DATE=5/26/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ULSTER / MAGINNIS
NUMBER=5-46390
BYLINE=EVANS HAYS
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Northern Ireland, the largely-Protestant
Ulster Unionist Party is facing the difficult choice
of whether to accept an Irish Republican Army offer of
disarmament, a move that will lead to restoration of a
power-sharing government with Catholics. It is also a
move that is bitterly opposed by hard-liners. V-O-A's
Evans Hays spoke (by telephone) with Ken Maginnis, a
Unionist Party spokesman and a long-time activist in
the politics of Northern Ireland. Mr. Maginnis is
guardedly optimistic about the future, but says deep
fears in the community still must be overcome.
TEXT: Asked to predict the outcome of the Ulster
Unionist Council vote Saturday in Belfast, Mr.
Maginnis says he is reasonably sure that party leader
David Trimble, who favors power-sharing now, will win
the day. He says Mr. Trimble has worked hard to
represent the entire community, a stance that he says
has caused problems for those he describes as less
generous.
Mr. Maginnis says, while he hopes for a "yes" vote, he
understands there are many people who are afraid the
Irish Republican Army may still cling to violence.
/// 1ST MAGINNIS ACT ///
Well, I certainly don't want to be a prophet of
doom, and I don't think anyone else should, and
I think people have got to understand the depth
and the length of time that the problem has
existed. It's been something -- I'm a man in my
early 60's -- it's a problem that's been with me
all my life. It's been a problem that has been
exacerbated by the violence of the last 30
years. And hence there are people who bluntly
are afraid, who believe the I-R-A's own
propaganda, that it will never change. // OPT
// In other words, when they talk about their
aspiration and their dedication to that
aspiration of a united Ireland, many see it as
going hand in hand with a dedication to the
violence that has accompanied that aspiration
for the past three decades. // END OPT //
/// END ACT ///
Many hard-liners do not believe the I-R-A disarmament
offer is genuine. One paramilitary group, the Ulster
Freedom Fighters, is among the latest to reject the
I-R-A offer. Mr. Maginnis says much of this
opposition stems from the long history of violence in
Northern Ireland.
/// 2ND MAGINNIS ACT ///
Well, I think there are a number of points there
that are important. First and foremost, you've
got to recognize that in a culture that has had
violence for 30 years, there is an underlying
Mafia-type ethos and hence there will be people
who will be guarding their own patch, their own
selfish interest. I don't think that when you
quote that particular group, it will carry a
huge amount of weight with the average Ulster
Unionist or indeed the Protestant population of
Northern Ireland. They abhor that sort of
attitude and have never voted for them.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Maginnis says if he could have his way, all the
weapons and illegal organizations in Northern Ireland
would simply disappear. But he says he knows this
will not happened because of the climate of fear in
both communities. Many Protestants, he says, fear the
I-R-A's record of violence. But he adds that
Catholics also fear that Protestants will not honor
their end of the peace bargain.
/// OPT 3RD ACT ///
That's something that David Trimble has been
very keen, has gone out of his way to try to
disprove. And I think if you took the wide
middle ground in Northern Ireland, I think most
people expect unionists to honor their word and
recognize that they cannot ignore the 40 percent
of the population who are generally nationalist
in outlook, nor would they expect nationalists
to continue to use violence to prove their
point.
/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///
Mr. Maginnis says he tries to be optimistic about the
situation in Northern Ireland, but wishes more
moderates would become politically active.
/// OPT 4TH ACT ///
Sometimes one's mood changes. Sometimes it's
hard to be optimistic all the time. But yes, I
have a degree of optimism, I believe that we
cannot go on and on and on with the two sections
of this community -- a very normal community in
other respects, a community where people are
concerned with jobs, their education, their
health status and the environment. I cannot
believe that those two sections of the community
cannot find more in common than they have to
keep them apart. Therein the hope lies. I just
wish that more people who are well intentioned
would involve themselves politically so that
we're not constantly under pressure from the
extremes within our society, but rather that the
center ground would assert itself. I think that
can happen on Saturday.
/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///
Mr. Maginnis says if the well-intentioned people take
action, the two parts of the Northern Ireland
community can live as one. (Signed)
NEB/EH/GE/WTW
26-May-2000 12:09 PM EDT (26-May-2000 1609 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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