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Northern Ireland peace process

Irish Republicanism Generally considered as beginning in 1993 when London and Dublin issued the 'Downing Street Declaration', a joint peace Northern proposal for consideration by all parties. IRA ceasefires followed in Ireland August 1994 and again in May 1997, following the British general election. Multi-party talks began in January 1998 culminating in the 'Good Friday agreement' on 10th April. This agreement was Northern overwhelmingly endorsed by voters in both Northern Ireland and Ireland Peace the Republic in May 1998. In November 1999 an exchange of Agreement conciliatory statements from both sides facilitated the creation of a cross-community government in Belfast. Northern Ireland's new executive met for the first time on 2 December 1999 as powers were devolved to the province by the British government. Since the beginning of the 'Troubles' in 1968, there were various attempts to reach a peaceful compromise. The 'Sunningdale agreement' in 1973 was brought down by a massive strike of Protestant workers. In 1985 the 'Anglo-Irish Agreement' was also rejected by the Protestant Unionists. Towards the Downing Street Declaration The question of Northern Ireland's political future was debated in talks held in Belfast in 1991 the first direct negotiations between the political parties for 16 years. Follow-up talks between Peter Brooke, the Northern Ireland secretary, and the main Northern Ireland parties in 1992 made little progress. In September 1993 it emerged that John Hume, the leader of the Catholic nationalist Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) and 0 Adams, the president of Sinn Fein had held talks aimed at achieving a political settlement. This revelation prompted the new Northern Ireland secretary, Patrick Mayhew, to engage in bilateral talks with the main Northern Ireland parties (including Jim Molyneaux, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party), and in December 1993 London and Dublin issued a joint peace proposal, the Downing Street Declaration, for consideration by all parties. The first IRA ceasefire In August 1994 the Provisional IRA announced a unilateral ceasefire. A framework document, intended to form a basis for peace negotiations, was issued jointly by John Major and John Bruton (the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland) in February 1995. In May 1995 Sinn Fein engaged in the first public talks with British government officials since 1973. However, the deadlock over the issues of decommissioning of IRA weapons continued. Amid the

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deadlock, the IRA broke the ceasefire with a renewed campaign of violence in England. Efforts to find a solution intensified, and by the end of February a firm date for the start of all-party talks had been announced. The second IRA ceasefire In a changed political climate after Labour victory in the UK general election of May 1997, the IRA announced a renewal of its ceasefire. British contact with Sinn Fein was resumed the following day. During the second half of December 1997 violence in Northern Ireland appeared to be spreading. In December Billy Wright, Northern Ireland's most notorious loyalist terrorist, was assassinated by republicans inside the Maze prison. The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for Wright's killing. Wright's organization, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, in turn claimed responsibility for two retaliatory attacks. Multiparty talks The peace process was saved following a visit to convicted loyalist terrorists in the Maze prison by Mo Mowlam, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. At the end of their meeting the prisoners announced that they had dropped their opposition to the talks process. Northern Ireland Political Talks Document On 10 April 1998, the multiparty talks were concluded, and the Northern Ireland Political Talks Document was released. The people of Northern Ireland were to give their verdict on the proposed settlement in a referendum 22 May; a parallel referendum was scheduled to be held in the Republic of Ireland. The agreement reached on Good Friday was heralded as a historic breakthrough. Among the principal elements of the agreement were the devolution of a wide range of executive and legislative powers to a Northern Ireland Assembly, in which executive posts would be shared on a proportional basis; the establishment of a North/South Ministerial Council, accountable to the Assembly and the Irish Parliament; and a British-Irish Council to bring together the two governments and representatives of devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The agreement also included a range of measures to enhance the proper protection of basic human rights, to reduce the profile of security measures and emergency legislation, and to consider an appropriate policing service. It established a clear process for the

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decommissioning of illegal weapons and the means to achieve the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years of the referendum, and committed both governments to put in place mechanisms to provide for an accelerated programme for the release of prisoners. On 10 May Sinn Fein decided to support the 'Yes' vote in the referendum. A special party's conference chose to change Sinn Fein's constitution in order to enable party members take seats in the new Belfast assembly. Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and the Orange Order strongly opposed the deal. David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, overcame bitter internal criticism and decided to accept the agreement. The IRA, on the other hand, remained opposed to the decommissioning of weapons. On 22 May 1998 the Good Friday agreement was overwhelmingly endorsed by 71.12% of voters (676,966 votes) in Northern Ireland and 94.39% (1,442,583 votes) in the Republic of Ireland. Total turnout in Northern Ireland reached 80.98%. Exit polls suggested that a 55% of Northern Ireland's Protestant community voted 'Yes' and that in only Ian Paisley's North Antrim seat was there a majority against the agreement. The elections to the new power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly passed smoothly on 25 June 1998 and resulted in the return of a large pro-agreement majority. David Trimble was elected by the assembly as Northern Ireland's 'First Minister', with Seamus Mallon of the SDLP as his deputy. However, the peace process was put to the test as a result of disputes over the release of paramilitary prisoners, the decommissioning of weapons by paramilitaries, and Protestant Orange Order marches, notably in Drumcree. In August 1998 the killing of 28 people in the shopping centre of Omagh by a car bomb attack, believed to be the work of an extreme republican 'Real IRA' terrorist splinter group, tested all sides. It was the worst single atrocity in the republic during the 30 years of the Troubles. Unusually, this outrage was condemned unequivocally by Sinn Fein. Devolution In November 1999 the talks produced an exchange of conciliatory statements from both the Ulster Unionists and from Sinn Fein, saying that a cross-community government in Belfast would come into effect if the IRA agreed to appoint a go-between to work with

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the International Decommissioning Commission. The IRA formally appointed a go-between and Northern Ireland's new executive met for the first time on 2 December 1999 as powers were devolved to the province by the British government. Meanwhile, the IRA kept to its commitment and entered decommissioning discussions. The target date for this had been set by supporters of the peace process for May 2000. However, after a report on the decommissioning of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland revealed that there had been no arms handover, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, declared in February 2000 that he had begun the process of suspending the Northern Ireland Assembly. David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader and first minister of the Assembly, indicated that he was on the brink of resigning because of the failure to decommission. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced that it would not respond to such pressure, and despite a public appeal to the IRA made by Prime Minister Tony Blair, there was an explosion in Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh, for which the IRA claimed responsibility. On 11 February Mandelson began to enact legislation to reintroduce direct rule, but within hours of the suspension of the Assembly, the British government announced a new IRA initiative on arms decommissioning. This did not appear to have averted the crisis, as on 15 February the IRA pulled out of disarmament talks and withdrew all decommissioning propositions. On 17 March, St Patrick's Day, Gerry Adams declared in Washington, DC, that the 22 May deadline for IRA decommissioning no longer existed. Following an IRA announcement that it would put its weapons out of use, members of the Ulster Unionist party agreed to return to work at the Northern Ireland assembly, and the power-sharing executive resumed operations at the end of May 2000. David Trimble persuaded his Ulster Unionist party to re-enter the coalition with Sinn Fein, saying that the IRA was expected to implement its promise of disarmament immediately. In June 2000 the IRA opened its arms dumps to inspection by independent international overseers Cyril Ramaphosa, a South African, and the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. The inspectors were satisfied that the arms were secured and could not be moved without knowledge, and said that they would re-inspect them regularly. "Sinn Fein believe the violence we have seen must be for all of us now a thing of the past over, done with and gone." Gerry Adams

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President of Sinn Fein and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

[A statement approved by the British, Irish, and US governments issued on the eve of President Clinton's visit to Ireland, September 1998.]

"Let us not underestimate how far we have come and let us agree that we have come too far to go back now." Tony Blair Prime minister.
[Addressing the Irish Parliament on the Irish peace progress; Radio 5 Live, 26 November 1998]

"The entire civilized world will not understand if we cannot put this together and make this work." Tony Blair Prime minister.
[On the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland; Radio 5 Live, 1 July 1999]

"They're like a couple of drunks walking out of the bar for the last time. When they get to the swinging door, they turn right around and say, 'I just can't quite get there'." Bill Clinton President of the USA.
[On the two sides of the Northern Ireland peace process. He later apologized for any offence his comments might have caused. Time 18 October 1999]

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