Allister questions Sinn Fein's bona fides over violence
28 August 2008
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister MEP:-
"We can all remember how IRA/Sinn Fein deployed tactical violence and street disturbance when it suited them and also how they could turn it off like a tap, for example for a Clinton visit. The interplay between facets of the republican movement has always been a grey area. Against this background the escalation of republican violence in Craigavon needs careful evaluation. Was there some Provo surrogacy at work to try and bolster their flagging political arguments?
The remarks of O'Dowd are telling. Among his equivocal comments he said, "I don’t think the political vacuum has got to such a level that it would be filled with this type of activity.” He went on to say it was up to politicians to create a “kind of fortress politics” which would not be affected by external events. Sounds to me like a veiled threat that if Sinn Fein doesn't get its way, we can expect more of what they did best.
Neither their verbal threats, nor any physical action which suits their purposes, can be allowed to influence the political process, other than underscoring again IRA/Sinn Fein's unfitness for government - any government post!"
