Declassified files reveal a 2003 memo accusing Sinn Féin of ignoring the impact of the Troubles deaths on community relations and downplaying the role of sectarianism. The memo, sent to a Northern Ireland Office minister, criticizes Sinn Féin's response to a government strategy aimed at addressing community divisions.
Sinn Féin was accused of “ignoring” the role 3,000 Troubles deaths had in damaging community relations in Northern Ireland in a memo sent to a direct rule minister in 2003.
A file at the Public Record Office in Belfast shows that OFMDFM official Chris Stewart wrote to the minister in July about a response to the document from Sinn Féin representative Bairbre de Brun. Mr Stewart told Mr Spellar that Ms de Brun’s letter had been critical of the document and was clearly intended to “mark your card”.
“This general Sinn Féin position has resulted in a simplistic analysis of community relations, which is flawed in its description of the causes and necessary policy response. Mr Stewart continues: “To suggest, as Sinn Féin does, that the promotion of equality should be the key component of good relations policy is to ignore the key message in A Shared Future, that indirect approaches alone are insufficient to deal with sectarianism and the abnormal relationship between sections of the Northern Ireland community.”
Northern Ireland Sinn Féin Troubles Community Relations Sectarianism
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