ABSTRACT
In Belfast Ivor Bell–who had been appointed chief of staff after McGuinness, had stepped down to contest the Assembly elections, and dominated Northern Command for years–felt the campaign was being run down. Bell felt there was too much emphasis on politics by Gerry Adams and company in particular. The Adams seat in Westminster was not worth a split, a wonder to win but too tricky to use as Gerry Fitt had once done to publicize Irish grievances. Most arose around a split or an individual or a special grievance and faded away to leave the two great 1921 rivals and the Labour Party as the regular options. The traditionalists who had watched Adams & Company take over–take over the Irish Republican Army, take over Sinn Fein, take over the movement–accepted the fact that the North should run the war; changes would be made but principles must not be discarded.
