Northern Ireland - Discussions between the British Prime Minister, John Major, and the Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, resulted in the issue of the 'Downing Street Declaration' on the 15th of December 1993.

The Search For a Settlement

In The 1990’s

By Suzie Keevil 11N

Questions

1) Discussions between the British Prime Minister, John Major, and the Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, resulted in the issue of the ‘Downing Street Declaration’ on the 15th of December 1993. The key features of this were as follows:

~ Both agreed that it was the people of Ireland, by the agreement of the two parties respectively, to ‘exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish’

~ Both governments agreed to give ‘full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions of Ireland’

~ Cross-party talks would be set up – but only those who parties that condemned violence were permitted to join.

Moderate Nationalists welcomed the declaration because it seemed that the British government accepted the possibility of a united Ireland. But this apparent shift in British policy worried the Unionists because the British government no longer appeared determined to keep Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom.

In the following months, Albert Reynolds put pressure on Sinn Fein to renounce violence and seek a democratic and political settlement to the conflict. When Gerry Adams visited the USA in February 1994, he was treated as a celebrity, but the support he received from Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy and other leading politicians was dependant on Sinn Fein pursuing peaceful, rather than violent policies.

2) On the 31st of August 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire. This was brought about when it seemed that Sinn Fein and the IRA might have sensed that the political atmosphere in Ireland, Britain and the USA had changed and that the time had come to concentrate on peaceful negotiations. In April a secret IRA publication – the ‘ Totally Un-Armed Strategy’ (TUAS) – was distributed among active members. This hinted that the IRA might consider non-violent methods in the pursuit of its aims to achieve a united Ireland.

In October 1994, loyalist paramilitaries also declared a ceasefire. They also offered an apology, giving ‘the loved ones of all the innocent victims over the last 25 years abject and true remorse.’ The on the 9th of September, Sinn Fein began the first formal talks in 22 years with the representatives of the British government.

3) Throughout the 17 months after the IRA ceasefire began, many Nationalists became frustrated with the British government’s lack of pace. John Major remained committed to finding a peaceful settlement, but was at the same time suspicious of the IRA ceasefire and ...

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Although the IRA had halted their shootings and bombing campaigns, they remained an unofficial police force within Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. Catholic youths continued to be beaten up or exiled if found guilty of alleged crimes within the Nationalist community. These so-called ‘punishment beatings’ were seen by both Unionists and John Major as evidence of the IRA’s lack of commitment to peace.

The year 1995 had the lowest death rate, which was nine, since 1969, but tension remained between Nationalists and the Loyalist communities and was particularly apparent during the marching season. In July the RUC escorted a parade of Orangemen through a Catholic district at Drumcree near Portadown in County Armagh. These Orangemen were members of the ‘Orange Order’ founded in 1795, dedicated to upholding Unionist traditions and heritage. Nationalists across the land were furious at this decision.

Further progress with the peace process negotiations was stalled by the IRA’s refusal to decommission their weapons. Despite the intervention of the US Senator George Mitchell, who was perceived as being an outstanding peacemaker and negotiator, a compromise could not be reached. As a result of this, the IRA ended their ceasefire by exploding a bomb near the Canary Wharf building in London in February 1996. The bomb claimed two lives, caused one billion pounds worth of damage, and left a very uncertain future for the peace process. The IRA continued its bombing campaign and in June 1996 destroyed the centre of Manchester in an explosion that injured 200 people.

4) In March 1998 the Senator George Mitchell decided that the ‘time for discussion is over’. He set a deadline of the 9th of April for all parties to reach agreement on the future of Northern Ireland. As the deadline drew nearer, all night discussions took place involving all parties and, eventually, Tony Blair and Iris Taoisech Bertie Ahern. Then, finally at 5:36pm on Saturday the 10th of April, Senator Mitchell announced the contents of the Good Friday Agreement between the British government, the Dublin government and the main Northern Ireland political parties, including Sinn Fein (which had renounced violence).

The key features of the Good Friday Agreement were as follows:

~ The state of Northern Ireland was legitimate and would remain part of the United Kingdom unless the majority of the Northern Irish people voted otherwise

~ The Irish Republic would end its claim to be the rightful government of Northern Ireland

~ A new ‘Northern Ireland Assembly’ would take over control form Westminster of education, health, agriculture and law making.

~ The Assembly would have 108 members appointed by proportional representation, to guarantee a full representation from all communities.

~ The Assembly would have ten separate ministries with their own committees. Both the ministers and the committees would have to be appointed according to party strength.

~ A ‘Council of the Isles’ would be formed with the representatives from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Their role would be to act as a consultative body.

~ Human rights and equalities would be guaranteed.

~ All political prisoners would be released within two years. If their associated paramilitary organisation maintained their ceasefire.

~ Former Conservative MP, Chris Patten, a Catholic, would head a Policing Commission’ to examine the future of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

~ All parties agreed too use their influence to bring about decommissioning of weapons within two years.

5) The Agreement was met with intense media interest and worldwide relief. John Hume, the leader of the SDLP, and David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, were later awarded that Noble Peace Prize for their determination to reach the positive conclusion. Elements within the Unionist community, particularly Ian Paisley’s DUP, flatly condemned the Agreement, claiming that the government was ‘selling out to terrorists.’

Events moved very quickly after the Agreement was announced. In May a referendum, by which the people are asked to vote directly on a key issue, was held in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to ratify the Agreement. The Agreement received a 94 per cent backing in the Republic and a 71 per cent backing in Northern Ireland. The Agreement was safe, although Unionists as a whole appeared only slightly in favour of the Agreement. In June, elections were held to the Northern Ireland Assembly and were won convincingly by pro- Agreement parties. David Trimble became its First Minister, and Seamus Mallon (of the SDLP) became his deputy.

A bombing that occurred on the 12th of July in County Antrin killed three boys. Another in Omagh killed 24 people. These two bombings only helped to make politicians in Northern Ireland even more determined to make the Agreement work.

It was not until the 2nd of December that the Northern Ireland Assembly met for the first time. The continuation of punishment beatings and the failure of the IRA to decommission weapons had slowed down the process considerably. In November 1998, Senator Mitchell had helped to draft a proposal that initiated decommissioning after the Northern Ireland Assembly met for the first time.

The pressure on both Sinn Fein and the IRA mounted when Mitchell said any failure to decommission would ‘leave this society uncertain and vulnerable’. The Ulster Unionist Party eventually agreed to the proposal with David Trimble adding, ‘we have done our bit, Mr Adams, it is over to you. We have jumped, you follow’.

Between the 11th of February and the 5th of June 1999 the Northern Ireland Assembly was temporarily suspended. Power returned to the new Secretary of State, Peter Mandelson, after the UUP grew tired of waiting for any progress on Ira decommissioning. Following a statement by the IRA that would begin ‘a process that will completely and verifiably put the IRA arms beyond use’ and permit neutral inspectors to regularly monitor their arms dumps, David Trimble and the UUP agreed to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly.