IRELAND: Drumcree march eye-witness report


`THE PEOPLE FELT UTTERLY BETRAYED'


Gora Ebrahim is a South African MP. During the liberation struggle 
against apartheid he was Foreign Secretary of the Pan Africanist 
Congress of Azania and in this capacity gave a number of interviews 
to FRFI. In July, he was invited by Sinn Fein to be an International 
Observer over the weekend of the Drumcree march. In transit back to 
South Africa, he described events to FRFI.

FRFI: How did this visit come about?

GE: Let me start by saying that South Africans of many political 
persuasions are interested in developments in northern Ireland. 
The Irish supported our struggle and we believe that there are 
experiences which we have had which could be useful for them. As a 
result, a high level delegation visited northern Ireland and the 
Republic of Ireland and, about a month ago, we invited the various 
northern Ireland political parties to South Africa. I must say we 
were disappointed at the manner in which the Unionist delegates acted: 
the intolerance they showed - refusing to meet the other side or even 
be addressed together in the same room.

This time of year is the marching period in northern Ireland. And this 
year, because there is a new government in the United Kingdom and a 
relatively new government in Ireland, there was optimism that perhaps 
there would be a different situation from previous years. I have been 
dealing with Ireland on behalf of the South African Parliamentary 
Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and was invited by Sinn Fein to 
witness events during this period. 

I arrived at the Garvaghy Road at 6pm on Saturday 5 July.

FRFI: What was the atmosphere like?

GE: There were a lot of people there; meetings had taken place and there 
were a lot of observers: from the United States, Canada, the south of 
Ireland and the European Parliament. On everyone's lips were the 
questions: Will the march take place? Will the British government stop 
the march or will they allow it to go through, or will they simply 
force it through?

The Secretary of State, Mo Mowlam, had promised the Garvaghy Road 
residents she would inform them personally of the decision but by 8pm 
there was no such decision. The waiting process went on until midnight 
when there were reports that two trucks with barbed wire had moved to 
the church. The assumption was that they were going to cordon off the 
church and there would not be a march after all. This was taken in good 
faith by the Garvaghy Road residents, so we were told to go and sleep 
and that if anything happened we would be woken up or would hear the 
siren. People were lulled into thinking it was possible that the march 
would not take place. Radio and television reports were that no decision 
had yet been taken, that there were still discussions. Some were saying 
that these were not eleventh hour but twelfth hour discussions!

At 3am the siren went off. I walked out of where I was staying and 
literally walked into a military invasion. I saw police, soldiers, jeeps, 
armoured cars move into Garvaghy Road and the side streets. I saw people 
seated in the square in Garvaghy Road, without giving any provocation, 
and police and soldiers come and forcibly remove them. People were very 
angry; you could hear them shouting. Then sporadic throwing of stones 
at the police and army began.

FRFI: How many people were gathered from the community?

GE: At least 1,000 and as time went on more came. I stood at the top of 
the Garvaghy Road for over an hour until the soldiers started firing 
plastic bullets. One youngster - 14 or 15 years old - was about ten 
meters away when he was hit. So, we all went to pick him up. They were 
just firing anywhere. People were angry and some were throwing stones 
and after a while petrol bombs. And one could understand their anger.

At 6am I went into the house to watch Sky News. Then I made my way to 
the community hall in the centre of Garvaghy Road. People had gathered 
for an open air mass because no-one could leave the area; it was all 
cordoned off.

The people felt utterly betrayed because a promise had been made that 
the decision would be conveyed and no decision had been conveyed. What 
they saw was just an army invasion of their territory, and to allow the 
Orange Order to march for 15 minutes, they were imprisoned in that area 
for over 12 hours. They could not even attend church so the priests from 
different churches came there and held open air mass.

Around 1pm the Orange Order march took place. A residents' meeting had 
decided they would protest by banging tins and whatever they could to 
make a noise. It was quite deafening. Stewards stood between the people 
and the police but despite that there were incidents of people showing 
their anger by throwing stones at the police.

The march took about ten minutes to go past. I think they decided to 
march very quickly! Then, as the police and soldiers began withdrawing, 
the people really began to vent their anger by stoning the retreating 
policemen and soldiers. They hijacked a few vehicles and set them alight.

The leader of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Association told me they were 
terribly disappointed and that under no circumstances would they have 
any further discussions with Mo Mowlam. They felt the authorities had 
once more given in to the Orange Order. They did not believe, and nor 
did I, that the decision was taken purely by the Chief of Police. It 
had to be taken higher up; it was a political decision. That view was 
vindicated by a leaked document which clearly states there was consensus 
between the Secretary of State, the Chief of the RUC and the Commissioner 
of Parades that whatever happened the parade would take place.

The observers felt that leaving such a decision to the RUC Chief Constable, 
when the vast majority of nationalists have no faith whatsoever in the 
RUC, would at the outset have been viewed with suspicion. But the way 
that it was carried out made the suspicions much greater. It was also 
felt that Mo Mowlam, who had earlier built some sort of rapport with 
the people of that area, has largely destroyed her credibility.

After the march it was decided that we, the observers, should go to a 
major rally in west Belfast, so we left. I was taken straight to Ormeau 
Road where someone had fired at the RUC. The place was cordoned off and, 
although I was an observer, I was not allowed through. A march of 10,000 
people had already taken place along the Falls Road and the rally was 
addressed by Sinn Fein leaders.

That night there were a number of incidents. Over 100 vehicles were 
hijacked and buses were set on fire The reaction of the people was very 
strong. A slogan I heard in the march was `New Labour - no change'. I 
would say also for us as South Africans, we had hoped that the new Labour 
government, which would not be dependent on the Unionists to stay in power, 
would at least appear to be more even-handed to the two communities.

When I was in the Garvaghy Road that night I understood what nationalists 
mean when they say: `We are second class citizens in this country'. Their 
rights, their views, their concerns don't mean anything, whereas for the 
other side, the right is upheld to march through a predominantly 
nationalist area, not because it is holy soil but because they want to 
make a political point. It was a political march and a political decision 
was made to allow it to go ahead.  *