The Stormont talks offered only a "modernised version of partition", a sister of the IRA hunger-striker, Bobby Sands, said yesterday. Ms Bernadette Sands McKevitt, who lives in Dundalk, Co Louth, is vice-chair of a newly-established, single-issue group, the Thirty-two County Sovereignty Committee.
Speaking at Stormont's Castle Buildings yesterday, however, the Sinn Fein councillor, Ms Dodie McGuinness, said the grouping was small. Most Sinn Fein members had "committed themselves to the process".
The new body will oppose amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of Bunreacht na hEireann making Irish unity subject to the consent of a majority in Northern Ireland. The group also opposes the Mitchell Principles which are a precondition for participation in the Stormont talks.
Ms Sands McKevitt said: "Basically, the Mitchell document stated that the consent of the people of Northern Ireland would ultimately affect the outcome, and we feel that is, in effect, a unionist veto dressed up in another way, and we don't think that can be allowed."
She told RTE Radio: "History has shown where partition has ultimately been the underlying problem, and what is now on offer is more or less a modernised version of partition. So therefore we feel that it is not actually a solution. If anything, I am fearful for future generations because this problem has been proven time and again to create conditions to cause insurrections."
She said the group consisted of "a lot of people who were concerned about the way the political situation was developing, and I was just more or less invited along because of me being a member of the Sands family".
Asked if they were all ex-members of Sinn Fein, she said: "Not at all. It's a one-issue, broad-based committee. It's basically trying to attract people from right across the board who would be nationalist-minded people."
When asked if the group was connected to the resignations from Sinn Fein or the IRA, she replied: "I wouldn't know. Any people I met yesterday would have come from a lot of different areas around the country . . . some as far away as Cork. Whether they would be affiliated with Sinn Fein or any other party I couldn't actually say."
She emphatically denied she was a member of Sinn Fein or the IRA. When asked if she supported the current ceasefire, she said: "I suppose I would, yes."
Independent observers agreed yesterday that the new grouping was another example of the fragmentation that has afflicted all sides in the talks. The slow progress of negotiations and uncertainty over the outcome have contributed to dissension in unionist and loyalist ranks.
Although Sinn Fein committed itself to the Mitchell Principles of democracy and non-violence in the talks, the IRA made clear through a spokesman that it had not done so. This statement caused a storm of protest although republicans claimed the distinction was necessary to allay disquiet in their own ranks.
This disquiet has now surfaced openly. It comes after resignations from both wings of the Provisional republican movement. If agreement is reached in the Stormont talks, the settlement will be voted on in referendums, North and South. It is not clear at this stage, however, if Sinn Fein will support the terms of a settlement. Under the "sufficient consensus" rule, the party's vote is not necessary for agreement.