Mary Nelis, "Unionism is incompatible with democracy"
Around two thousand people have attended a march and rally in Belfast to commemorate the 28th anniversary of internment. Marchers heard a call for an independent public inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey told Loyalist leaders not to lecture republicans.
The crowd, including Gerry Adams and veteran republican Joe Cahill, went to Belfast City Hall to hear Sinn Féin human rights spokeswoman Mary Nelis address the annual internment commemoration. Ms. Nelis told a cheering crowd that unionism was incompatible with democracy and that UUP leader David Trimble had ignored the people's will by refusing to set up a power-sharing executive with Sinn Féin.
Ms. Nelis claimed that the 1960s civil rights movement dealt unionism a blow from which it never recovered. She said that the movement forced the British Government to address its responsibility for the sectarian lawlessness of its Orange State. She called for an open and transparent inquiry into the 1974 loyalist bombs which killed 33 people in Dublin and Monaghan.
Belfast Assembly member Alex Maskey, who chaired proceedings, said that no one should lecture republicans on what they should do to implement the Good Friday Agreement. He said that Loyalists should put their own houses in order before criticising Sinn Féin and urged all Republicans to remember their ultimate aim was a united Ireland.
