The chickens are coming home - well and truly to roost

Just when you thought the Sinn Fein had loss it taste for the bite comes this report from Ynet News:

DUBLIN, Ireland - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams announced plans Sunday for his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, including a visit with leaders of Israel's arch-enemies in Hamas.

Adams, whose Irish Republican Army-linked party has grown in recent years to become the major representative of Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, said he hoped his visit Tuesday through Thursday would encourage compromise between Israel and Hamas.

"It is imperative that genuine negotiation and dialogue between the representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli people commences as quickly as possible," Adams said. "While no two conflicts are identical, there are key conflict resolution principles which can be applied in any situation. These include inclusive dialogue, respect for electoral mandates, and respect for human rights and international law."

Adams said he had been invited to the region by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah movement that Hamas defeated in elections earlier this year. The two rival forces are currently negotiating about potentially forming a coalition government.

Adams' planned visit is being viewed negatively in Washington, where Republican congressmen normally supportive of Sinn Fein don't want Adams to be seen supporting Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. The administration of President George W. Bush has been mulling whether to lift its ban on Sinn Fein fund-raising among Irish-Americans, a restriction in force since 2005, when international authorities blamed the IRA for robbing a Belfast bank and knifing to death a Belfast Catholic.

But Adams stressed that Sinn Fein wanted to be seen helping factions in other long-deadlocked conflicts to draw inspiration from the largely successful peace process in Northern Ireland. The past 38 years of conflict over the British territory has claimed more than 3,600 lives, but has largely abated since the IRA began a cease-fire in 1997.

The IRA/PLO axis has a long documented history. Journalist Claire Sterling was one of the first to publicly document the ties that bind in her 1982 book The Terror Network. There have also been extensive rumors that IRA snipers for hire were used by Palestinian terrorist groups for attacks on Israeli citizens within Israel and the territories. There have been extensive rumors that IRA bomb makers were conducting classes for the Palestinians and Israeli authorities have arrested at least one man who is reputed to be an IRA bomb maker.

And now the Gerry Adams wants 'to be seen helping factions in other long-deadlocked conflicts to draw inspiration from the largely successful peace process in Northern Ireland', my arse. More like he wants to cement some kind of working alliance with Hamas just like the IRA has traditionally had with the PLO/Fatah.

Sorry, I am one of the few who do not buy into the belief that the IRA has effectively transformed itself into a purely peaceful political movement. 9/11 changed many things, and perhaps the most significant for the IRA was that it could no longer count on the considerably emotional or financial support from Americans citizens which had been more than substantial. Laying low and making kissy noises plays well to the press gallery and the 'give peace a chance' crowd, but IRA illegal activities have continued worldwide unabated.