The 15th December outing of Denis Donaldson as a British agent is an earth-shattering blow to the Republican movement.
A key fixer and Gerry Adams' right-hand man, his two decades of action as a British agent call into question the security and credibility of Sinn Fein as a political movement.
Donaldson's unmasking by the British gives us an insight into a murky world, proving once again that truth stranger than tiction.
Donaldson was arrested as a major figure in the so-called Stomontgate affair. He was accused of spying for Sinn Fein and masses of documents relating to political figures and members of the British rorces were sereo.
€30 million was spent on relocating and increasing the security of those listed. Yet, following a major enquiry, it was announced 'in the public interest' that would be brought.
The 'in the public interest' formulation often indicated Adams' right hand man was also a key player for the Brits that agents are being protected. Donaldson was then outed by the British themselves, as in reality their agent, spying on Sinn Fein.
The outing is a bizarre event, and is again taken as indicating that the sacrifice is justified as a means of protecting more valuable sources.
Dissident republicans have taken the revelations as evidence that republican support for the Good Friday Agreement was actually British plot, citing the role of British Freddie Scappatici, head of the IRA 'nutting squad' in deciding who survived to take up leadership roles, and also citing Donaldson's role in disrupting the US NORAID organiUnfortunately for them. politics remains supreme and Donaldson was working directly for Adams, himself reflecting the failure of the republican programme and the new accommodation with nationalism.
The primacy of politics also applies to outside events. Sinn Fein Claim that Stormontgate, highly publicised arrests around the Northern bank raid and the unmasking of Donaldson are all evidence of "political policing.
This is the rebranding of a Sinn Fein theory of 'securocrats' that is dying on the vine because, openly stated, it lacks all credibility. The idea is that a section of the police and the intelligence services are sabotaging the Good Friday agreement against the interests of British imperialism, and that Blair is unable to stop them.
The reality is that Britain pursues its interest, that that interest takes little account of the needs of Sinn Fein and, having signed up to an imperialist settlement, there is nothing the republicans can do as the goalposts shift ever further to the right.
This was true of the Stormontgate affair of October 2002. Whatever the ins and outs of the spooks and Special Branch, the truth is that the police raid on the parliament buildings and the search of the offices of one of the government parties, effectively closing down the political structures meant to stabilise the North, could only have been authorised by Blair.
It was authorised by Blair because that afternoon David Trimble was preparing _ TO stand up and pull the plug on the coalition government, and in the scheme of things the Unionist party was a great deal nore British interest than Sinn Fein was, so it was politically expedient that the republiDonaldson was
working directly for Adams, himself
reflecting the failure of the republican
programme and
the new
accommodation
with nationalism coalition of who campaigned for a "no" vote and the implementation of the Bomas draft. This coalition included some forces from KANU, Moi's party, seven of Kibaki's cabinet monsters and other groups including from the radical left.
During the campaign an Orange rally at Mombassa was banned and eight people were shot in cold blood campaigning against the government.
On November 23, just a few days after the referendum, Kibaki dismissed the whole of his cabinet - thus implementing the worst aspects of the aereatea relerenaum and gel ting rid of those who had opposed his moves.
Two weeks later he began to put together a new government but many or nis nomi Nees initially refused this offer. cans carry the can for the collapse.
The primacy of politics applies today. The republicans have struck their final bargain and disarmed, and can expect British help in finalising that bargain - with personal weapons, 'On the Runs' legislation* to allow republican facing charges to return, rules that make 11 easier for the republicans to carry out community policing alongside the RUC/PSNI.
Outside that they are fair game, and can expect a buffeting. There are lots of hidden reasons for the outing of Donaldson, but one cruel fact is that a disarmed republicanism is of less concern to the British and, the more they are kicked, the more the British can hope that the Paisleyites can be persuaded to operate a devolved administration.
They can expect more blows from their new allies as the corrupt deal they signed up to continues to unravel. * The OTR legislation would absolve British agents of crimes and is so corrupt that the republicans have repudiated it.
However Kibaki was evenlually successrul in persuad ing Ford-Kenya party leader Musikari Kombo and National Party of Kenya leader Charity Ngilu to enter the new government, which continues to exclude all those who opposed him in the referendum.
Some leaders of the ODM had called for a snap General Election whatever the result of the referendum.
However since the result there has not been an official call from the ODM and no major rallies have been called against the government either. But whether Kibaki can see out the rest of his term until elections are due in 2007 remains to be seen. • Some of the information for this article comes from articles at www.kenyasocialist.org