11.3.04
Saoirse Online Newsroom
Hume claims For 'Stormont Agreement' Are False
--Des Dalton
Vice President, Republican Sinn Féin
March 9, 2004
Hume claims For 'Stormont Agreement' Are False
John Hume's claim, carried in yesterday's Irish News (March 8) that the two state referenda of 1998 represents the first time that the Irish people as a whole voted to decide on their future, is completely false and runs counter to the facts of history. The 1918 general election, in which the Irish people voted overwhelmingly for a free and independent Ireland, remains the last true All - Ireland referendum.
In 1998 the people within the Six County area only were allowed to vote on the 'Stormont Agreement,' whilst the referendum which took place within the 26 County state was merely on amending articles 2 and 3 of the 1937 Constitution having no bearing whatsoever on the implementation or not of the 'Stormont Agreement' as was made clear by the then British Direct Ruler, Mo Mowlam."
"This of course was a travesty of All - Ireland democracy and a denial of the Irish people's right, free of British interference, to determine the future of their country. ÉIRE NUA with its proposals for the maximum devolution of power right down to regional, local and community level enshrines that right and provides the framework within which all of the Irish people can set about building a New Ireland."
Hume claims For 'Stormont Agreement' Are False
--Des Dalton
Vice President, Republican Sinn Féin
March 9, 2004
Hume claims For 'Stormont Agreement' Are False
John Hume's claim, carried in yesterday's Irish News (March 8) that the two state referenda of 1998 represents the first time that the Irish people as a whole voted to decide on their future, is completely false and runs counter to the facts of history. The 1918 general election, in which the Irish people voted overwhelmingly for a free and independent Ireland, remains the last true All - Ireland referendum.
In 1998 the people within the Six County area only were allowed to vote on the 'Stormont Agreement,' whilst the referendum which took place within the 26 County state was merely on amending articles 2 and 3 of the 1937 Constitution having no bearing whatsoever on the implementation or not of the 'Stormont Agreement' as was made clear by the then British Direct Ruler, Mo Mowlam."
"This of course was a travesty of All - Ireland democracy and a denial of the Irish people's right, free of British interference, to determine the future of their country. ÉIRE NUA with its proposals for the maximum devolution of power right down to regional, local and community level enshrines that right and provides the framework within which all of the Irish people can set about building a New Ireland."
