Chapter The "Troubles" of Irish Politics - Study Guide by History

With a history of stalling points there once again seemed to have emerged a gap impossible to breach. In 1995, Martin McGuinness believed 'if the British had mentioned decommissioning' before the ceasefire 'it is my opinion that there would have been no cessation'. Progress was also hindered by the resurgence of violence in the Province during the Protestant marching season. The issue came to a head in Portadown when the RUC blocked an Orange parade, which led to riots. Nationalists were outraged that the Orangemen were allowed to proceed down the mainly Catholic Garvaghy Road.

The former US Senator George Mitchell headed a separate body formed to deal with the problem of decommissioning arms and bring about a solution. A report in 1996 proposed that decommissioning should take place during the peace negotiations and called on all parties to accept six principles before entering the talks. Foremost was that all parties should subscribe to democratic principles and abstain from violent means to further their political aims. However five days after the publication of the report, the IRA ended its ceasefire with a bomb at Canary Wharf in London, which killed two people.

At the end of February, the two governments set a date for multi-party talks agreeing that Sinn Fein would be excluded until the IRA restored its ceasefire. Elections took place to decide which parties could take part in negotiations and Sinn Fein won a place but its delegation was refused because of the IRA's continuing violence. Five days later an IRA bomb destroyed a Manchester shopping centre. A new ceasefire did not come until July 1997.

Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party to a landslide victory over the Conservatives, bringing to an end a period of 18 years of Conservative government, dramatically altered British politics. The IRA seemed to believe that progress could now be made. Within days, the new Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam, gave assurances that if the IRA agreed to a ceasefire, Sinn Fein could enter the talks. Mowlam also persuaded Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble to join - the peace talks began in September 1997.

In April 1998 a 65-page Good Friday Agreement was drawn up, proposing devolution of some central government power to a new Northern Ireland Assembly. It was welcomed by the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Sinn Fein, though the Democratic Unionist Party leader Rev. Ian Paisley denounced it as "treacherous". Several Unionist MPs also defected from the party to oppose the Agreement. The first all-Ireland poll since the general election of 1918 saw the Agreement approved by 71.2% of voters in Northern Ireland and 95% of the Republic of Ireland electorate. The Assembly was elected in September, with Ulster Unionists claiming the largest share of the vote and 28 seats. The SDLP took 24, with Sinn Fein winning 18. The Assembly voted to accept a report on the devolution of powers from Westminster and a deadline of 10 March was set to establish the executive. The Good Friday Agreement was a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland peace process, seeking to address and redefine relationships within the range of political groups active in Northern Ireland, form a relationship between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and improve Anglo-Irish relations with the objective of long-term settlement.

However the process had been, and still is, strewn with difficulties and obstacles. The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble insisted that Blair amend the Agreement to ensure that no one in the proposed Northern Ireland Assembly could take office if they had links to paramilitary groups that were still engaged in violence. Blair refused to make such amendments but offered an assurance that politicians linked to active paramilitary groups who refused to hand decommission arms would be prevented from taking office in any Northern Ireland government. Blair also promised decommissioning would have to begin immediately after the formation of the Assembly.

One of the most controversial parts of the Good Friday Agreement was the decision to grant early release to certain paramilitary prisoners. Up to 500 Loyalist and Republican prisoners sentenced before the Agreement were set to be released while prisoners sentenced to five or more years in prison had their sentences reduced by a third. Controversially those paramilitary prisoners serving life sentences were promised terms comparable to crimes not terrorist-related. However four of the most violent paramilitary groups (the Continuity IRA, the Real IRA, the Red Hand Defenders and the Orange Volunteers) were