9.12.04
Guardian
Ulster: the deal that almost was
Owen Bowcott in Belfast
Thursday December 9, 2004
The Guardian
The British and Irish governments offered a tantalising glimpse of how close Northern Ireland's politicians came to restoring power sharing and ending all paramilitary activity as they yesterday released the text of a proposed final agreement to put devolution back on track.
An extraordinarily detailed document set out the basis of the agreement, illustrating how little now separates the province's politicians, and how consensus had been reached on a number of previously contentious points.
However, in a joint press conference in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Tony Blair and the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, conceded that the vexed issue of whether or not photographs should be produced of the disposal of IRA arms forestalled a deal.
It emerged yesterday that a proposed compromise deal on photographs suggested that pictures would have been taken but not published until next March when a new Northern Ireland executive had been established. The relevant paragraph stated: "The IRA representative has told us that the IRA will have photgraphs of the weapons and material involved taken."
The fact that the documents also contained an expected IRA statement suggests that until recently there was a belief that a deal had been reached.
It said: "All IRA volunteers have been given specific instructions not to engage in any activity which might thereby endanger the new agreement." The IRA, it added, would "move into a new mode that reflects its determination to see the transition to a totally peaceful society".
The progress that has been made was welcomed by both governments at the joint conference. "To have agreed all these [other] matters is very considerable progress," Mr Blair said. "But there's one issue that remains, the transparency of the decommissioning process and how it should be done."
He compared the peace process to climbing a mountain. "Just when you think you have reached the peak, you realise you have a another way to go. On the other hand I look back and see the vast expanse of territory we have climbed. That extra bit which we have to go, once would have looked unattainable ... is now indeed attainable."
There was an "inevitability" about the peace process, he said. "I can't see it going backwards. This is a transformed landscape in which we operate."
The documents released yesterday, Proposals by the British and Irish governments for a comprehensive agreement, included statements that would have been published by the IRA and the Democratic Unionist party, as well as a timetable for the destruction of republican arms by the end of the year and the establishment of a new power-sharing executive at Stormont. The province's two largest parties, at opposite ends of the political spectrum, had sorted out how power sharing would work, approved Sinn Fein's joining the Policing Board, acknowledged that weapons must be destroyed, and accepted there should be an end to all paramilitary activity.
Just how deep the divisions are over the issue of verification became apparent, however, during the day as recriminations multiplied. For Sinn Fein, photographic evidence would have provided a humiliating symbol of surrender. Without the pictures, the DUP insisted, public trust in the process could not be ensured.
In a separate press conference, the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, said: "We did not ask for just one photograph but a complete record of the decommissioning process." The breakdown in negotiations was not merely over the issue of photographs, he maintained.
The disputed status of some of the documents published yesterday runs the risk of sparking fresh arguments.
More meetings are planned next week between the party leaders, the Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, and Dermot Ahern, the Republic's minister for foreign affairs.
Ulster: the deal that almost was
Owen Bowcott in Belfast
Thursday December 9, 2004
The Guardian
The British and Irish governments offered a tantalising glimpse of how close Northern Ireland's politicians came to restoring power sharing and ending all paramilitary activity as they yesterday released the text of a proposed final agreement to put devolution back on track.
An extraordinarily detailed document set out the basis of the agreement, illustrating how little now separates the province's politicians, and how consensus had been reached on a number of previously contentious points.
However, in a joint press conference in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Tony Blair and the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, conceded that the vexed issue of whether or not photographs should be produced of the disposal of IRA arms forestalled a deal.
It emerged yesterday that a proposed compromise deal on photographs suggested that pictures would have been taken but not published until next March when a new Northern Ireland executive had been established. The relevant paragraph stated: "The IRA representative has told us that the IRA will have photgraphs of the weapons and material involved taken."
The fact that the documents also contained an expected IRA statement suggests that until recently there was a belief that a deal had been reached.
It said: "All IRA volunteers have been given specific instructions not to engage in any activity which might thereby endanger the new agreement." The IRA, it added, would "move into a new mode that reflects its determination to see the transition to a totally peaceful society".
The progress that has been made was welcomed by both governments at the joint conference. "To have agreed all these [other] matters is very considerable progress," Mr Blair said. "But there's one issue that remains, the transparency of the decommissioning process and how it should be done."
He compared the peace process to climbing a mountain. "Just when you think you have reached the peak, you realise you have a another way to go. On the other hand I look back and see the vast expanse of territory we have climbed. That extra bit which we have to go, once would have looked unattainable ... is now indeed attainable."
There was an "inevitability" about the peace process, he said. "I can't see it going backwards. This is a transformed landscape in which we operate."
The documents released yesterday, Proposals by the British and Irish governments for a comprehensive agreement, included statements that would have been published by the IRA and the Democratic Unionist party, as well as a timetable for the destruction of republican arms by the end of the year and the establishment of a new power-sharing executive at Stormont. The province's two largest parties, at opposite ends of the political spectrum, had sorted out how power sharing would work, approved Sinn Fein's joining the Policing Board, acknowledged that weapons must be destroyed, and accepted there should be an end to all paramilitary activity.
Just how deep the divisions are over the issue of verification became apparent, however, during the day as recriminations multiplied. For Sinn Fein, photographic evidence would have provided a humiliating symbol of surrender. Without the pictures, the DUP insisted, public trust in the process could not be ensured.
In a separate press conference, the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, said: "We did not ask for just one photograph but a complete record of the decommissioning process." The breakdown in negotiations was not merely over the issue of photographs, he maintained.
The disputed status of some of the documents published yesterday runs the risk of sparking fresh arguments.
More meetings are planned next week between the party leaders, the Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, and Dermot Ahern, the Republic's minister for foreign affairs.
