		Adams May Have a Conscience After All
                                 Anonymous

Sinn Fein President and MP for West Belfast Gerry Adams has 
written to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking her for a 
meeting to discuss the decision to withhold facilities from his 
party. 
  
Both Mr. Adams and fellow Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness have been 
asked to swear an oath of allegiance to the British Crown as a 
requirement for receiving the facilities accorded to other 
parties at the British parliament in Westminster. 
  
In his letter to Betty Boothroyd Mr Adams described the decision 
to withhold facilities at the House of Commons as a radical 
departure from the previous position. 
  
He told Miss Boothroyd: "The additional restrictions announced by 
you only after our election impinge directly on our capacity to 
represent and work for our constituents. 
  
"As an Irish Republican I have very good reasons for refusing to 
take an oath of allegiance to a British monarch. 
  
"The refusal to take the oath formed part of our election 
campaign, as didour intention, if elected, to avail of the normal 
facilities afforded to all Members of the House of Commons. 
  
"I believe therefore that the effect of your statement 
discriminates against my constituents on the basis of their 
political beliefs." 
  
Mr Adams said the Speaker had given no reasons for "these 
discriminatory and far-reaching changes" and asked her to 
reconsider the matter. 
  
* Meanwhile,  Mid-Ulster MP Martin McGuinness has been refused 
legal aid to pay for his legal action challenging the legality of 
the oath of allegiance to the Queen. 
  
Michael Flanigan, solicitor for Mr McGuinness, who is MP for 
Mid-Ulster but has not taken his seat in the Commons, said: "We 
are disappointed at the decision of the Legal Aid Department in 
failing to grant legal aid in this important constitutional 
matter." 