Sir, - The Prime Minister recently said the world would not understand if the Agreement were allowed to fail. What the world won't understand is the farce at Stormont last week. Nowhere in the world have ministers been selected on a "here's one for you and two for you" basis and less than 30 minutes later, been dismissed. Yet, despite this farce, few have the courage to pronounce the Agreement dead and implement the alternative which has always existed.
Those of us who opposed the Agreement were condemned by Tony Blair as advocates of terrorism who represented the failure of the past and had nothing to offer. We did fail. We failed to present our alternative in a package as well presented as the Agreement itself. However, we were clear on principles. We made clear how democracy is abandoned when terrorists' murder sentences are abolished. We made it clear that terrorists with armies and armaments cannot become elected representatives. We made clear the Agreements' lack of provision for an official opposition which would hold the Executive responsible for its actions. Above all, we highlighted the fact that the Government provided millions of pounds for a "Yes" campaign but nothing for the equally legitimate "No" campaign. Tony Blair offered the Agreement wrapped in fancy paper. We offered democracy in brown paper.
Recently, decommissioning has become a "requirement", not a "precondition" to entering the Executive. Last week, Mo Mowlan told the House of Commons that terrorist releases were not part of the Agreement. Legally, she is correct. The legislation regarding releases is separate from the legislation for the Assembly. Yet last year all these elements were "sold" as part of the package which was the Agreement.
We have been told the Agreement is in danger. Nonsense. The Agreement has been partially implemented. The terrorists are nearly all out and the North-South bodies will continue. The Assembly, with devolved structures now operating in Scotland and Wales, could have allowed Northern Ireland (if substantially reformed) its first opportunity in years to no longer be "a place apart". As a Conservative opposed in principle to devolution, I make that statement out of recognition that since the devolution revolution, the United Kingdom is a changed place. Yet thanks to salespeople Mowlan and Blair, we may have lost even this opportunity and gained the one to live amongst murderers and under the threat of their murder machines. - Yours, etc., Alan James Greer, East Antrim Conservative Association Vice-Chairman,
Doagh, Ballyclare, Co Antrim.