Is Dissident IRA Gaining?

THE fear of a new militant wing of Irish Republicanism emerging has increased in recent months.

The Sunday Tribune newspaper in Dublin this week led with a story about a coming together of dissidents, not just from the real IRA and the Continuity IRA factions but also disaffected members of the Provos who apparently have been making their displeasure with the stalled state of affairs in the North clear for a few months now.

Indeed, an entire south Derry cadre is said to have split off from the Provos and announced they are going their own way — not a positive development at this time especially.

One of the most extraordinary successes of the Gerry Adams leadership in Sinn Fein was preventing any large scale defections when the movement decided on the peace process approach.

There was the Real IRA dissidents, of course, but they soon earned only hatred after the botched Omagh bombing and they never recovered.

How serious is this new threat? Republicans say they are taking it seriously, and that it has the ability to distract and hobble the negotiations at a critical period.

There has been an upsurge in dissident activity, especially in South Down in recent months as incendiary devices have been planted in major stores, causing devastating fires.

There has also been a bombing attempt on the Co. Louth home of Edward Haughey, a key Ulster Unionist Party supporter who was recently given a peerage.

All of this adds up to much speculation that a renewed dissident campaign could start soon — although there seems little or no sense to such a campaign at this point. However, that has not deterred a core groups of fundamentalist Republicans in the past and may not do so on this occasion either.

Efforts to recruit over here are already underway but with little success, say sources.

Sinn Fein Sees Progress

THE disturbing news about dissident activity comes at a time when Sinn Fein are saying privately there is a better chance of progress with the Reverend Ian Paisley’s party, the DUP, than has been obvious previously.

Apparently the DUPers have been far more accommodating over the summer on issues that could lead to a revived power sharing government by the November deadline.

A new team has been sent forth by the DUP to talks on the formation of the new government, and by all accounts they have been far more amenable to compromise than the old hardliners.

Of course it all remains to be seen, especially since the Reverend Paisley has always balked at the last minute when any compromise looked likely.

The betting here is that the old leopard will die with all his spots intact and that Paisley will refuse to deal when it comes down to it. It would be nice to be wrong on that one, but no one has ever lost money on backing Paisley to say no.

Hurley and Al Zarqawi

IF there is a mouthpiece for the IRA dissidents it is on the Internet at something called “The Blanket,” which annually prints all the anti-Sinn Fein propaganda you could ever need to read.

Interesting, then, to see they have also begun printing Pat Hurley’s anti-Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform missives in recent weeks. Hurley, the Cork Association president, has virulently attacked ILIR, claiming the group is undermining Judeo Christian values among other very strange claims.

Does his appearance on “The Blanket” make Hurley at one with the dissidents? Hard to know, but it certainly begs the question as to why he would be submitting his material to those who run the site.

And the anti-Americanism on the site is quite intense — a recent article regretted the death of the fanatical killer and America hater Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. Does Hurley also agree with his editors at “The Blanket” that the death of Al Zarqawi was unfortunate?

Its just another question for the ordinary Cork Association members to ask of their president who has succeeded in dragging the association down this strange path with them. It must be a trifle disconcerting to know that their president is consorting with such blatant anti-American and anti-peace process foes like those at “The Blanket.”

Pence’s Irish Roots

INTERESTING profile in The New York Times on Congressman Mike Pence, the Indiana representative who is spearheading an attempt to reach a compromise on immigration reform.

The Pence compromise, worked on with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson in the Senate, would send all illegals home but allow them to come back once they had secured a job. His current version would restrict the program to those from Latin America and Canada, and exclude Ireland.

It is a very long shot, but Pence has won some praise for at least trying to forge a compromise between the Senate and House bill

Pence, 47, is the grandson of an Irish immigrant, Richard Michael Cawley, a Chicago bus driver, who arrived in America on April 11, 1923.

In The New York Times article, Pence makes clear that it is the memory of his grandfather, who he was very close to, which has inspired his effort to win a version of immigration reform.

Pence was raised but is no longer Catholic, having signed up for a born-again Christian crusade when in college. Ironically his closest Irish friend is former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, who has a long and close friendship with him.

Ironic, wouldn’t it, if we were to gain immigration reform through a friend of David Trimble?