a MASSIVE gesture towards peace. Quite rightly it needs to be monitored to demonstrate that criminality has been stopped, but how long do you expect to wait before moving forward ? This opportunity has to be grasped now.

Right, so you might be happy to take their word for it on decommissioning, where do you think the terrorists have gone? Do you think they have all become salt-of-the-earth pillars of the community overnight? These are people who have been shooting innocent people and blowing them up for decades.

The whole thing is an affront to democracy.

[bor]

Hopefully, these people will accept that what they wish to achieve is now better served by the democratic process than by terrorism. There is absolutely no way that the transition from years of gangsterism will go without a hitch, as there is only a limited amount of influence that a political organisation can bring on people who have for years existed outside of the law.

Take a look at some of the behaviour of axis forces in the Gulf to see how hard it is to maintain 100% control over militay / para-military groups.

This completely supports democracy.

[bor]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes I seriously doubt that will stop overnight. The difference now is that it has no legitimacy within the republican movement - it simply becomes criminality just as it anywhere else in the world, be it London ,Moscow, Florida, Bogota etc.

[Mon Ami Mate]

bor said:

Hopefully, these people will accept that what they wish to achieve is now better served by the democratic process than by terrorism. There is absolutely no way that the transition from years of gangsterism will go without a hitch, as there is only a limited amount of influence that a political organisation can bring on people who have for years existed outside of the law. Take a look at some of the behaviour of axis forces in the Gulf to see how hard it is to maintain 100% control over militay / para-military groups. This completely supports democracy.

So, what you are effectively saying is that terrorists will be terrorists and the only way to combat them is to be nice to them?

[dieseljohn]

Mon Ami Mate said:

They were withdrawn after the IRA stole £26.5 million from the Northern Bank in Belfast.

Serious question, did they get the money back? I presume not.

£26.5million at a rate of £120,000 a year will take 220.8 years at an apr of 0%. Sounds like a bargain to me.

[C C]

Mon Ami Mate said:

bor said: Hopefully, these people will accept that what they wish to achieve is now better served by the democratic process than by terrorism. There is absolutely no way that the transition from years of gangsterism will go without a hitch, as there is only a limited amount of influence that a political organisation can bring on people who have for years existed outside of the law. Take a look at some of the behaviour of axis forces in the Gulf to see how hard it is to maintain 100% control over militay / para-military groups. This completely supports democracy. So, what you are effectively saying is that terrorists will be terrorists and the only way to combat them is to be nice to them?

What’s the alternative?
Going back to bombings, shootings, death and misery.

[bor]

Yes, a terrorist will remain a terrorist until you are nice to them. In this case being nice means putting in place a political framework where they have a democratic means of opposing what they see as injustice.

The british have occupied Ireland for hundreds of years and have been violently opposed by terrorists for hundreds of years. Now that the nationalist part of the poulation have a political alternative, the use of terrorism is no longer necessary.

Don't forget, the british have effectively given PIRA nothing. Nothing other than an opportunity to pursue their aims non-violently. Ulster has not been re-united with the south for example, yet this was an express aim of PIRA terrorism.

[Mon Ami Mate]

bor said:

Yes, a terrorist will remain a terrorist until you are nice to them. In this case being nice means putting in place a political framework where they have a democratic means of opposing what they see as injustice. The british have occupied Ireland for hundreds of years and have been violently opposed by terrorists for hundreds of years. Now that the nationalist part of the poulation have a political alternative, the use of terrorism is no longer necessary. Don't forget, the british have effectively given PIRA nothing. Nothing other than an opportunity to pursue their aims non-violently. Ulster has not been re-united with the south for example, yet this was an express aim of PIRA terrorism.

All wrong. For a start, Northern Ireland has democracy. Eire has democracy. The British have never occupied Ireland. The British have given the PIRA plenty under Blair, including political recognition under a veneer of respectability so thin that you could read a newspaper through it (how many people are McGuinness and Adams personally responsible for killing?) and now taxpayer's money.

Sinn Fein and the IRA have given nothing but empty promises.

>> Edited by Mon Ami Mate on Thursday 20th October 11:54

[Einion Yrth]

Mon Ami Mate said:

The British have never occupied Ireland.

Righto, you've just demonstrated your complete and total lack of any knowledge of British and Irish history.