For the politicians in Northern Ireland, the Republic and Britain, the increasing support for Sinn Fein was a big problem. If support continued to develop, it was possible that a political party dedicated to achieving its aims through violence would become the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland. There had been no major political initiatives since the Power Sharing Executive failed in 1974. The aim of the Power-Sharing Executive was to undermine the support for the IRA by giving the nationalist community a say in how Northern Ireland was run. It was the Unionist suspicion about the Council of Ireland that brought about the Power-Sharing Executive. However this solution did not last long, and on the 27th of May Power-Sharing had been defeated and Northern Ireland was under Direct Rule once again. With the ways things were looking, many parties feared the violence and power that the IRA and Sinn Fein could inflict upon Ireland when they worked together.
In March 1972, the British government’s response to increasing violence in Northern Ireland was voiced. The British government had decided upon a policy named Direct Rule. This meant that a British government minister, the Northern Ireland secretary, would rule the province. Although Direct Rule was only meant to have a temporary peace in the world of Irish politics, it lasted for twenty-five years. During these twenty-five years between 1973 and 1993, three major political initiatives took place, which proves that the politicians did not give up.
There was strong evidence that the population or Northern was longing for peace more than it ever had before. Thousands of people marched at peace rallies organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions after the Shankill bombing. Much more activity was taking place against violence and towards peace. However the action and marches were on such a small scale that they went largely unreported.
One person whose actions did get into the news were those of Mary Robinson, the Irish President at that time. She argued that peace and justice in Northern Ireland were more important than removing partition.
The end result of all the talking was the Downing Street Declaration of December 15th 1993.The British Prime Minister at that time, John Major, stood outside 10 Downing Street with Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. In Northern Ireland the Alliance Party and SDLP were pleased at the outcome and welcomed the Declaration. However, not all parties were happy with this decision. The Unionists accepted it cautiously, Mitchel McLaughlin saw it as very disappointing and Ian Paisley accused John Major of having ‘sold out Ulster to buy off the republican scum’.
Despite the opposition, the Declaration had important results. The republican and loyalist parliamentaries studied it carefully and clarified details of the Declaration with the British government. However, they also continued to assassinate members of the opposition and innocent civilians. In the summer of 1994, republican and loyalist parliamentaries took part in killings and shootings. While this was happening the politicians involved engaged in discussions and worked towards an end to violence in the next five years.
Later that year the U.S President, Bill Clinton, made a very important decision: he gave Gerry Adams a visa, allowing him to meet with Irish-American groups in the USA. Irish Americans proceeded to confirm the views put forward to Sinn Fein by John Hume in his talks with Gerry Adams. Slowly, new thinking was beginning to emerge within the republican movement. This became clear when the IRA declared a ceasefire on the 31st of August. Under two months later the republican parliamentaries also declared a ceasefire. However, this did not move the majority of the Northern population nor the Southern. People had seen many ceasefires come and go; yet this was different as the people found out when they enjoyed the quietest Christmas they had had for years in 1994.
In earl 1995 the ceasefires that had been recently committed were followed by a Joint Framework Agreement. This was thought up by the British and the Irish governments and was a plan for peace in Northern Ireland, including a brand new assembly for Northern Ireland and North-South issues. It set the agenda for the talks, which resulted in the Good Friday Agreement. It was generally accepted and welcomed, and in 1995 there was the lowest death toll that Northern Ireland had had for years. However there was still some opposition and people with doubts about the newfound solution:
The Unionists were suspicious about the plan for a North-South Council of Ministers, they were anxious about wether it would lead to a United Ireland. Alongside this worry, the Unionists, along with the British government wanted to see the decommissioning of all IRA weapons, however Sinn Fein said that the IRA would not give up weapons because it did not trust the British government.
Despite these major difficulties, civilians had a genuine hope for peace in the near future, and a solid belief that it would happen. The new Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, confirmed hid full support for the peace process. In October, an international commission under former U.S. Senator George Mitchell was set up to work out a process for decommissioning weapons and achieving a settlement, which everyone could accept.
1996 was another dramatic period in the peace process. In January a plan was created for achieving decommissioning of parliamentary weapons. Sinn Fein agreed to the Principles, but the IRA leaders did not agree and refused to hand over any weapons.
Consequently the British government demanded an election in Northern Ireland: Prime Minister John Major wanted to see how much support the paramilitaries had. Nationalists were angry because new elections lead to delays in the peace process. In February the slight air of tension corrupted into despair when the IRA detonated a huge bomb in London’s Docklands, followed by another in Manchester in June. In July, violence erupted in Drumcree as Catholic residents objected to an Orange Order march through their neighbourhood. The loyalist ceasefire, however, held and in June the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum took place without violent incidents in Northern Ireland.
In May 1997 a new British Prime Minister was elected: Tony Blair. Blair appointed Dr. Mo Mowlam as Northern Ireland Secretary. This woman would have an important role to play throughout the peace process; both nationalist and unionist politicians admired her talent and ability to negotiate.
Dr. Mo Mowlam became aware from the outset that her new job was exceedingly tasking and incredibly tough. In June more IRA violence took place and for the second year running there were disputed between Loyalists and police about the Drumcree march in July. Eventually the Orange Order voluntarily called off other potentially controversial parades to help ease the tension.
The same month the IRA announced another ceasefire. This allowed Sinn Fein to take part in the peace process negotiations, but it did not lead to the decommissioning of any weapons. Unionists were anxious about wether to sit down for discussions with Sin Fein while the IRA still had all its weapons. The DUP pulled out of the peace process in September, but David Trimble did not. He remained committed to it, even though he suffered criticism from his fellow Unionists and the fact that he himself was unhappy with some of the aspects that were involved in the peace process.
The Republicans were also divided. In November, some members of the IRA left the movement because they did not support Sinn Fein’s participation in the peace process. They set up their own republican splinter groups, Continuity IRA and the Real IRA.
The Good Friday Agreement was the pact agreed between the national governments and regional parties involved to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Signed on April 10, 1998, the agreement was approved by large majorities in a referendum on both sides of the North and the South divide in Ireland. This new agreement consisted of five actions that would be taken at the outset of this newly established arrangement. Firstly a new Northern Assembly was set up, containing 108 members. All key decisions would require the consent of both communities in the province. Alongside this a new council of Ministers, representing the North and the South was set up. It was created from members of the new Assembly and ministers from the Republic. Articles two and three were removed from the Irish Governments constitution, which made a claim that the North was a part of its territory. A review was also made of the policing in Northern Ireland. Lastly, parliamentary prisoners were promised early release.
Although the aims of this Agreement were all positive and the unification of Ireland seemed around the corner, many Republicans had accepted that in the long run it was not going to happen. Yet they realised that opting for War was not the solution: it would only cause more misery and suffering, mostly to themselves, which the Irish population recognized.
Throughout the first four months of 1998 several extraordinary events occurred. In January it seemed highly likely that loyalist parliamentary prisoners would withdraw their support for the peace process. This would affect the Unionist party tremendously; consequently David Trimble and Mo Mowlam recognized this and as a result visited the prisoners in an attempt to regain their support. This effort by the to politicians was successful, and the support of the parliamentary prisoners was regained as quickly as it was lost. However, some parliamentary groups were still prepared to fight. During February and March a series of bombings and shootings took place. These were the actions of loyalist and republican splinter groups that had rejected the peace process.
The parties involved in the Agreement had agreed a deadline of the 9th of April. As the deadline approached rapidly the negotiations gathered pace. Bill Clinton took it into his own hands to encourage various opposing leaders to talk or to compromise with their ideas. From April the 6th onwards Tony Blair, Bertie Aherne and the Northern Ireland leaders were negotiating non-stop at Stormont.
‘I am pleased to announce that the two
Governments and the political parties of Northern
Ireland have reached and agreement’
This is the statement that was made by Senator Mitchell on April the tenth regarding the decision made by the two governments to make an agreement. Although this was a big step it was only the beginning. In May of 1998 a referendum was held in which the people of Northern and Southern Ireland were asked whether they were prepared to allow Articles two and three to be removed. Ninety four per cent of the Southern population was in favour of this action. In Northern Ireland seventy-one per cent were in favour, although not as big as that in the Republic it still displays the large amount of support from both sides.
In my opinion this gesture of potential co-operation shown by both the North and the South of Ireland depicts a positive future for Ireland. Due to this response to the Good Friday Agreement, I believe that this is a turning point in the history of Ireland, and that the outlook for the future of Ireland is indeed a lot brighter than it was. Therefore I believe that the Good Friday Agreement and the enthusiasm shown towards it is a major turning point for Ireland.
