The Sinn Féin President has called on Republicans and Nationalists to return to the streets in the weeks and months ahead to build the political strength needed to counter the unionist veto. Gerry Adams said that there was a political vacuum at the moment and he warned of the possibility that all the good work of recent years could be squandered.
Mr Adams said that reports of a bomb attack at the British army's Shackleton Army Barracks at Ballykelly, 17 miles from Derry City provided evidence of that vacuum. Commenting on Mr Adams’ remarks, Mark Durkan of the SDLP said that the parties needed to work together and to honour the will of the people as expressed in a referendum in a more cogent way than any partisan street demonstration could. He said that mobilising people onto the streets would detract from the necessity to address the current difficulties at a political level.
