Rosemary Nelson Murder

APART FROM allegations of RUC collaboration in the murder of Rosemary Nelson, the Observer (21.2.98) suggested that the bombing was not carried out by the Red Hand Defenders as claimed, pointing instead to the shadowy 'Ulster Resistance'. Ulster Resistance is the military wing of the grouping known as the 'Committee'. The Committee was the title of the book that exposed the role of Ulster's 'social aristocracy' in the systematic targeting and assassination of it's nationalist opponents. Libel damages to the tune of £500,000 have already been paid out to the author, Shaun McPhilemy, by one national newspaper for repeating attacks made by David Trimble under the protection of parliamentary privilege.

Rosemary Nelson was born, lived and died in Lurgan. Lurgan is in David Trimble's Portadown constituency. Trimble's constituency is also regarded as the heartland of the 'Committee'. Not only was Rosemary Nelson a high profile civil rights lawyer like the other Committee victim Pat Finucane, she was also Sean McPhilemy's solicitor. Until amended recently in an effort to 'accommodate' the Metropolitan Police, institutional racism was defined as a top down, systematic process of discrimination. Whatever the merits of describing the Metropolitan Police as institutionally racist, (ie no evidence of collusion with right wing death squads) the RUC which is 97 % Protestant and 100% Unionist undoubtedly fits all available criteria. And more.

Now the political order in the North of Ireland is Unionist. And Unionism is institutionally racist to it's very core. Institutional racism is pivotal to it's existence. A reality that renders any notion of genuine power sharing as an impossibility. For if unionism shares power; it is by it's own definition no longer unionist. And so as long as unionism exists, not only will the past not be history, the past will not even be past.

BIG ISSUE PREDICTION: Unionism to be decommissioned.

Reproduced from RA vol 3, Issue 6, Apr/May '99