Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 01:47:11 -0800
From: IRSC <irsp-AT-netwizards.net>
Subject: M-G: U.S. Involvement Not Welcome in Ireland


      "New York (March 15)  - Paul Doris, national chairperson of the Irish
  Northern Aid Committee,  said today that he welcomes the continued support
  of the Clinton Administration and its efforts to seek a lasting peace with
  justice in Ireland, but saw the exclusion of members of Sinn Fein from the
  White House at St. Patrick's Day as having a negative affect on the process
  and those who support it in America."

     "It was only through American pressure that the peace process in
  Ireland began," said Doris, "now that the process has clearly failed,  it
  is only through American pressure that it can be revived."


  Though we have often had political differences with the Irish Northern 
Aid Committee, the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America,
the representatives of the Irish Republican Socialist Party in both Canada
and the United States, finds Paul Doris's recent statement quoted above to
be particularly troubling.

  The statement that American pressure was the source of the so called "peace
process" would be an insult, were this mistaken farce something that the Irish
people had cause to take pride in it. Our opinion of this "peace process" aside,
however, it is well documented that ex-Fianna Fail leader Charles Haughey was
the originator of the idea which culminated in Sinn Fein's alliance with the
Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Irish Government in seeking to 
negotiate a peace with Britain. The United States government's involvement was
late in coming and luke warm at best.

  The role of the U.S. in similar "peace processes" have had dire consequences
for many people throughout the globe who had struggled for liberation against
domestic reaction and international imperialism. We witness today the hobbled
Palestinian Authority, the shattered revolution in El Salvador, the debacle
in Haiti, and the smothered revolution in the Philipines--all examples of the
the impact of United States involvement in negotiating settlements. Such effects
are only to be expected, given that the United States, far from being an
impartial
observer is allied to the most reactionary regimes worldwide, and the leading
imperialist power on the globe.

  The most effective thing the United States can do for the struggle to gain
national liberation and social justice in Ireland is to stay out of Ireland's
affairs. The Irish national liberation struggle has long enjoyed the support
of a large section of the U.S. populace, but it has faced nothing but opposition
>from the U.S. government since the administration of Woodrow Wilson to the
present
day. The Irish people already confront one too many foreign governments involved
in their affairs--the British government, they do not need another. If there is
to be peace with justice in Ireland, it will be through the actions of the Irish
people themselves.


Peter Urban
North American Coordinator
Irish Republican Socialist Committees




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