Does Sinn Fein really want sectarianism to end?

Readers may choke over their coffee when they read this.   Gerry Adams made a comment which I agree with.  Now it is obvious to anybody who knows Gerry Adams that he would not say anything true unless it was in the interest of his party for that to be said. 

Adams was speaking to the Belfast Telegraph about sectarianism.

Mr. Adams discussed recent Unionist overtures about ending power sharing.  My view on the present power-sharing structure is that we should not dismantle it until sectarian voting patterns fundementally change.  Since that is not going to happen in the short term, I leave that subject for now and move onto the wider point that Adams makes about sectarianism.

The following is what Adams says in the rest of the interview.  The comments are so moderate that they could have been said by Naomi Long or any of her colleagues in the Alliance Party.

Mr. Adams called for cross-party support for a new future, with united opposition to sectarianism and racism.He said sectarianism had kept Catholic and Protestant communities apart in the past and it was time for politicians to embrace a shared future.”The truth is if the new political dispensation is to deliver for everyone then it will do so because all political parties have entered into the spirit as well as the letter of power sharing,” he said. “Any suggestion that the compulsory nature of the power sharing arrangements can be changed is dishonest and misleading. Those who argue for this position know that it is unattainable.” All politicians have a duty to set their faces against sectarianism.” The recent spate of shameful racist attacks shows another unacceptable aspect of our society. “Racism and sectarianism are two sides of the one coin. “If there is any tolerance for sectarianism, and in my view there is, it is little wonder that racism thrives. It also needs to be confronted.”

Let’s be fair to Adams.  He probably dislikes both racisim and sectarianism.   He is certainly not religiously bigoted and, it should also be noted, the some of the most famous nationalist and republican people in from Irish History were protestant. 

Should we welcome what Adams has said?

Perhaps – even if his words do not sound genuine – to at least flush him out.   As I see it, Adam’s apparent desire to end systematic sectarianism is utterly disingenuous.  

Adams and Sinn Fein need sectarianism to sustain their party’s support.   If they want any credibility on this particular aspect of Northern Ireland politics, they need to earn it.   They could make start by avoiding anti-sectarianism.  

In my next post, I will explain anti-sectarianism, how anti-sectarianism feeds the sectarian system and how Sinn Fein achieves this by continually criticising the Orange Order.