More recently, as the situation matures, strong political arms on each side are formed. Many political parties are associated closely with an ally activist group, such as Sinn Fein’s links with the IRA.
The problem arises not so much from the groups themselves, but when activist armies such as the UDA and the UVF split and give birth to smaller paramilitary groups, referred to as breakaway or splinter organizations, such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters. This system means that not only do you have two generalized groups, armed, disagreeing with and fighting each other, but you also get situations where the separate splinter groups hold strong disagreements with other breakaways on ultimately the same side. This creates fragile and unstable internal affairs, as well as giving a lot more people, with even more expectations and opinions access to weapons. For example, some members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) did not feel that the IRA’s methods were violent or extreme enough to be fully effective, and so these members broke away from the IRA to form the violent and notorious ‘Real IRA’. It is not always, however, simply the paramilitaries which differ in opinion. The political parties themselves can differ greatly, as we see with the Sinn Fein and SDLP parties. Developers of the Good Friday Agreement hope that by firstly, allowing the early release of paramilitary prisoners, they can satisfy and show their sympathy. However for many, especially the victims and families of victims, of paramilitary attacks, this is a mere insult and break of justice, and not a pleasing offer. Also, the agreement states the initiation of an assembly, 108 members in size, to try to involve as many of the opinions as possible in a political form, and avoid paramilitary splinter groups taking matters into their own hands.
Moving onto the issue of violence and arms in Northern Island, which obviously causes the most damage both physically and psychologically, and their part in the implementation.
Weaponry is primarily owned and put to use by the paramilitaries on both sides, and many attacks are that of revenge. For this reason, it would be very hard, when relatives and friends are being killed, to sit by and not fight back. This causes a chain of reactions, which can span for centuries, and has. The IVF’s very existence in 1913 begun seriously stockpiling weapons, often stolen from the authorities and enemy paramilitaries, closely followed by the Larne Gunrunning of 1914.
We first see weapon’s come into major play at the Easter Rising, 1916, in which an army of Nationalists fought the British presence in Dublin, and managed to take over a substantial area of it.
More recently, 1998, explosive weapons devastated the peace process with the IRA’s Omagh bombing, in which 28 nationalists were killed. This also gives us some idea of the sheer magnitude and military intelligence behind these attacks. The paramilitaries are not simply unskilled volunteers holding stolen weapons, they contain masterminds at explosives, weapons and many other technical aspects of violence. This can only pose a greater threat to the agreement’s success. Following the Omagh bombing were the retaliation riots in Drumcree. In these riots, an RUC officer was killed, creating a reason for the Protestants to retaliate further. As we can see, this chain is virtually infinite. Unionists believe that as far as the peace process is concerned, the Republicans had not demonstrated an acceptable degree of peaceful progress. Unionists argue that talks will not hold place until Republicans decommission these weapons. However, Republicans disagree, saying that no decommissioning will take place prior to the talks, and any decommissioning would only happen after any settlements had taken place. Many cease-fires have been attempted. However, prior to the 4th of February 1996, the IRA felt that their ongoing decommissioning, and the lack in progress as a result of the cease-fires was too much to ask, and so on that date in February, powerful explosives planted by the IRA killed two people. The peace process had been shattered.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), a majority of whom are Protestants, ignored and essentially allowed the Larne Gunrunning of 1912, and with this, disregarded the Nationalist deaths involved. Catholics, with good cause, would argue that this is down to the RUC’s overwhelming unionist content. Issues like this one, as well as the RUC’s alliance with the British forces on the events of Bloody Sunday where many Catholics were killed, give the Catholics the feel that they cannot trust authority. When internment was introduced, because of the RUC’s protestant nature, it was potentially possible for anybody who had good relations with an RUC officer to have anybody they didn’t favour arrested and held in detention without trial. This was essentially the last straw for the Catholics, who are now likely to hold very strong distrusts for British and Irish law enforcement units, and also to disregard the very authorities which are so strongly required for the upholding and enforcement of terms stated in the agreement. Without the Catholic’s trust or respect of the authorities, the Good Friday Agreement is of very little use indeed, and would be more likely to please the Protestants and further anger the Catholics. In addition to this, problems caused by internment for example, could begin to be repealed as the agreement states introducing a Human Rights legislation, which includes a fair trial on convictions, with a Commission to follow and police the legislation.
Maybe the most strong and widespread factor affecting the whole peace process, however, is the very history of traditions, morals and raw religious opinion, which encases the situation. These views, of which both sides have held strongly for centuries on end, mark everything they fight onwards for. More serious problems arise when these views are demonstrated, through remembrance or demonstration, or more often, traditional marches. Each July, the Orange Order marches in celebration of King William (a.k.a. King Billy) and his victory at the Boyne in 1960. This march involves treading on Protestant territory, and often results in complaint or sometimes violence on either side. Either the Orange Order be allowed to cross the Unionist domain, and receive terrorism from the Protestants, unhappy to see a celebration of Catholic victory take place on their soil. However, protestants also commemorate the life of figures such as Wolfe Tone. Both side’s actions aggravates the other, but both sides actions are the very root of what they fight on for. Also, the tradition and history between the two groups has dug so deeply into the souls and spirits of today’s Northern Ireland population, that it is not rare to find armies, willing to die for their cause. On either side, this is shown. The Easter Rising of 1916, in which the Nationalists occupied much of Dublin involved a great number of casualties and deaths on each side, for the raw morals and dignity of each individual fighter. The British allied with the RUC in 1972 on the notorious occurrence of Bloody Sunday, in which many Republicans were killed. NICRA planned a march in protest to the idea of internment, which is where anybody suspected of terrorism could be arrested and imprisoned without a trial. The march was banned by the government, but went ahead despite this, resulting in violent and fatal conflict. This element of what affects the agreement does so to such an extent because this doesn’t involve politics, or segregation or any of the other manmade issues, but this is quite simply the bare heart of what each side believe in, grow up ‘knowing’, and will often die to protect. Agreement supporters can only hope that again the unison of political assembly councils containing figures from both sides of the argument will create solutions and decisions based upon influences of both side’s traditions and religions. This way, again, a compromise is reached, but like any other, these compromises could be stepping stones in the peace process.
Since 1998, the Agreement has struggled forwards, showing slight progress, but very slight indeed.
Each of the above discussed issues plays a significant role in preventing the straight forward implementation of this. Weapons and Violence cause chains of events which give sometimes a period of weeks between attacks, and peace talks simply cannot continue while people on either side are being killed by the other. Both side’s become aggravated and see benefits and downsides to the very existence of marches and other traditions, but this also creates much tension on either side, and brings sides very close together in very large numbers, showing a potential for violence to begin. When authority attempts to control these traditions, it can either ignore them, and greatly upset the other community, or can act against these traditions and lose support of the acting community. Either way one side is likely to become offended and show mistrust in authority. We already know this is a major issue, as the trust of authority is the only way the Northern Irish of either origin can begin to show respect for laws and order, on which it would be assumed the agreement depends primarily upon. Segregation makes the waiting time until the two groups begin to learn about each other, live alongside each other and ultimately, accept each other, even longer, and is not an easy process to undo, and therefore it simply adds a colossal task onto the overall problem. Political issues are often hard to operate and maintain the stability of, partly because the individual Nationalist or Unionist parties will bias against the opposing community. A mixed assembly would also be much harder to operate, and provide little real satisfaction to one of the sides, since most people want a quick solution, and won’t settle for compromises. With a mixed assembly, all decisions would contain points which half the assembly liked, and half didn’t, assembly create compromise after compromise. Maybe compromises, however, is for now, the best anybody supporting the peace process can hope for, as it takes fairy steps onwards. There are many paradoxes that have caused the process much trouble, and will continue to do this. The cycle of attacks and revenge year after year, and the unmovable moral stance of each individual that has an opinion on the matter.
It is these paradoxes and factors, which are making the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement so difficult.