[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 59 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  NORTHERN IRELAND AN AMERICAN CONCERN

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 1994

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, as co-chairman of the ad hoc congressional 
committee for Irish affairs, I am always pleased whenever the issue of 
Northern Ireland is raised in the United States. Northern Ireland today 
is of great concern to so many of our countrymen.
  I was, therefore, particularly pleased when the Association of the 
Bar of the City of New York, a very prestigious body, hosted a recent 
forum on civil rights in Northern Ireland on Monday, April 25, 1994.
  There were four distinguished speakers: Lois Whitman, deputy 
director, Human Rights Watch, Helsinki; Martin S. Flaherty, professor, 
Fordham University School of Law; John J. Gibbons, Richard J. Hughes 
professor of constitutional law, Seton Hall University Law School; and 
Fr. Sean McManus, president, Irish National Caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the text of Fr. McManus speech be included in 
the Record at this point. It serves as a useful reminder of the 
important and difficult issues in Northern Ireland, and the role the 
United States can play in helping to resolve some of these difficult 
questions.

     Speech by Father Sean McManus President, Irish National Caucus

       I want to begin by congratulating the Association of the 
     Bar for holding this program on Northern Ireland.


                        u.s. holds key to peace

       I believe that the key to peace in Ireland is right here in 
     the United States. Left to the triangle of Belfast, Dublin 
     and London, peace will not come. An outside catalyst is 
     needed--and it is only appropriate that it be the United 
     States.


                           an american issue

       Human rights for Northern Ireland is an American issue 
     because: (1) international human rights is an integral part 
     of American foreign policy; (2) because the U.S. has given to 
     date 190 million dollars of tax-payer money to the 
     International Fund for Ireland; and (3) because the U.S. is 
     the single largest foreign investor in Northern Ireland.
       There are over 70 U.S. companies doing business in Northern 
     Ireland and many of them have been automatically caught up in 
     the systematic pattern of anti-Catholic discrimination--and 
     there are billions of U.S. dollars invested in those 
     companies. So U.S. dollars are subsidizing anti-Catholic 
     discrimination.
       That is why in 1984 the Irish National Caucus initiated and 
     launched the MacBride Principles--a corporate code of conduct 
     for U.S. companies doing business in Northern Ireland. (See 
     copies of the Principles.)
       Historically, the U.S. has turned a blind eye to human 
     rights violation in Northern Ireland (because the oppressor 
     is England and because there are no big oil fields in 
     Northern Ireland). Bill Clinton promised to change all that. 
     He has taken a few baby steps in the right direction, but he 
     has not yet his promises.


                         an undemocratic state

       Since Northern Ireland was created in 1920 by an Act of the 
     English government, we've never had peace in Northern 
     Ireland.
       Northern Ireland was artificially carved out from the rest 
     of Ireland for a two-fold reason; (1) to ensure a 
     continuation of English Government rule on the island of 
     Ireland; and (2) to put supporters of the English government 
     in a permanent position of supremacy. The Six County area was 
     selected on the basis of a sectarian head-count--two 
     unionists (Protestants) to one nationalist (Catholics). 
     (Unionists are those who want union between Northern Ireland 
     and Britain. Unionists in general are Protestants; Catholics 
     in general are nationalists.)
       The Protestants were told in effect by the British 
     government: ``We don't care how you rule this part of 
     Ireland, as long as you keep it loyal to the English crown.''
       Please understand that had the Catholics been Jewish or 
     Black they woulld have been treated in exactly the same way. 
     But because they were Catholics the oppresstion took the form 
     of anti-Catholicism. Had they been Jewish or Black the form 
     of oppression would have been anit-semitism or anti-Black 
     racism. That is why it is a complete misunderstanding to see 
     the problem in Northern Ireland as being about religion.
       The English government set up a local parliament in 
     Northern Ireland, called Stormont, subordinate in London. 
     From 1921 to 1972, there was one party rule; Catholics 
     couldn't even join the Unionist Party even had they wanted.
       The three pillars of this undemocratic set-up were: (1) a 
     sectarian (all Protestant) police force; (2) repressive 
     legislation; and (3) anti-Catholic discrimination. The first 
     Prime Minister of Northern Ireland described it accurately 
     when he said it was: ``A Protestant state for a Protestant 
     people.''
       But here it is important to realize that since Stormont was 
     abolished in 1972, the plight of Catholics has not improved. 
     For example in 1978 Catholics were two times more likely to 
     be unemployed than Protestants. Today Catholics are 2\1/2\ 
     times more likely to be unemployed.
       Northern Ireland is a profoundly divided society and that 
     division cannot be healed by violence. Violence--state or 
     civilian--injustice, discrimination, repressive legislation, 
     only make the division deeper. As the great Martin Luther 
     King said, ``The philosophy of an eye for an eye eventually 
     makes all blind.''


                            siege mentality

       In the past 25 years, there has been serious self re-
     examination among nationalists on the island of Ireland--and 
     considerable development in their thinking. For example, most 
     nationalists agree that despite the wrongness of partition, 
     the Protestants must not now be forced into a united Ireland. 
     Even the IRA accepts that. But while there has been a lot of 
     development in the thinking of nationalists, there has been 
     no development--not even discussion, among unionists/
     Protestants. The siege mentality among them is all powerful. 
     In the last 25 years, any of their leaders who even suggested 
     that Catholics should be given a break have been forced out 
     or politically ruined.
       The English government historically gave blanked support to 
     the Unionists--propping up that apartheid-type system with 
     money, tanks, guns, and repressive legislation. But in recent 
     years London has been forced to change its position. It now 
     realizes that in international terms it is simply not in 
     England's interest to be seen to be propping up a sectarian, 
     anti-Catholic entity that is no longer of any strategic 
     interest. And it has started making changes. But the 
     Unionists either don't see or don't want to see the writing 
     on the wall. They are still shouting ``No'' and ``No 
     surrender''--the favorite words in their vocabulary.
       In an article in the New Yorker magazine, April 25, 1994, 
     David Remnick describes the mindset of the Unionists this 
     way:
       ``In public-relations terms, the Protestants are hopeless. 
     Paisley and Molyneaux feel no compulsion to soften their 
     language. They feel under assault not only from militant 
     republicans but from all sides: from the S.D.L.P., from 
     Dublin, from London, from the Pope of Rome. They have no de 
     Klerk, no politician who seems capable of breaking the old 
     mold. What makes the unionist stand even fiercer is the 
     growing sense that the British departure from Northern 
     Ireland is coming, and soon. Their illusion of permanence is 
     all but gone.''
       I urge the Unionists to start ``breaking the old mold'' and 
     recognize that the days of Protestant supremacy are over--
     that the way forward is not through dominance and 
     discrimination, but through equality and justice. As an 
     Ulsterman, I can empathize with the Protestants' fears. In 
     fact--on one level--I feel sorry for them. It is important to 
     understand that one of the motives for discrimination is 
     fear. That, of course, does not justify it--but we must be 
     aware of it. The Protestants fear that because they ran a 
     discriminatory state, they will in turn be discriminated 
     against if they lose their position of supremacy.
       I urge the Protestants to join with the rest of the island 
     of Ireland in the march towards equality and democracy; to 
     build a non-sectarian, pluralist society on the island of 
     Ireland--with liberty and justice for all.
       Unionists are only 18% of the population of Ireland and 
     less than 2% that of Britain and Ireland. It simply does not 
     make sense that they should be able to thwart the wishes and 
     progress of so many people. Churchill himself once said 
     (1912), ``Half a province cannot obstruct forever the 
     reconciliation between the British and Irish peoples.''
       Nationalists for their part must pursue their objectives 
     through nonviolence.
       The Irish government must strongly continue its search for 
     a solution. It must strike a difficult balance. On one hand 
     it must make clear that it is not trying to ``take over the 
     Protestants of Northern Ireland,'' and on the other hand it 
     must make clear that it is not selling out the Catholics--
     because, after all, it is the Catholics who have historically 
     been the main victims of the injustices in Northern Ireland.
       And finally we in America must keep up the pressure on the 
     English government regarding discrimination and human rights 
     violations. Because without that pressure, nothing will 
     happen * * * and because human rights for Northern Ireland is 
     an American issue--and is your business.

                          ____________________