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Hurdles loom for Northern Ireland peace deal
April 10, 1998
Party representatives announce they have reached an agreement
Web posted at: 2:50 p.m. EDT (1850 GMT)In this story:
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Overcoming last-minute hitches and decades of mistrust, political leaders mapping Northern Ireland's future reached agreement Friday on a pact aimed at ending the 30-year conflict over the British-ruled province that has claimed more than 3,200 lives.
"I have been in politics for 30 years and never have I felt this sense of gratification and responsibility and gratitude that I feel today," said former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who has overseen the Belfast negotiations for 22 often-deadlocked months.
George Mitchell announces the deal 
279K/27 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
Members of the plenary meeting announce the agreement
George Mitchell, peace talks chairman, explains the agreement For the 67-page plan to take effect, it must still be confirmed by referendums in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. In addition, the Irish and British parliaments must enact enabling legislation.
The complex, compromise deal would mark the biggest upheaval in the governing of Northern Ireland since the mostly Catholic island of Ireland was partitioned in 1921, creating Northern Ireland as a Protestant-majority province.
What's at stake?
George Mitchell At the core of the plan is a new power-sharing assembly of Northern Ireland's Protestants and Catholics, who will govern the province together. The new Belfast assembly will be expected to cooperate formally with the Irish Republic in a council of lawmakers from both sides of the border.
The aim is to:
- Satisfy Northern Ireland's Protestant majority (known as "unionists," or "loyalists") by preserving links with Britain.
- Build closer ties with Ireland, a demand of Northern Ireland Catholics (known as "nationalists") who still hope to be reunited one day with the Irish Republic.
Clinton credited
British government officials said the breakthrough came after U.S. President Clinton spoke by telephone Friday afternoon with the main pro-British Unionist leader, David Trimble; Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams; Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern; and Irish nationalist leader John Hume.
Blair British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman told reporters the conversations with Clinton "helped them to get a sense of how much people wanted this (peace deal) to happen."
He said Trimble's Ulster Unionist Party previously had raised concerns about arrangements for the handover of paramilitary weapons. Trimble also sought assurances that members of a future Northern Ireland assembly would have no links with extremists.
Adams still will have to sell the compromise to his nationalist constituents and to Sinn Fein's armed wing, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), whose cease-fire last July made the peace talks possible.
In turn, Protestants in Northern Ireland will have to be convinced the plan will not dilute the province's centuries- old ties with Britain. Two Protestant parties that feared such an outcome boycotted the talks.
Details of the plan
Adams The agreement was worked out by eight participating political parties plus the governments of Britain and Ireland.
Mitchell had called for a settlement by midnight Thursday. But the intense negotiations at Stormont, the center of British administration in east Belfast, went well beyond the deadline and into Friday afternoon.
The accord will create three interconnected bodies of government within Northern Ireland, between the north and the rest of Ireland, and between the Irish Republic and United Kingdom as a whole:
- Northern Ireland Assembly: The election for the new 108-seat assembly is tentatively scheduled for June. The three-week campaign and vote will provide an immediate test of whether the public wants to be represented by moderates or hard-liners.
The share of seats each party wins will determine the number of top committee, or Cabinet, posts it holds. For an issue to be approved, it would have to get at least 70 percent of the votes -- a safeguard against simple majority voting that would allow the Protestant bloc to outvote the Catholics.
The Deal
Highlights, concerns
Sounds, voices
What's next
The Background
Timeline
The Profiles
Gerry Adams
Bertie Ahern
Tony Blair
George Mitchell
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam
David Trimble
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Northern Ireland via our 3-D globe
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The Conflict in Northern Ireland
- North-South Council: The Irish parliament in Dublin must pass a raft of legislation relating to the North-South Council, which will bring together lawmakers from Belfast and Dublin to promote joint policymaking across Ireland.
- East-West Council: Lawmakers from the Irish Republic will meet regularly with members of the British Parliament from London, the Northern Ireland assembly and with representatives of the new parliament for Scotland and assembly for Wales. The council will have no administrative or legislative powers.
In addition, these other steps are necessary for the plan to be implemented:
- Two votes will be held on the same day in both parts of Ireland next month, with voters asked to approve the accord in its entirety. The referendum in the Irish Republic alsowill ask voters to amend the territorial claim to Northern Ireland contained in the country's constitution.
Only a simple majority is required to ratify the agreement, but both governments want overwhelming majorities to send the signal that political violence has no public support. A majority "no" vote in either election would force politicians to start over.
- Lawmakers in the British Parliament must pass legislation authorizing the transfer of powers from the government's Northern Ireland Office to the new Belfast assembly. Other legislation will set the parameters for an assembly election.
Correspondent Richard Blystone, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Message board:
Related stories:
- Clinton pulls overnighter to boost N. Ireland peace talks - April 10, 1998
- Last day, last hope for Northern Ireland peace talks - April 9, 1998
- Peace hangs in the balance as N. Ireland deadline nears - April 8, 1998
- Mitchell presents draft peace plan for Northern Ireland - April 6, 1998
Related sites:
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- Office of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- Sinn Féin
- The Irish Republican Army - and the armed struggle in Irish politics
- Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP)
- Ulster Unionist Party
- The Irish News and Belfast Morning News- Northern Ireland's largest morning newspaper
- Northern Ireland Public Service Web
- Britain in the USA -- Northern Ireland: Frameworks for the Future
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