OK, let’s tiptoe past whether Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s remarks about the IRA and Sinn Féin were political interference by a public servant. Let’s even tiptoe past Harris’s huge salary. Let’s look at what he said.
At a Garda passing-out ceremony in Tipperary recently, Harris said “I am aware of the PSNI and British security service’s assessment and we do not differ from that view”. And what was the PSNI and British security service’s assessment (I’d appreciate if you didn’t snigger, Virginia) ? That the IRA Army Council still exists and so does the IRA, although it’s in a shrunken form and committed to peace.
That means Commissioner Harris believes that a small IRA exists. It would logically follow – in fact I should have thought it would legally follow – that he should pursue this paramilitary group and prosecute them. It’s against the law to be a member of a paramilitary organization. But Mr Harris doesn’t even consider this option.
Why not? Maybe the clue is in the fact that the IRA is committed to peace…Yes, this violent organization has now done what so many people called on it time and again to do – destroyed its weapons and turned its energies to peaceful politics. So in other words, republicans committed to peace are supporting, in some cases advising Sinn Féin.
There was much made in the media recently of the fact that Gerry Adams would be part of Sinn Féin’s negotiating team, in an effort to establish a government. The media said this fact had been leaked, and that he had not been on Sinn Féin’s original negotiating list. Sneaky or what? Mind you, the truth would probably have emerged. The people Sinn Féin were negotiating with – other political parties in the Dáil – would sooner or later have looked across the table, asked themselves “Who’s that guy with the hair and the beard?” and then told themselves “Of course – it’s Gerry Adams. Maybe I’ll slip him my coiffeur’s card”.
The various claims of the PSNI and Mi5 and Drew Harris ( I said stop it, Virginia) that people who were committed to violence and are now committed to peace are advising Sinn Féin is actually a compliment. Swords have been turned into ploughshares. An Army Council with no armed army and working along peaceful lines doesn’t sound like much of a threat to the state.
It’s like Ivan Pavlov and his dogs. He got them to the point where, when he’d ring the bell, they’d still salivate, even though no red meat was forthcoming. Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar, Drew Harris are all vigorously ringing the IRA bell and hoping, praying that the dog called The Public will respond. Sorry, guys. These days the Public is too busy trying to make ends meet and keep a roof over its head. So maybe just stop ringing the fake alarm, OK? You’ll only wear yourselves out.
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