In the main prison of Ireland (named Maze) a leading Loyalist terrorist was shot dead by a Republican terrorist in 1997. This shooting was basically the influence of the IRA, and shows that even in high security prisons, people were not safe. This incident scared the Unionists, if they knew guns couldn’t be found in prisons, how could they be sure they were safe? In the prison even the walls were marked with the letters UDA (Ulster defence association) by the terrorists.
After this incident, the Loyalists didn’t want to support the peace talks, which meant they would start shooting the Catholics again. Mo Maulen (the secretary for the state of Northern Ireland) persuaded the Loyalists to stay in the peace talks. By this time, the Unites States were involved because they were willing to help out and give an unbiased opinion. George Mitchell (a US senator) said ‘you are talking and getting nowhere, you have until Good Friday to sort something out’ and so progress began to take place. This is where the title for the agreement came from.
The Unionists wanted their own parliament (Stormont) but Sinn Fein wanted a whole parliament so that Dublin could have a say in the running of Northern Ireland. The Unionists were not happy with this idea, if Dublin had a say in the running of their country, they may be treated unfairly and thought it was unfair that any one county should have a say in the running of another.
The Irish Government were unimpressed with the British offers in the talks and the Unionists were furious when a document was drawn up with Tony Blair and Southern Ireland so that the Republic had a say in the North. The Unionists felt betrayed by Britain, who was meant to be fighting on their side.
The Republic then offered to drop the subject of becoming a united Ireland on the condition that Northern and Southern bodies got together to run Northern Ireland. The Unionists were mad and rejected the proposal, saying they wanted Southern Ireland to have no say in their country. Southern Ireland then re-negotiated and came out with less power over the north. The Unionists felt this was a victory, although the south would have some power.
Sinn Fein demanded as part of his peace process that all IRA prisoners be released within one year or there would be no peace agreement. Britain didn’t not accept this idea, nor reject it – they suggested it should happen over a period of 3 years. They carried on negotiating until Britain said they would do it in two years. Gerry Adams was still asking one year for their release and so by 12pm no deal had been signed. Tony Blair decided to ring the US president for help.
The Unionists had to take Sinn Fein’s word and accept that the IRA would surrender their weapons slowly. This was a risk for the Unionists and many were unsure if the IRA would actually do as they said. The Unionists wanted reassurance from Britain as Sinn Fein had actually got into the government without surrendering any of their weapons. Britain said they would support any changes to the government if needed.
Shortly after, Sinn Fein was allowed to let out 4 prisoners out on parole for two weeks – a taste of what they wanted. This made Sinn Fein sign the agreement.
Under intense pressure from Tony Blair, President Clinton and Bertie Ahern (Blair’s Irish opposite), Ireland parties reached an agreement on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. This document agreed upon by all parties is not only called the Good Friday Agreement, but the Belfast Agreement also. (The full agreement is shown in the ‘Good Friday Agreement’ section of this project.) There was to be a Northern Ireland parliament elected by proportional representation and a power-sharing executive committee – a government chosen from all parties in the parliament, including Sinn Fein. The Irish Republic was to be involved in the North through various bodies, but would change its constitution to end its claim to rule the province. The RUC was to be reformed to become a truly non-sectarian police force. Controversially, all prisoners convicted of terrorist offences were to be released within two years. Arrangements were to be made for the paramilitaries to give up their weapons.
The Irish and British governments quickly decided to hold a referendum to confirm popular support for the peace accord. An overwhelming 94 percent of people voted in favour of the agreement in the Irish Republic. In Northern Ireland 71 percent voted ‘yes’ to the agreement, more than two out of three. The agreement was far more popular with the Catholics than Protestants, who were slit almost evenly for and against. Unionists opposed to the agreement, including the Orange Order, blamed it as a surrender to the IRA.
In June 1998 elections were held and the following month pro-agreement Unionist leader David Trimble became Northern Ireland’s first minister. However, the anti-agreement Unionists won as many seats as Trimble’s supporters. In the first two weeks of July, Loyalists opposed to the agreement set up roadblocks and carried out attacks on Catholic homes across the province. One house was even petrol-bombed by Loyalist paramilitaries during the night – three children were burned to death in the blaze.
There was also opposition to the agreement among Republicans. The IRA refused to even think about decommissioning their weapons. Some IRA members went further. Feeling that the Republican cause had been betrayed, a splinter group calling itself the ‘Real IRA’ began carrying out car-bombings in an attempt to disrupt the peace process.
The 1998 Nobel Peace prize was awarded jointly to John Hume of the SDLP and David Trimble of the Ulster Unionists. However, it remained very difficult to apply the Good Friday Agreement. For the agreement to work, the Unionists had to sit with Sinn Fein members in a Northern Ireland executive. Pro-agreement Unionists accepted to do this, but on the condition that the IRA disarmed. The IRA, however, refused to give up their weapons, although they eventually agreed to allow weapons dumps to be inspected. After further lengthy negotiations, a power-sharing executive at last began an uncertain on-off existence in December 1999, but the Unionists were reluctant participants.
