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

made ineligible for the prisoner release scheme, as they had not agreed to the ceasefire when the Agreement was made.

The releases were a radical gesture designed to win the support of the broader Republican and Loyalist communities. However the scheme caused outrage amongst politicians and the families of victims, as known terrorist killers such as Patrick Magee, the man responsible for the 1984 Brighton bombing were set free - on the day of Magee's release Blair admitted the releases were "very hard to stomach". In 1999 the Conservative leader, William Hague, called for the end of early releases.

The all-party talks at Hillsborough Castle ended with a call for the establishment of an executive. Sinn Fein claimed it was unable to bring about the decommissioning of IRA weapons before the formation of the executive. This revelation caused problems as the UUP was obstinate that Sinn Fein must guarantee IRA decommissioning as an instrumental aspect of the peace process and precondition of forming the executive. Blair set an "absolute deadline" for agreement on the formation of an executive, threatening to suspend the Assembly if the parties could not resolve the matter. Although the deadline passed without agreement, Blair agreed to an extension. However, a later meeting of the Assembly convened to nominate ministers for the executive collapsed when the UUP refused to attend because of Sinn Fein's continued refusal to guarantee IRA decommissioning. Talks at Stormont to resolve the dispute also failed, and the panic- stricken governments in London and Dublin made requests for former US senator George Mitchell, who had help establish the original Agreement, re-enter the peace process in Northern Ireland.

At the end of 1999 Mitchell put forward his plan for rescuing the peace process and allowing the establishment of a power-sharing government. It involved the IRA agreeing to make a statement on decommissioning as soon as the executive was set up. Mitchell's proposal was supported by the Ulster Unionist Council - paving the way for devolution within days. 10 ministers were nominated to the Northern Ireland Executive and laws to enable devolution to take place were rushed through both houses of Parliament, so at midnight December 1 1999 power passed from Westminster to Belfast. The following day the Irish government retracted the territorial claim to Northern Ireland from its constitution and the Anglo-Irish agreement was revoked. The new Northern Ireland Executive met for the first time and the IRA appointed a representative to the International Body on Decommissioning. The peace process appeared to be progressing.

As the Assembly members and ministers settled into governing Northern Ireland, the Secretary of State, Peter Mandelson, told the House of Commons he endorsed the Patten Commission proposals on policing reform. Also Mandelson later informed the House of Commons he would suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly if IRA decommissioning did not follow. This was designed to stop the resignation of First Minister David Trimble, a move that would have caused the collapse of the Assembly. However the IRA announced it had not entered into any agreements to decommission arms and despite furious last- minute negotiations, no deal was struck on decommissioning and Mandelson signed the order to suspend the Assembly.

The IRA responded by announcing an end to its co-operation with the Independent Commission on Decommissioning because of the suspension of the Assembly. Mandelson reported to Westminster weapons decommissioning would not take place by the deadline set out in the Good Friday Agreement. Trimble, attending St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington, announced he would be prepared to return to an Assembly without prior IRA decommissioning, provided the issue was addressed. On his return to Northern Ireland Trimble faced a challenge for the leadership of the UPP from Reverend Martin Smyth who was defeated 56.8% to 43.2%.

In May 2000 the IRA released a statement announcing its readiness to begin a process that would "completely and verifiably" put its arms beyond use. The statement followed a proposal to restore the Assembly, linked to a firm commitment to decommissioning. Details suggest that two international figures will inspect IRA arms dumps and confirm that the weapons are not being used. The Unionists were sceptical about the sincerity of the IRA's claim however. Nevertheless Mandelson announced the order to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly in light of developments with the IRA and decommissioning.