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The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern
Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to
the 1994 Provisional Irish
Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the
violence of the
Troubles, the Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement,
and subsequent political developments.
Timeline
Towards a
ceasefire
In 1994, the talks between members of two of Northern
Ireland's nationalist parties, John Hume of the Social Democratic and
Labour Party (SDLP), and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin (SF) continued. These talks led to
a series of joint statements on how violence might be brought to an
end. The talks had been going on since the late 1980s and had
secured the backing of the Irish Government
through an intermediary, Father Alec
Reid.
In November it was revealed that the British government had also been in talks
with the Provisional IRA, although they had long denied it.
On Wednesday 15 December 1993, the Joint Declaration on
Peace (more commonly known as the Downing Street Declaration)
was issued by John
Major, then Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, and Albert Reynolds, then Taoiseach (Prime Minister
of the Republic of Ireland), on behalf of the British and Irish
governments. This included statements that:
- The British government had no "selfish strategic or economic"
interest in Northern Ireland.
- The British government would uphold the right of the people of
Northern Ireland to decide between the Union with Great Britain or a united
Ireland.
- The British and Irish governments would work for an agreement
among all the people of Ireland, embracing "the totality of
relationships".[1]
- The Irish government recognised that "Irish self-determination"
(meaning, in this context, a United Ireland) required the agreement
and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland. Also,
for the first time, a consent of the majority of the people of the
Republic of Ireland would be necessary for reunification, giving
the South a say in the reunification process.
- The Irish government would try to address unionist fears of a united Ireland.
- A united Ireland could only be brought about by
persuasion.
- Peace must involve a permanent end to the use of, or support
for, paramilitary
violence.
Ian Paisley of
the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) opposed the Declaration, James Molyneaux of
the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
argued that it was not a "sell-out" of unionists, and Gerry Adams
of Sinn Féin requested dialogue with the governments and
clarification of the Declaration.
Towards
negotiations
On 6 April 1994 The Provisional IRA announced a three day
Ceasefire or "Temporary Cessation of Hostilities" to run from
Wednesday 6 April - Friday 8 April 1994.
Five months later, on Wednesday 31 August 1994, the Provisional
IRA announced a "cessation of military operations" from midnight.
Albert
Reynolds, the Irish Taoiseach, said that he accepted the IRA
statement as implying a permanent ceasefire. Many unionists were
sceptical. UUP leader James Molyneaux, in
a rare slip, declared "This (the ceasefire) is the worst thing that
has ever happened to us."[2]
In the following period there were disputes about the permanence
of the ceasefire, whether parties linked to paramilitaries should
be included in talks, and the rate of "normalisation" in Northern
Ireland. Loyalist bombings and shootings, and
punishment beatings from both sides, continued.
This is an abbreviated list of events of significance in the
lead-up to all-party negotiations:
- Wednesday 22 February 1995: Framework Documents published:
- A New Framework For Agreement, which dealt with
North/South institutions, and
- A Framework for Accountable Government in Northern
Ireland, which proposed a single-chamber 90-member Assembly,
to be elected by proportional
representation.
The proposals were not welcomed by unionists and the DUP described
it as a "one-way street to Dublin" and a "joint government programme for Irish unity".
- Sunday 13 August 1995: Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin President, addressed
a demonstration at Belfast
City Hall. A member of the crowd called out to Adams to, "bring
back the IRA". In an unscripted reply Adams said: "They haven't
gone away, you know".
- Friday 24 November 1995: A referendum in the Republic of
Ireland to change the constitution to allow divorce
was narrowly approved, with 50.2% in favour. Divorce had long been
available north of the border. The ban in the Republic was
sometimes cited by (mainly Protestant) Unionists as evidence of
excessive influence by the Catholic Church in the Republic which
would (in the event of a United Ireland) represent a threat to the
religious liberty of non-Catholics.
- Tuesday 28 November 1995: A Joint Communiqué by British and
Irish Governments, outlined a "'twin-track' process to make
progress in parallel on the decommissioning issue and on all-party
negotiations". Preparatory talks were to lead to all-party
negotiations beginning by the end of February 1996. US
Senator George Mitchell was to lead an
international body to provide an independent assessment of the
decommissioning issue.
- Thursday 30 November 1995: Bill Clinton, then President of the United
States, visited Northern Ireland, and spoke in favour of the
"peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast's City Hall. He called
terrorists "yesterday's men".
- Wednesday 20 December 1995: Blaming the Provisional IRA for
recent killings of drug dealers, the Irish government decided not
to give permanent release to a further ten republican prisoners.
- Wednesday 24 January 1996: Dated 22 January, the report of the
International Body on arms decommissioning (also known as the
Mitchell Report) set out the six "Mitchell Principles" under which
parties could enter into all-party talks, and suggested a number of
confidence building measures, including an "elective process". The
main conclusion was that decommissioning of paramilitary arms
should take place during (rather than before or after) all-party
talks, in a twin-track process. The report was welcomed by
the Irish government and opposition parties, the (SDLP) and the Alliance Party. It
was accepted as a way forward by Sinn Féin and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP),
who both had paramilitary links. The moderate unionist party, the
UUP expressed reservations, and the more hardline DUP rejected it
outright.
- Monday 29 January 1996: Twin-track talks began with
the SDLP, the Progressive Unionist Party,
and the UDP. The UUP declined the invitation.
- Friday 9 February 1996: One hour after a statement ending their
ceasefire, the Provisional IRA exploded a large lorry bomb near South
Quay DLR station in the London Docklands, killing two people,
injuring 40, and causing £150 million worth of damage. The IRA
ceasefire had lasted 17 months and 9 days. The IRA statement said
that the ceasefire was ended because "the British government acted
in bad faith with Mr Major and the unionist leaders
squandering this unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict"
by refusing to talk with Sinn Féin. Albert Reynolds, while not
supporting the terrorist action, concurred with the IRA analysis.
As Major's Government had lost its majority in Parliament and was
depending on the Unionists to stay in power, it was widely accused
of pro-Unionist bias as a result. On the other hand, on the day of
the bombing, Major had been preparing to meet with Sinn Féin
representatives at Downing Street for the first time.
Towards another
ceasefire
- Friday 16 February 1996: There was a large peace rally at City
Hall, Belfast, and a number of smaller rallies at venues across
Northern Ireland.
- Wednesday 28 February 1996: After a summit in London, the
British and Irish prime ministers set a date (10 June 1996) for the
start of all-party talks, and stated that participants would have
to agree to abide by the six Mitchell Principles and that there
would be preparatory 'proximity talks'.
- Monday 4 March 1996: Proximity talks were launched at Stormont. The
Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party refused to
join, and Sinn Féin were again refused entry, ostensibly because of
IRA violence.
- Thursday 21 March 1996: Elections to determine who would take
part in all-party negotiations were announced. The elections would
be to a Forum of 110 delegates, with 90 elected directly and 20
'top-up' seats from the ten parties polling the most votes.
- Thursday 18 April 1996: The Northern Ireland (Entry to
Negotiations) Act was passed at Westminster. 30 parties and
individuals were to take part in the election.
- Monday 20 May 1996: Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, said
that SF was prepared to accept the six Mitchell
Principles, if the other parties agreed to them.
- Thursday 30 May 1996: In the Forum Elections, with a 65%
turnout, the UUP won 30 seats, the SDLP 21, the DUP 24, Sinn Féin
17, the Alliance Party 7, the United
Kingdom Unionist Party 3, the Progressive Unionist Party
2, the Ulster Democratic Party 2, the
Northern Ireland Women's
Coalition 2, and Labour 2 seats.
- Friday 7 June 1996: IRA members killed Jerry McCabe, a
Detective in the Garda Síochána (the Irish police
service), during a post office robbery in Adare, County Limerick, in the Republic.
- Monday 10 June 1996: All-party negotiations (the 'Stormont
talks') began in Stormont. Sinn Féin were again refused entry.
- Friday 14 June 1996: The Northern Ireland Forum met for
the first time in Belfast. Sinn Féin declined to take part due to
their policy of not taking seats in either the Westminster
parliament or a regional "partitionist" Northern Ireland parliament
(latter policy changed in 1998).
- Saturday 15 June 1996: The IRA exploded a bomb in Manchester, which destroyed a large
part of the city centre and injured 200 people. Niall Donovan (28),
a Catholic man, was
stabbed to death near Dungannon, County Tyrone by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF).
- Thursday 20 June 1996: A IRA bomb factory was found by Gardaí in the Republic. In response the
Irish government ended all contacts with Sinn Féin.
- Thursday 11 July 1996: Hugh Annesley, then
Chief Constable of the RUC, reversed his decision and ordered his
officers to allow the Orange march to pass along the Garvaghy Road
in Portadown. No music
was played as the parade passed the disputed area. This was
followed by nationalist protests, and riots in republican
areas.
- Saturday 13 July 1996: A republican car-bomb attack on a hotel
in Enniskillen
injured 17. The Continuity Irish
Republican Army later claimed responsibility. The SDLP
announced that it would withdraw from the Northern Ireland
Forum.
- Monday 15 July 1996: A committee to review parades in Northern
Ireland (the Independent Review of Parades and Marches) was
announced.
- Thursday 30 January 1997: The Report of the Independent Review
of Parades and Marches (The North Report) recommended
setting up an independent commission to review
contentious parades. Most nationalists welcomed the review but
unionists attacked it as an erosion of the right to freedom of
assembly. A period of "further consultation" was
announced.
- Wednesday 5 March 1997: Stormont Talks adjourned until 3 June,
to allow the parties to contest the forthcoming general
election.
- Sunday 27 April 1997: In Portadown Robert Hamill, a Catholic, was severely
beaten in a sectarian attack by a gang of loyalists. Hamill later
died from his injuries.
- Thursday 1 May 1997: A general election was held across the UK.
The Labour
Party won a majority and formed a government for the first time
since 1974. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin had increased its share
of the vote to 16%, becoming the third largest party in the region,
and winning two seats: Gerry Adams and Martin
McGuinness were their new MPs. The Ulster Unionist Party won 10
seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, the Democratic
Unionist Party 2, and the United
Kingdom Unionist Party 1.
- Friday 16 May 1997: Tony Blair, the new British Prime Minister,
endorsed the Framework Documents, the Mitchell Report on
decommissioning, and the criteria for inclusion in all-party talks.
He stated that he valued Northern Ireland's place in the United
Kingdom, and suggested that the Republic of Ireland should amend Articles 2
and 3 of its constitution, and indicated that officials would
meet Sinn Féin to clarify certain issues.
- Wednesday 21 May 1997: In local government Elections the UUP
remained the largest unionist party, and the SDLP the largest
nationalist party, though they lost control of Belfast and Derry city councils respectively.
- Sunday 1 June 1997: Gregory Taylor, an off-duty RUC constable,
died following a beating he received from a loyalist mob. It was
later disclosed that Taylor had used his mobile phone to try to
summon help from the local police station but no car was available
to come to his aid.
- Wednesday 25 June 1997: The British and Irish governments gave
the IRA 5 weeks to call an unequivocal ceasefire. 6 weeks later
Sinn Féin would be allowed into the talks (due to resume on 15
September).
- Sunday 6 July 1997: The Orange Order parade at Drumcree was
again permitted to go ahead, after a large operation by the RUC and
British Army. This
was followed by violent protests in nationalist areas.
- Saturday 12 July 1997: After an earlier decision by the Orange
Order to reroute seven of their marches, the Twelfth parades across Northern Ireland
passed off peacefully.
- Wednesday 16 July 1997: The DUP and the UKUP left the Stormont
talks in protest at what they claimed was a lack of clarification
by the British government on decommissioning.
- Saturday 19 July 1997: The IRA announced the renewal of its
1994 ceasefire as of 12.00pm on 20 July 1997.
Towards
agreement
- Tuesday 9 September 1997: Representatives of Sinn Féin entered
Stormont to sign a pledge that the party would abide by the Mitchell
Principles.
- Thursday 11 September 1997: The IRA said that they "would have
problems with sections of the Mitchell Principles", but that what
Sinn Féin decided to do "was a matter for them".
- Monday 15 September 1997: Multi-Party Talks resumed. The Ulster
Unionist Party, the Progressive Unionist Party,
and the Ulster Democratic Party instead attended a special meeting
at the UUP headquarters, and re-entered the talks on
Wednesday.
- Tuesday 7 October 1997: Substantive talks began at
Stormont.
- Friday 17 October 1997: The Parades Commission was announced.
Its membership and powers attracted criticism from unionists.
- Thursday 6 November 1997: Around 12 members of Sinn Féin
resigned in protest at the acceptance of the Mitchell
Principles.
- Sunday 9 November 1997: During a radio interview on the tenth
anniversary of the Enniskillen
bomb which killed 11 people on 8 November 1987, Gerry Adams
said he was "deeply sorry about what happened".
- Monday 26 January 1998: The talks moved to Lancaster House in
London. The UDP were barred from the talks, following UFF/UDA
involvement in three more murders. The governments stated that the
UDP could re-enter the talks if the UFF maintained its renewed
ceasefire.
- Thursday 29 January 1998: Tony Blair, the British Prime
Minister, announced a new inquiry into "Bloody Sunday" in Derry on 30 January 1972. This inquiry became
known as the Saville Inquiry. The previous inquiry was
widely regarded as a whitewash.
- Friday 20 February 1998: The British and Irish governments
announced a 17 day exclusion of Sinn Féin from the talks because of
IRA involvement in two killings in Belfast on 9 and 10 February
1998. Sinn Féin organised street protests over their
exclusion.
- Monday 23 March 1998: Sinn Féin agreed to rejoin the talks,
following the expiry of their exclusion a fortnight before, on 9
March.
- Wednesday 25 March 1998: The Chairman of the talks, Senator
George Mitchell, set a two week deadline for an agreement.
- Thursday 9 April 1998: Talks continued past the midnight
deadline. Jeffrey Donaldson, who had been a
member of the Ulster Unionist Party talks team walked out, causing
speculation about a split in the party.
- Good Friday, 10
April 1998: At 5.36pm (over 17 hours after the deadline) George
Mitchell stated: "I am pleased to announce that the two governments
and the political parties in Northern Ireland have reached
agreement". It emerged later that President Clinton of the USA had made a
number of telephone calls to party leaders to encourage them to
reach this agreement.
- Saturday 15 August 1998 Omagh bombing by the Real IRA resulted in 29
deaths and hundreds of injuries. It was the single worst incident
in Northern Ireland during the conflict.
The agreement, known as the Belfast Agreement, included a
devolved, inclusive government, prisoner release, troop reductions,
targets for paramilitary decommissioning, provisions for polls on
Irish reunification, and civil rights measures
and "parity of
esteem" for the two communities in Northern Ireland.
The
referendum campaign
The agreement was to be approved by a referendum in Northern
Ireland, and a separate referendum was to be held in the Republic to approve the necessary
change to
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. The people of the
Republic overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement, but the campaign in
Northern Ireland was more controversial, and the result less
predictable.
The pro-agreement campaign framed the question as progress
versus stalemate, as a struggle between intolerant bigots with no solutions on the
one hand, and moderates with a constructive way forward on the
other. The agreement was promoted to the nationalist community as
delivering civil rights, inclusive government,
recognition of their Irishness, and a peaceful route to Irish
reunification. To the unionist community, it was presented as
bringing an end to the troubles, a guaranteed end to paramilitaries
and their weapons, and a guarantee of the Union for the foreseeable
future. There was a massive government-funded campaign for the
"Yes" vote, with large posters posted across Northern Ireland. One
such poster featured five handwritten "pledges" by Prime Minister
Tony Blair in an
attempt to obtain the unionist "Yes" vote - this is despite the
fact that none of the wording from these "pledges" was actually
contained within the agreement that was being put to the
electorate. These "pledges" were:
- No change to the status of Northern Ireland without the express
consent of the people
- The power to take decisions to be returned from London to
Northern Ireland, with accountable North-South co-operation
- Fairness and equality for all
- Those who use or threaten violence to be excluded from the
government of Northern Ireland
- Prisoners to be kept in prison unless violence is given up for
good
On the republican side, the "No" campaign seemed to concentrate
on the purity of the republican ideal of complete and absolute
independence from Britain. In this view any compromise, however
temporary, on the goal of Irish unity (or the right to pursue the
armed struggle) was depicted as a betrayal of those who had fought
and died for Ireland. Decommissioning of weapons and an end to
paramilitary activity was portrayed as surrender to the British.
The principle of consent was represented as a unionist veto, as it
meant political progress would be almost impossible without
unionist participation. It was pointed out that the agreement
accepted partition. The state and its
institutions would remain hostile to the republican community,
claimed the critics. Despite these misgivings, the vast majority of
republicans voted yes, with only some tiny unrepresentative parties
(such as Republican Sinn Féin) on the
nationalist side advocating a No vote.
On the unionist side, the "No" campaign was much stronger and
stressed what were represented as concessions to republicanism and terrorism, particularly the
release of convicted paramilitaries from prison (often those who
had killed friends and relatives of unionist politicians and were
serving "life" sentences), the presence of "terrorists" (by which
they meant Sinn Féin) in government, the lack of guarantees on
decommissioning, the perceived one-way nature of the process in
moving towards a united Ireland, the lack of trust in all those who
would be implementing the agreement, the erosion of British
identity, the destruction of the Royal Ulster Constabulary,
the vague language of the agreement, and the rushed nature in which
the agreement was written.
It was widely expected that the nationalist community would
endorse the agreement. As the vote approached, unionist opinion
appeared divided into those who supported the agreement, those who
opposed the agreement on principle, and those who welcomed
agreement, but still had major misgivings about aspects like
prisoner release and the role of paramilitaries and parties
associated with them (particularly Sinn Féin). The fear among the
Agreement's supporters was that there would not be a majority (or
only a slim majority) of the unionist community in favour of the
agreement, and that its credibility would be thereby
undermined.
The votes
In the Republic, the results of the vote
to change the constitution in line with the
agreement were:
| Electorate: |
2,753,127 |
| Turnout: |
1,545,395 (56%) |
| Valid votes: |
1,528,331 |
| Votes in favour: |
1,442,583 (94.4%) |
| Votes against: |
85,748 (5.6%) |
| Spoiled votes: |
17,064 |
In Northern Ireland, the results of the vote on the agreement
were:
| Electorate: |
1,175,403 |
| Turnout: |
953,583 (81%) |
| Valid votes: |
951,845 |
| Votes in favour: |
676,966 (71.1%) |
| Votes against: |
274,879 (28.9%) |
| Spoiled votes |
1,738 |
There is no official breakdown of how the nationalist
and unionist communities voted, but CAIN, the
Conflict Archive on the Internet, estimated that the overwhelming
majority (up to 97%) of members of the largely Catholic nationalist community in Northern
Ireland voted 'Yes'. Their estimate of the largely Protestant unionist community's support for
the agreement was between 51 and 53 per cent.
Complicating matters for the calculation was the turnout, with a
substantial increase over elections in many traditionally unionist
areas, whilst the turnout was close to that for elections in
staunch nationalist areas. Approximately 147,000 more people voted
in the referendum than in the subsequent Assembly elections, though
it is estimated that there was also some deliberate abstentions by
hardline republican voters.
The referendum was calculated centrally so it is not clear what
the geographic spread of voting was, but an exit poll found that
out of all eighteen constituencies, only Ian Paisley's North
Antrim stronghold voted against the Agreement.
The pro-agreement result was greeted at the time with relief by
supporters of the agreement. However, the scale of sceptical and
anti-agreement sentiment in the unionist community, their continued
misgivings over aspects of the agreement, and differing
expectations from the Agreement on the part of the two communities
were to cause difficulties in the following years.
Implementation
- The Northern Ireland Assembly made a good start. However, it
was suspended several times mainly because of unionist anger at the
IRA's refusal to decommission their weapons "transparently".
Elections have carried on nonetheless and voting has polarised
towards the more radical parties - the DUP and Sinn Féin. In 2004,
negotiations were held to attempt to re-establish the Assembly and
the Executive. These negotiations failed but the governments
believed they were very close to a deal and published their
proposed deal as the Comprehensive Agreement. This
document is expected to form the basis of any future deal.
- Although the Royal Ulster Constabulary was
renamed as the Police Service of
Northern Ireland on the 4th of November 2001, Sinn Féin, the
second-largest party, did not declare its acceptance of the Police
Service of Northern Ireland until the 28 January 2007 as part of
the St
Andrews Agreement. A 2005 survey[1] indicates that
83% of the Northern Ireland population have "some", "a lot", or
"total" confidence in the police's ability to provide a day-to-day
policing service.
- No IRA weapons were decommissioned until October 2001, and the
final consignment to be "put beyond use" was announced on 26th of
September 2005. There has also been allegations of IRA involvement
in espionage at the Stormont
Assembly (which prompted the UUP to collapse the Assembly), in
training the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas, in several high-profile
murders, and allegations of major robberies such as that of
approximately £1 million of goods from a wholesaler and in excess
of £26 million in the Northern Bank robbery. Loyalist,
and to a lesser extent republican paramilitary organisations, are
known to be currently involved in large scale racketeering operations, and are still
believed to be actively recruiting and training new members.
Endgame
In January 2005, Robert McCartney was
murdered after a pub brawl, by IRA members. After a high-profile
campaign by his sisters and fiancée, the IRA admitted its members
were responsible and offered to shoot them. The McCartney sisters
turned down their offer, but the episode badly damaged the standing
of the IRA in Belfast.
In April 2005, Gerry
Adams called for the IRA to lay down its weapons. It agreed [2] on 28 July 2005
calling for its volunteers to use "exclusively peaceful means". It
would not disband, but simply use peaceful means to achieve its
aims.
- Apart from some worn pistols from the Loyalist Volunteer Force, no
other loyalist paramilitary group has decommissioned any of their
weapons, and all have been involved in several murders, including
major feuds, both internal and with other loyalist groups. Most
Unionists maintain that the loyalist refusal is less of a stumbling
block to the restoration of the assembly because, unlike the
Provisional Irish
Republican Army, parties with formal links to loyalist
paramilitary groups do not have significant elected representation
within the Assembly, despite their high levels of support.
Throughout their existence, loyalist paramilitaries have been
described by some (including Taoiseach Albert Reynolds) as "reactionary",
i.e., that they respond to the attacks of republican groups, and
some commentators claim that if there were no violent republican
activity, loyalist violence would cease to exist. Others contend
that these claims of solely "reactionary" loyalist attacks are hard
to square with the emergence of militant loyalism in the civil
rights era (i.e., when the IRA was dormant), and their
preference for attacks on Catholics with no paramilitary
connections, rather than attacking the more dangerous members of
republican organisations. In the event that full transparent
decommissioning by republican paramilitaries is completed, then it
is widely expected by political commentators that loyalist
paramilitary organisations would be put under heavy pressure to
follow suit.
- While killings and bombings have been almost
eliminated, "lower level" violence and crime, including
"punishment" beatings, extortion and drug dealing continue,
particularly in loyalist areas. Paramilitary organisations are
still perceived to have considerable control in some areas,
particularly the less affluent. Details of the perceived current
level of activity by paramilitary organisations were published in a
2005 report by the Independent Monitoring Commission[3].
On 28 July 2005, the IRA announced the end of its campaign, and
promised complete decommissioning of all its weapons, to be
witnessed by clergymen from Catholic and Protestant churches. The
statement read:
- "The leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann has formally
ordered an end to the armed campaign. This will take effect from
4pm this afternoon.
- All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All
Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely
political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful
means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities
whatsoever.
- The IRA leadership has also authorised our representative
to engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put
its arms beyond use in a way which will further enhance public
confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible.
- We have invited two independent witnesses, from the
Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this.
- The Army Council took these decisions
following an unprecedented internal discussion and consultation
process with IRA units and Volunteers.
- We appreciate the honest and forthright way in which the
consultation process was carried out and the depth and content of
the submissions. We are proud of the comradely way in which this
truly historic discussion was conducted.
- The outcome of our consultations show very strong support
among IRA Volunteers for the Sinn Féin peace strategy.
- There is also widespread concern about the failure of the
two governments and the unionists to fully engage in the peace
process. This has created real difficulties.
- The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland fully
support this process.
- They and friends of Irish unity throughout the world want
to see the full implementation of the Good Friday
Agreement.
- Notwithstanding these difficulties our decisions have been
taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives,
including our goal of a united Ireland. We believe there is now an
alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our
country.
- It is the responsibility of all Volunteers to show
leadership, determination and courage. We are very mindful of the
sacrifices of our patriot dead, those who went to jail, Volunteers,
their families and the wider republican base. We reiterate our view
that the armed struggle was entirely legitimate.
- We are conscious that many people suffered in the conflict.
There is a compelling imperative on all sides to build a just and
lasting peace.
- The issue of the defence of nationalist and republican
communities has been raised with us. There is a responsibility on
society to ensure that there is no re-occurrence of the pogroms of 1969 and the early
1970s.
- There is also a universal responsibility to tackle
sectarianism in all its forms.
- The IRA is fully committed to the goals of Irish unity and
independence and to building the Republic outlined in the 1916
Proclamation.
- We call for maximum unity and effort by Irish republicans
everywhere.
- We are confident that by working together Irish republicans
can achieve our objectives.
- Every Volunteer is aware of the import of the decisions we
have taken and all Óglaigh are compelled to fully comply with these
orders.
- There is now an unprecedented opportunity to utilise the
considerable energy and goodwill which there is for the peace
process. This comprehensive series of unparalleled initiatives is
our contribution to this and to the continued endeavours to bring
about independence and unity for the people of Ireland."
The IICD
confirmed in its final report of September 2005 that the IRA had
decommissioned all of it weapons.
The definitive end of The Troubles and thus of the Peace Process
came in 2007. Following the St Andrews Agreement of October
2006, and March 2007
elections, the Democratic Unionist Party and
Sinn Féin formed a government in May 2007. In July 2007, the British Army formally
ended Operation Banner, their mission in
Northern Ireland which began 38 years earlier, in 1969.
On 8 December 2007, while visiting President Bush in the White House with the
Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, the
Deputy First Minister, said to the press "Up until the 26 March
this year, Ian Paisley and I never had a conversation about
anything – not even about the weather – and now we have worked very
closely together over the last seven months and there's been no
angry words between us. ... This shows we are set for a new
course."[3][4]
On 7 March 2009, Two British soldiers were shot dead and a
further two soldiers were injured, two pizza delivery people were
also injured in an audacious gun attack at Masserene British Army
base at 21:40BST. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the
attack.[5]
See also
References
- ^
The British government agree that it is for the people of the
island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts
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. See
the following link to the parliamentary debate:
- ^
Anne-Marie Logue, "The acid test for unionist
democrats is on the councils" Irish News Online
03/10/05
- ^
Staff. Paisley and McGuinness in US
trip, BBC 3 December 2007, (Reference for Deputy First
Minister)
- ^
Martina Purdy 'Charming' ministers woo
president BBC, 8 December 2007 (Reference for the Quote)
- ^
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7930837.stm
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