Analysis: Laundering, leaking, partitionism

First up was McGradygate. The sitting MP for South Down, Eddie McGrady of the SDLP, was confronted with a leaked Northern Ireland Office memo in which he was quoted as describing republicans as “scum of the earth.”
The memo, taken by a NIO official following a meeting in McGrady’s Downpatrick home in 1994, was passed to local newspapers in his constituency and the Irish News in Belfast.
McGrady had been approached by the NIO to discuss the possibility of political progress in the event of an IRA ceasefire.
According to the document he was highly critical of his then party leader, John Hume, and the ongoing Hume-Gerry Adams dialogue. McGrady told NIO civil servants that republicans would never change and that any attempt to bring them into the political mainstream would only damage the SDLP.
McGrady denounced the leaking of the document as part of a “dirty tricks” campaign by republicans. He suggested that it may have been stolen by the IRA and released into the public domain in order to supplement the election campaign of his Sinn Fein opponent Caitriona Ruane.
Ruane fiercely denied that republicans were behind the leak and instead asked McGrady to explain his apparent opposition to the fledgling peace process.
While McGradygate faded from view, after Hume rode to the MP’s rescue with a much-needed public endorsement, West Tyrone and Kieran Deeny, an independent candidate running on the issue of the local hospital, took center stage. The local SDLP organization in the constituency had been split for weeks over whether it should stand aside in order to give Deeny a free run at Sinn Fein’s Pat Doherty.
The decision was put to bed last week following a stormy SDLP selection meeting that saw Eugene McMenamin step forward to accept the “poisoned chalice” candidacy. However, this was not before Deeny had accused SDLP leader Mark Durkan of reneging on a “gentleman’s agreement” to withdraw his party from the race. Deeny claimed SDLP duplicity and alleged that Durkan had adopted strong-arm tactics in his dealings with the local constituency organization.
Durkan decided to set the record straight. He published correspondence he had received from Deeny over the previous few months. In a series of letters and e-mails Deeny pleaded with Durkan not to run a candidate, saying the reelection of Doherty would be a “nightmare scenario.” He hinted that he might even repay such a gesture by joining the SDLP after the election.
Deeny was old news by Friday of last week, however.
In Belfast, the Police Service of Northern Ireland had raided the home and council offices of East Belfast Ulster Unionist Assembly member Michael Copeland. The PSNI said the raids were part of a money laundering investigation. It is thought the investigation centers on the activities of recently deposed UDA commander Jim Gray.
Copeland, who is running as a local election candidate next month, strenuously denied that he had been involved in any criminal activity and said the raids were carried out following a serious allegation that had been made against him.
Copeland went so far as to claim that political maneuverings may have been to blame and that someone was looking to damage the UUP brand in the run-up to the election.
The DUP, understandably, denied that any of its members had made any allegations against Copeland and claimed the UUP were clutching at straws.
UUP leader David Trimble came out in support of Copeland but told the party to hold fire on allegations of dirty tricks until all the facts were in.
Nonetheless, Trimble chose to postpone the launch of the UUP manifesto until Friday.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accused Bertie Ahern’s government of interfering in the election.
Adams found Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern’s visit to South Down over the weekend particularly objectionable. Ahern had popped in to see Eddie McGrady, no doubt to check he was OK following the previous week’s controversy.
Ahern claimed he was fulfilling a long-standing arrangement. Adams instead claimed that Fianna Fail was attempting to bolster the SDLP’s campaign to the detriment of Sinn Fein.
Ahern’s denials were hardly helped by the visit of a cabinet colleague, Justice Minister Michael McDowell, to Belfast Monday. McDowell held a meeting with SDLP activists again prompting Sinn Fein to cry foul play.
Describing McDowell as the most right-wing and partitionist politician in the country, Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey said his visit would win the SDLP few votes. Adams said that while McDowell was always welcome to travel to Belfast, he questioned why he had not done so to support the nationalist residents of the Short Strand and Garvaghy Road.
McDowell accused Adams of partitionism and said he was perfectly entitled to come North anytime he pleased. He said he was merely visiting SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell in a personal capacity.
And so it goes on.
While all of the above might make for some colorful copy it is unlikely that any of the various rows will swing the election race in any decisive manner.
In South Down, McGrady is deemed safe from Sinn Fein. While republicans have made significant inroads in the constituency over the last 10 years, Caitriona Ruane will have her work cut out in surpassing the SDLP stalwart’s majority.
In West Tyrone, the only happy campers are those in Sinn Fein. Pat Doherty was always the favorite the reclaim the seat. The increasingly shrill war of words between Kieran Deeny and Mark Durkan will have done neither camp any favors leaving Doherty with room to concentrate on getting the Sinn Fein vote out.
The raids on Michael Copeland’s home and offices have been reported in the Irish media with unusual restraint. None of the Southern political parties have decried alleged UUP links to criminality or called for the party to be punished.
Copeland protests his innocence and may well have nothing to do with money laundering, but the contrast in reaction to the PSNI raids with that to the discovery of an alleged IRA money-laundering ring in Cork, is marked.
The battle between the DUP and the UUP was largely decided before the campaign got under way. Unionists will be voting for the party they believe can best stand up to nationalists. At the moment the DUP has cornered this market — the Copeland raids will have a negligible impact on the UUP vote.
The presence, meanwhile, of members of the Irish government in South Down and South Belfast has obviously irked Sinn Fein. However, while Dermot Ahern is undoubtedly well regarded among Northern nationalists, Michael McDowell is not.