Adams defends IRA on visit to Bray

June 1985

West Belfast Sin Fein MP Gerry Adams spelt out his party’s strategy for the local elections on June 20 at a meeting in Bray last week organised by the local cumann.

During the course of a ‘question and answer’ session he said tha party would be aiming to win as many seats on local authorities around the country as possible.

He said that in the past members of Sinn Fein in the south had only been involved in ‘spectator’ politics, but these days were now long gone.

He said there was now a growing consciousness of the need to wage a political struggle on a 32-county basis.

Mr Adams said that he had no trouble defending the IRA whom he said were completing the unfinished business of the ‘Black & Tan war’ in the six counties.

HE said, however, that the IRA alone could not win the war in the north in the face of superior weaponry and he said that the republicans had to develop the passive support which existed for their struggle in the 26 counties.

Sinn Fein, he said, had to involve as many people in the struggle as possible, even if this meant widening the struggle to take in political issues in the south.

In another comment, Mr Adams said that ‘we should not be unmindful of the human tragedy’ which occurred during the IRA campaign even when a British soldier was killed. But it was up to Sinn Fein to explain that there was a war on and what it was about.

Mr Nicky Kelly urged support for Sinn Fein at the meeting and said that the party would be involved with local politics without using it as a launching pad for the Dail. Mr Adams said that during the course of canvassing he had not met any resistance to the Sinn Fein ideal although neither was there full scale enthusiasm for it.

He said that the Dublin government had done such a good job that people thought Sinn Fein had two heads, but from the campaign people could see that they did not.