Dr G O' Reilly Geo Politics

8/14/2019 Dr G O' Reilly Geo Politics

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Geo-Politics

The Good Friday Agreement and the Cessation of Violence

in Northern Ireland

(Free Derry mural (July 31, 2007)

Seamus H. Duffy

7-01-2008

To. Dr. Gerry OReilly

Course Tutor.

Assignment Submitted in fullfilment of the Geo-politics to Module Coordinator during the

1st/2nd semester of Masters in Humanitarian Action Programme 2007/2008, UCD School of

Biological Science

Introduction.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Northern Ireland has been the stage of a violentconflict that took a heavy death toll and caused a great deal of human suffering.
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This essay deals with the uneasy road to peace, the cessation of violence and the signing of

the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

After a short history of the conflict, I will describe the various political and diplomatic efforts

to end it, as well as the agreements they resulted in. The question what made the IRA give up

its campaign of violence and embark upon the road to peace is also shortly addressed.The Good Friday Agreement and its tenets are discussed extensively. Special attention is

given to the role of the police. Thereafter, I will discuss the role of civil society in the peace

process.

I will then finish this essay with some conclusions.

There are many other countries in the world facing similar conflicts today. Maybe and

hopefully, the peace process in Northern Ireland may serve as an example for them and offer

some advice on how to restore peace.

Ireland Divided.

Geography

The following page provides some brief geographical details on Northern Ireland.

. Northern Ireland All of Ireland

Total Area : 5,456 square miles 32,593 square miles

Land: 5,156 square miles 31,557 square miles

Water: 300 square miles 1,036 square miles

Coastline: 232 miles 1,970 miles

Maps: Outline map NI Outline map Ireland

The island of Ireland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Britain, and to the

extreme north-west of Europe. It lays between latitude 51.5 and 55.5 degrees north,

and longitude 5.5 and 10.5 degrees West.

Ireland shares the same time zone as London that is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
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English is the first language followed by Irish and Ulster Scots.

A short History of the Conflict

Northern Ireland is that part of Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom whenin1922 the rest of Ireland broke away from

the union with the United Kingdom that was created in1800.

Irish nationalism already dates from the eighteenth century, inspired by the American War of

Independence and the French Revolution.

The Republic of Ireland gained its freedom after the war of independence in 1922. Four years

earlier, in what is known as the Easter Rising, Irish nationalists had already proclaimed

Ireland an independent Republic, but the rebellion was put down by the British after one

week.

The Anglo-Irish treaty that was signed on December 6, 1921 and ratified in1922 gave 26counties of Ireland independence and allowed 6 largely Protestant Ulster counties the choice

of opting out. A Boundary Commission was to decide on the final frontiers between North

and South. The six counties actually decided to stay part of the British Kingdom, and the

partition of Ireland was a fact.

The people of Northern Ireland were divided in three ways: there was a religious division, a

division between those who wanted the unification of Ireland and those opposed to it, and a

division between rich and poor.

To make things complicated, these divisions overlapped. (Calvocoressi,pp.186-187)

Conflict has been going on since the country was divided. The Official Irish Republican

Army decided to engage in combat against what they termed the forces of occupation. In

1969 the IRA split. One group decided to abandon violence in favor of socialist and Marxist

propaganda, as they interpreted the situation as class conflict. The other group, called the

Provisional IRA, stuck to the policy of achieving a united Ireland by the eviction of the

English by violence.

Then in August 1994,. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political branch of the IRA,

announced a cessation of violence on behalf of the IRA. Events that followed led to the IRAs

disengagement from the armed struggle and its entrance into a peaceful political process.

On April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded.

The road to peace

The governments of Britain and Ireland have been the most important international players in

the Northern Ireland context.

The British army was deployed in Belfast and South Armagh

Different British governments have tried different means to manage the conflict. BothGovernments engaged in secret talks with the paramilitaries to try to move a peace process


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forward.

As the years of violence dragged on, the nationalist community, among others, came to

realize that maybe the British presence was not the problem, and that the border was only

maintained at the insistence of the Unionists. Irish unity would only come about with

Protestant consent. This would only come about if Protestants and Catholics accepted eachothers traditions with respect, through reconciliation rather than coercion. The real border, it

was now said, was not geographical but in people minds.

In 1983 the former Irish Prime Minister Garrett FitzGerald and now the leader of Fine Gael

had established the New Ireland Forum, a think tank consisting of representatives of the

main constitutional nationalist political parties. The think-thank put forward three

constitutional options for Ireland, to be discussed with the British: a unitary 32 county state, a

confederal Ireland, and joint authority. (Patterson ,pp.296-297).

All options were to be achieved peacefully and by consent of the Irish people. British Prime

Minister Margaret Thatcher rejected all three options. Thatcher was adamant that formalBritish sovereignty over Northern Ireland was untouchable. She looked to political leaders in

Northern Ireland for more cooperation in the intelligence, security and judicial fields, because

she realized that Northern Ireland was the only place in the world where British soldiers were

losing their lives.

In November 1985 an Anglo-Irish agreement was signed by Thatcher and FitzGerald. The

Irish Republic now for the first time had a say in the running of the six counties in the North.

Thatchers prize was enhanced security cooperation. (Patterson, p.258)

The agreement was rejected by the Unionist parties of Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, the

door was open for other views that may lead to a political settlement. Dialogue was

significantly helped by the fact that the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 gave the Republic of

Ireland a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland for the first time. The agreement

also brought the problems in Northern Ireland into a new international debate with other

world powers.

The persuasion and support of both the British and Irish government was to be an important

factor in the eventual establishment of the Belfast Agreement in1998.

However, it was not until nine years after the signing of the Anglo-Irish agreement that the

IRA announced the cessation of fire in August 1994

Downing Street Declaration of 1993

In February 1993 the British and Irish governments published the Downing Street

Declaration. In this document they outlined their position regarding Northern Ireland and the

issues arising in any political settlement. The declaration laid down the basics principles of a

settlement that could create the conditions for an IRA ceasefire.

(Mulcahey, p. 6)


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It was followed by intense negotiations, in which participated Church leaders and Gerry

Adams, as well David Trimble, leader at that time of the

Ulster Unionist party. British Prime Minister John Major, American senator George Mitchell,

and especially President Clinton of the United States also played important roles. The

Downing Street Declaration offered the Republicans inducements like an end to their

banishment from the airwaves in the Republic, and an Irish version of a proposed Anglo-Irish

Framework document that provided a dynamic set of North-South institutions that

Republicans could envisage as transitional to united Ireland. However, as Irish Prime

Minister Reynolds made clear to Gerry Adams, there had to be a permanent end to theviolence.

On 31 August 1994 the IRA announced a a complete cessation of military operations. Six

weeks later, on 13 October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC, a body

representing the main loyalist paramilitary organizations) also announced a ceasefire.

In September 1997, Sinn Fein affirmed its commitment to the so-called Mitchell principles of

democracy and non violence, but the Unionists remained unconvinced. The Mitchell

principles (named after American senator George Mitchell who chaired the political talks in

the negotiating process that led to the Downing Street Declaration) included the total

disarmament of all paramilitary organizations and the end of the so-called punishment

killings and beating with-in the republican areas. The deadlock was broken as the partiesconcerned stroke a deal opening the way to peace talks. In addition, in October 1997 for the

first time unionists, loyalists, nationalists and republicans sit together to seek a solution to

troubles in Northern Ireland.

This finally led to the signature of the historic Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, a

blueprint for the comprehensive political settlement. After 25 years, it seemed that the

conflict was finally over.

Why the IRA gave up its arms

The IRA ended its long campaign without achieving its primary political objectives: to

achieve freedom and unity of Ireland by forcing a British withdrawal. (Alonso, p.1).In the

end, the political effectiveness of the IRA terrorism proved very limited.

There are many countries in the world facing similar conflicts, including armed resistance

and terrorism. These conflicts have many different causes, like nationalism and separatism, or

religious or ethnic divisions. It is therefore interesting to see why the IRA fighters laid down

their arms and were willing to participate in peace process.


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Maybe some lessons can be learned that might help to put an end to armed conflict elsewhere

in the world.

The explanation most given for the cessation of armed struggle is that IRA defeated itself'.

Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland's grew tired of the mayhem and bloodshed. This

weakened their political influence in Northern Ireland's in the "republican" community, inDerry, Belfast and South Armagh.

Increased international attention for the conflict was also important. Bill Clinton, elected in

1992 as the new president of the United States, had supported the granting of a visa to Gerry

Adams and sending an American peace envoy to Ireland during his campaign.

He was backed by a group of powerful, business-oriented Irish Americans. (Patterson,p.

323).

Another explanation is that the IRA could no longer receive arms supplies, notably from the

Libyan government.

The 9/11 attacks in New York also changed the context of the struggle. Any support for the

IRA using violence disappeared after 9/11.

America responded to the attacks with its war on terrorism, which included the Provisional

Republican army. The US Department of State stated that terrorism which was planned was a

political act of violence carried out against the civilian population by murderous terrorist

organizations such as the provisional republican army. They were in the top five of the USA

most wanted!

It is important to bear in mind that the cessation of violence and an end to the armed struggle

by the IRA was unconditional, a sine qua non, if they wanted to participate in the political

process.

The Good Friday Agreement

Despite the grounds for optimism after the 1994 cessation of violence, following political

negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the decommissioning of the weapon arsenal of the

paramilitary groups stalled. On 9 February 1996 the IRA announced that it had abandoned its

17-month-old ceasefire and would resume its campaign. The same evening a massive IRA

bomb exploded in Londons Canary Wharf, killing two people, injuring hundreds and causing

up to one billion pounds worth of damage. Political negotiations dragged on. In July 1997 theIRA renewed its ceasefire, and in April 1998 the negotiators produced the Belfast Agreement,

known generally as the Good Friday Agreement. (Mulcahy, pp. 6-7)

The Good Friday Agreement provided a blueprint for a comprehensive political settlement.

The pillar supporting it is the acceptance of the fact that the unification of the north and south

of Ireland would come about only if the majority of the Northern Irish population gave their

assent. This principle, rejected for decades by the IRA, is the pillar supporting the Good

Friday Agreement since 1998.

The agreement proposed an elected assembly in Northern Ireland, all-Ireland bodies with

executive powers, a council of the Isles to discuss matters relevant both to Ireland and the

UK, and other matters such asthe release of paramilitary prisoners.


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On 10 May 1998, the agreement was ratified in separate referenda in Northern Ireland and the

Irish Republic.

The tenets of the Good Friday Agreement

Strand 1, of the agreement defines the conflict in terms of a divide between unionist and

nationalist identities, Irish and British. This is most clearly obvious in the elections (for the

purpose of measuring cross-community support in Assembly votes) that all members of the

Northern Ireland Assembly state their affiliation as either unionist or nationalist in order to

have full voting privileges (GFA 1998: Strand1.6).

This has been described by former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald (2003), as founding the

assembly in Northern Ireland on sectarian lines between the two communities. This became

apparent in November2001, when the lack of required cross-community support in the

Assembly led to failure to elect a First and Deputy First Minister (thus preventing the

establishment of the Executive), until three Alliance Party and two Womens Coalition MLAsswitched themselves as unionist rather than other to elect a government.

The success of the institutions in Strand 2 (north-south) has been restricted by problems

encountered between the two sides in Strand 1. This was most clearly illustrated in October

2000 when First Minister David Trimble, supported by his Ulster Unionist Party and Council,

prevented Sinn Fein representatives from taking part in meetings of the cross-border bodies

until they fully cooperated with the International Body on Decommissioning of the weapons

which were in storage by the Provisional Army.

It has been suggested that Strand 3 has been the most flourishing component of the

agreement, as it was not based so much on the inter-regional British-Irish Council but on the

intergovernmental relations that built the peace process.

The developments in Strand 1 depended on close connections between the British

government and unionist parties on the one hand, and the Irish government and nationalist

parties on the other.

The framework of the agreement associates the British state ideologically, constitutionally

and politically with unionism in Northern Ireland, and with loyalists including the

paramilitaries groups that claimed to act in defense of British occupation of the six counties.

On the other hand, it linked the Irish state ideologically, constitutionally and politically with

nationalism in Northern Ireland, and with the republicans including the paramilitary groups

that were motivated by Irish people who support the return to their country of territories that

used to belong to it but are now under foreign rule.

The way forward from the Good Friday agreement, therefore, depended on the working

together of unionism and nationalism communities, rather than the establishment of a middle

ground between them.

.

But there was now a joint British and Irish responsibility towards the six counties of Northern

Ireland. Both governments openly criticized all terrorist activities. They agreed on forspeedy withdrawal of British military forces following paramilitary ceasefires, substantial


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reduction of police forces, and the reintroduction of normal judicial procedures in the court

system in Ireland.

Decommissioning

An Independent International Decommissioning body was set up to monitor the disarmament

process and actually verifying the disposal of stocks of arms. It consisted of three persons, an

American, a Swede and a Canadian. Chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell, it

included the former Prime Minister of Finland and a Canadian general, John de Chastelain.

Later, a report confirming that the Provisional Irish Army has fully decommissioned all of its

armaments has been submitted to the British and Irish governments on Monday (September

26, 2005).

Policing Issue.

A particular area where issues of diversity were very critical was the area of policing.The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has been a largely Protestant force, with only 6

percent of Catholics in 1994. The RUC, with assistance from the Community Relations

Council and various NGOs such as Mediation Network and the Understanding Conflict

Trusts, began to develop programs to deal with issues of sectarianism among the force.

This was to encourage a greater respect and understanding of the differing cultural and

political traditions in Northern Ireland. This is now part of the training programme for all

recruits for the new established Police Service of Northern Ireland. However, the new

Police Force is still only 32 % Catholic (2005 figures). This is now based on 50-50 %

recruitment from both traditions.

In deeply divided societies where state authority is deeply disputed, the question of policelegitimacy dominates the social and political landscape. Police involvement in state security

and public ensures that their actions are largely directed against those for whom the state is

already viewed as illegitimate (Mulcahy, p.3).

Despite the far-reaching nature of the Good Friday Agreement, negotiations were unable to

reach agreement on policing. An Independent Commission on Policing (ICP) was to bring

forward proposals for future policing arrangements. This resulted in the Patten Report, titled

A new beginning, that was published in September1999. The Patten report recognized the

crucial role of the police in the peace process, and advised a genuine partnership between

police and the community. In fact, it offers a human rights-based model of policing.
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It is over nine years since the Good Friday Agreement and it is several years since the

publication of the report by the Independent Commission on Policing (the Patten Report)

which had its origins in that agreement. The vision in both is clear - a new beginning to

policing in Northern Ireland.

The Government fully accepts, as it says in the Good Friday Agreement, that it is essentialthat policing structures and arrangements are such that the police service is professional,

effective and efficient, fair and impartial, free from partisan political control: accountable,

both under the law for its actions and to the community it serves; representative of the society

it polices, and operates within a coherent and cooperative criminal justice system, which

conforms with human rights norms.

The Patten Report offered itself as a model that met universal needs regarding policing and

community safety and so could be implemented in any jurisdiction. The recommendations of

the Patten Commission and the success of the police service of Northern Ireland in

implementing them are now being seen as models for many police forces around the world.

For example, developments in Northern Ireland have been implicated in US securitymeasures taken in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks.(Mulcahey, pp. 291-293).

Community Relations Commission and Council. And the role of Civil Society

When civil violence broke out in the six counties, the British government set up a

ministry for community relations and a Community Relations Commission, charged with

the promotion of policies that would improve community relations.

The commission decided to adopt as its main strategy the initiation of local community-

development programs across the six counties. The communitys leaders were ex

prisoners, from both paramilitary camps. The Commission did not survive but this

process underpinned many programs that followed in 1990s.

The Community Relations Council was an independent body established to address

issues of policy, training, and funding for community-relations work. This created a large

number of the community groups working at peace building, which the British

government financed. Issues addressed were cultural diversity, justice work, cooperation

on social and economic issues, single-identity work, "neutral" venue work, education

work, anti-sectarian and anti-intimidation work, trade union work, and political dialogue.

Mediators, Economy & Politics

The aim by the mediators was to help politicians to look at issues of mutual concern such associal issues, or the economy, and the effect the conflict was having in the North of Ireland.


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Then many local people became involved in debates from 1994 onwards; the issues were on

the social and political hostilities at interfaces (the divide between Catholic and Protestant

areas when civil unrest was at its height, at times).

Political life in Ireland was dominated during 1998 by attempts to resolve the conflict in

Northern Ireland. The resolution eventually took place on a global scale, with the directinvolvement of three governments--Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States--and

the indirect participation of other countries and blocs.

Within the republic there was support from all political parties for the proposed agreement,

which would create a Northern Ireland Assembly, establish north-south political structures,

and amend Ireland's 1937 constitution by removing from it the claim to Northern Ireland.

Initiative 92: Community Consultation

Local communities and other interested bodies and individuals were asked by the British

government to put forward their views about future plans for the six counties on a

political, economic, and social level.

Although most politicians condemned these proposals (they at first saw it as

inappropriate or intimidating), the initiative was a success in achieving its objective of

stimulating discussion on all issues. The people of the six countries from a cross-

community basis responded well, which later led to public work-shops being held. This

was to allow all sections of the community more openness to address the way forward, in

politics and social concerns, housing, police, schooling, and employment.

Education.


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The majority of Protestant children in Northern Ireland attend state controlled schools,

whilst the majority of Catholic children attend Catholic maintained schools. These are

essentially Protestant and Catholic schools.

By choosing an Integrated Education, children and their parents are contributing to the

peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland.

Academics Help

During the early and mid 90s, academics who were devoted to a dialogue process used

their skills in organizing workshops for the politicians and others to meet in places like

the United States or South Africa in order to address issues of conflict resolution. These

conferences often provided opportunities for relationships to form between the

politicians from the North of Ireland, which would have been difficult to develop at

home in the six counties given the coverage the media was giving. In addition, it was alearning process which gave the politicians many opportunities to learn from other

countries politicians about what had been useful in constructing peace in other countries.

It also enabled the politicians to gain experience in global politics at International

Churches

Some members of the Catholic clergy opened up dialogue with Sinn Fein in order to help

end violence; confidential workshops were held over a period of several years from the

mid-1990s between Sinn Fein and members of the Protestant/unionist clergy. These were

very useful in developing understanding between the opposing political parties.

District Councils

Northern Ireland has twenty-six local councils. In the late 1990s; a district council

community-relations program was established within all councils. It was time for change

although it was met with resistance by many of them. Each of the twenty-six district

councils now has at least one full-time community-relations worker addressing

coexistence needs in its local area. As their programs have had to ensure an overall

commitment from what was often politically divided councils, their existence has

marked a substantial sign of progress in the field. Such programs involved contact work,

cooperative economic development programs between the communities, cultural events

that exemplified cultural diversity, mediation, problem solving, and political discussion

in workshops at local level.

Business Community

The Clinton Administration in 1996 encouraged all political parties to get involved in

negotiations to create new business. Groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, and the

trade unions involved themselves in dialogue with Sinn Fein and the Loyalist parties,

often on issues of the economy. Their influence was very helpful, particularly as it also

put pressure on the political parties to enter into serious dialogue. The Clinton

Administration was committed to underpin the peace process in Northern Irelandthrough diplomatic and commercial efforts. The U.S. Department of Commerce has been


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at the forefront in support of those efforts through specific initiatives that encourage the

U.S. business community to access trade and investment in Northern Ireland and the

border counties of Ireland.

A United States business development delegation was sent to Belfast and Derry-City in

the North of Ireland to focus on the growth sectors of environmental technologies,information technologies and health technologies to help create more employment after

1998. More recently the economy has benefited from major investment by many large

multi-national corporations into high tech industry. These large organizations are

attracted by government subsidies and the highly skilled workforce in the North of

Ireland.

Cultural Traditions Group

Since the existence of the six counties, established by the British, expressions of cultural

and political identity have been causing or likely to cause disagreement and disputes

between people with differing views. Much has changed in the mid and late ninetys

mainly due to the work of the Cultural Traditions Group, a group of academics and

policymakers from both traditions to address issues of culture and division. Top of the

agenda, they addressed the hostility about the use of the Irish language, which was

considered illegal in certain circumstances; they ensured that radio and television

programs when delivered should represent all cultures. The Irish language received

official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday

Agreement

Civil Society and New Leaders

The community development program led to political dividends in the 1990s. In the

absence of local democracy, such work had provided for community participation in

governmental consultation processes about social, economic, and political issues.

From the 1990s onwards, this helped to generate a new breed of "community" politicians.

This developed Loyalist, and feminist thinking at grass roots level, into the already

established political mix of parties who were eventually able to sign the Belfast Agreement

and for some to get elected. Parties such as: the PUP and Sinn Fein all have considerable

experience at community and social politics.

There work provided them with contacts gained from their experience in addressing local

social issues in the communities together, and the experience gained was to prove useful for

the social and economic tasks that were to face them as representatives in the new

Assembly. In addition, in December 1998, Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein delegation meet Prime

Minister Tony Blair at Number 10 Downing Street to debate on the political process.
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"YES" Campaign

Politicians at times find its not easy to deliver on political agreements. They find it

difficult to develop policies of diversity in the face of the fears of their electorates.

Therefore there is often a need for a constituency for such validation to be developed by

their electorates. This can enable or permit them to move with energy on such policies,and here NGOs and others can play a crucial part.

Such was the case in the North of Ireland where the work of the NGOs was vital in

developing processes of dialogue, models of training, and constituencies for political

agreement both during the pre-agreement phase of the peace process and afterward. The

"YES" campaign was a cross-community, cross-party campaign organized by civil-

society leaders to secure its endorsement of the Good Friday agreement reached by the

politicians and the people in 1998.

Conclusion.

Northern Ireland has been the stage of a violent conflict that took a heavy death toll and

caused a great deal of human suffering.

In August 1994 Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political branch of the IRA,



The governments of Britain and Ireland were the most important international players in theNorthern Ireland context.

Different British governments have tried various ways to manage the conflict. Both

Governments engaged in secret talks with the paramilitaries to try to move a peace process

forward.

The basics principles of a settlement that could create the conditions for an IRA ceasefire

were laid down in 1993 in the Downing Street Declaration. In this document the British and

Irish governments outlined their position regarding Northern Ireland and the issues arising in

any political settlement.

On 10 April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded.

It provided a blueprint for a comprehensive political settlement, based on the acceptance of

the fact that the unification of the north and south of Ireland would come about only if the

majority of the Northern Irish population gave their assent. This principle had been rejected

for decades by the IRA. The Good Friday Agreement proposed an elected assembly in

Northern Ireland, all-Ireland bodies with executive powers, a council of the Isles to discuss

matters relevant both to Ireland and the UK, and other matters such as the release of

paramilitary prisoners.

At last a political settlement was in place.

The IRA ended its long campaign without achieving its primary political objective: to achieve

freedom and unity of Ireland by forcing a British withdrawal. The question arises why the

IRA laid down their arms to participate in peace process. The explanation most likely is that


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IRA defeated itself'. Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland's grew tired of the mayhem

and bloodshed. This weakened the IRAs political influence in Northern Ireland.

Increased international attention played an important role in ending the conflict and reaching

an agreement. American senator George Mitchell and President Bill Clinton played important

roles.At home they were backed by a group of powerful, business-oriented Irish Americans.

Civil society also made an important contribution to the peace process through many

local community-development programs that addressed issues like cultural diversity,

justice work, cooperation on social and economic issues, and political dialogue.

After the Good Friday Agreement was concluded, important issues like decommissioning, the

border issue, and the role of the police had to be solved. An Independent International

Decommissioning body was set up to monitor the disarmament process and actually verifying

the disposal of stocks of arms. It consisted of three persons and was headed by former

Canadian general John de Chastelain. The South African government also helped resolve theIrish / British border issue.

An Independent Commission on Policing (ICP) was set up to bring forward proposals for

future policing arrangements. This resulted in the Patten Report, titled A new beginning,

that was published in September1999. The Patten report recognized the crucial role of the

police in the peace process, and advised a genuine partnership between police and the

community. In fact, it offers a human rights-based model of policing. The Patten Report

offered itself as a model that met universal needs regarding policing and community safety

and so could be implemented in any jurisdiction. The recommendations of the Patten

Commission and the success of the police service of Northern Ireland in implementing them

are now being seen as models for many police forces around the world.

The peace process in Northern Ireland is studied in other countries around the world that

suffer from similar conflicts. For example, Israeli Justice minister Tzipi Livni, in 2005

warned American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to let Hamas participate in the

parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories. She had looked at the constitutions of

dozens of countries and had studied the transition to power in the North Ireland, Afghanistan

and other hot spots. She concluded that armed militias were always required to give up their

arms before they could participate in the political process. (Kessler, p. 134)

The situations in the Palestinian territories, in Chechnya, Iraq, Darfur or Uganda, of course

differ in many ways from Northern Ireland. But there are also similarities. Hopefully, thepeace process in Northern Ireland may offer some guiding and best practices to solve other

conflicts around the world. Implementation of the human rights-based model of policing

looks very promising.


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References.

Adams Gerry ( 1982),Falls Memories, Dingle: Brandon; ( 1987), The Politics of Irish

Freedom

Adams James, Robin Morgan, and Anthony Bambridge ( 1988),Ambush: The War be

tween the SAS and the IRA, London: Pan.

Adams Michael ( 1968), Censorship: The Irish Experience, Dublin: Scepter.

Alexander Yonah and Alan O'Day, eds. ( 1984), Terrorism in Ireland, London: Croom

Alonso Rogelio, The IRA and armed struggle, New York 2007 (first published in Spanish

in 2003)

Armstrong David, with Hilary Saunders ( 1985),A Road Too Wide: The Price of Recon

ciliation in Northern Ireland, Basingstoke: Marshalls.

Arthur Paul ( 1974), The People's Democracy, 1968-1973, Belfast: Blackstaff; ( 1980),

Government and Politics in Northern Ireland, London: Longman.

Arthur Paul, and Keith Jeffrey ( 1988),Northern Ireland Since 1968, Oxford: Blackwell.

Aughey Arthur ( 1989), Under Siege: Ulster Unionism and the Anglo-Irish Agreement,Belfast: Blackstaff.

Aughey Arthur, and Duncan Morrow, eds. ( 1996),Northern Ireland Politics, Harlow:Longman.

Babington Anthony ( 1990), Military Intervention in Britain, London: Routledge.

Bailey Sydney D. ( 1988),Human Rights and Responsibilities in Britain and Ireland. AChristian Perspective, Basingstoke and London: Macmillan.

Bambery Chris ( 1986),Ireland's Permanent Revolution, London: Bookmarks.

Bardon Jonathan ( 1992),A History of Ulster, Belfast: Blackstaff.


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Barton Brian, and Patrick J. Roche, eds. ( 1994), The Northern Ireland Question: Perspectives and Politics, Aldershot: Avebury.

Calvocoressi Peter, World politics since 1945, New York 1982 (4th edition)

Cash John D. (1996) 'The Framework Document and its Discontents' from Identity,Ideology and Conflict

Dingle: Brandon; ( 1988),A Pathway to Peace, Cork: Mercier; ( 1990),

Cage Eleven, Dingle: Brandon.

Gormley-Heenan, Cathy. (2006). 'Political Leadership and the Northern Ireland PeaceProcess: Role, Capacity and Effect'. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Helm; ( 1986),Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus

Kessler,Glenn The confidante. Condoleezza Rice and the making of theBush Legacy, New

York (September) 2007 (first edition)

Mulcahey, Aogn, Policing Northern Ireland. Conflict, legitimacy andreform, Devon UK/

Portland USA 2006.

Nijhoff; ( 1989),Ireland's Terrorist Trauma: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Hemel

Hempstead: Harvester Weatsheaf; ( 1991), The Irish Terrorism Experience, Alder

shot: Dartmouth.

Patterson Henry, Ireland since 1939. The Persistence of Conflict, Dublin 2006

Reference Web Sites.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Northern_Ireland

Groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.african/browse_thread/thread/09a86435bd...

jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/57/7/488

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976

www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D91438F931A3575AC0A962958260

www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/

www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/ (the Conflict Archive on the Internet [CAIN] site)
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/cash.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gormley1106.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gormley1106.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gormley1106.htmhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/cash.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gormley1106.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gormley1106.htmhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/


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www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/cds/countries/nireland.html (the INCORE

www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.html

www.northernireland.gov.uk/ (government of Northern Ireland

www.nio.gov.uk/ (Northern Ireland Office

www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stm

www.nio.gov.uk/ the- agreement

www.paradescommission.org/ (Northern Ireland Parades Commission)

www.community-relations.org.uk/community-relations/ (Community Relations Council)

www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflic...

www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-i..

www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.html

www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.html

Geo-Politics

The Good Friday Agreement and the Cessation of Violence

in Northern Ireland

(Free Derry mural (July 31, 2007)
http://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stmhttp://www.nio.gov.uk/the-agreementhttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-ihttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Derryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Derry.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Derry.JPGhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stmhttp://www.nio.gov.uk/the-agreementhttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-ihttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Derry


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Seamus H. Duffy

7-01-2008

To. Dr. Gerry OReilly

Course Tutor.

Assignment Submitted in fullfilment of the Geo-politics to Module Coordinator during the

1st/2nd semester of Masters in Humanitarian Action Programme 2007/2008, UCD School ofBiological Science

Introduction.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Northern Ireland has been the stage of a violent

conflict that took a heavy death toll and caused a great deal of human suffering.

This essay deals with the uneasy road to peace, the cessation of violence and the signing of

the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

After a short history of the conflict, I will describe the various political and diplomatic efforts

to end it, as well as the agreements they resulted in. The question what made the IRA give up

its campaign of violence and embark upon the road to peace is also shortly addressed.

The Good Friday Agreement and its tenets are discussed extensively. Special attention is

given to the role of the police. Thereafter, I will discuss the role of civil society in the peace

process.

I will then finish this essay with some conclusions.

There are many other countries in the world facing similar conflicts today. Maybe andhopefully, the peace process in Northern Ireland may serve as an example for them and offer

some advice on how to restore peace.

Ireland Divided.


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Geography

The following page provides some brief geographical details on Northern Ireland.. Northern Ireland All of Ireland

Total Area : 5,456 square miles 32,593 square miles

Land: 5,156 square miles 31,557 square miles

Water: 300 square miles 1,036 square miles

Coastline: 232 miles 1,970 miles

Maps: Outline map NI Outline map Ireland

The island of Ireland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Britain, and to the

extreme north-west of Europe. It lays between latitude 51.5 and 55.5 degrees north,

and longitude 5.5 and 10.5 degrees West.

Ireland shares the same time zone as London that is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

English is the first language followed by Irish and Ulster Scots.

A short History of the Conflict

Northern Ireland is that part of Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom when

in1922 the rest of Ireland broke away from

the union with the United Kingdom that was created in1800.

Irish nationalism already dates from the eighteenth century, inspired by the American War of

Independence and the French Revolution.

The Republic of Ireland gained its freedom after the war of independence in 1922. Four years

earlier, in what is known as the Easter Rising, Irish nationalists had already proclaimed

Ireland an independent Republic, but the rebellion was put down by the British after one

week.
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/maps/map6.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/maps/map5.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Politicsofnorthernirelandlogo.svghttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/maps/map6.htmhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/maps/map5.htm


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The Anglo-Irish treaty that was signed on December 6, 1921 and ratified in1922 gave 26

counties of Ireland independence and allowed 6 largely Protestant Ulster counties the choice

of opting out. A Boundary Commission was to decide on the final frontiers between North

and South. The six counties actually decided to stay part of the British Kingdom, and the

partition of Ireland was a fact.

The people of Northern Ireland were divided in three ways: there was a religious division, a

division between those who wanted the unification of Ireland and those opposed to it, and a

division between rich and poor.

To make things complicated, these divisions overlapped. (Calvocoressi,pp.186-187)

Conflict has been going on since the country was divided. The Official Irish Republican

Army decided to engage in combat against what they termed the forces of occupation. In

1969 the IRA split. One group decided to abandon violence in favor of socialist and Marxist

propaganda, as they interpreted the situation as class conflict. The other group, called the

Provisional IRA, stuck to the policy of achieving a united Ireland by the eviction of the

English by violence.

Then in August 1994,. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political branch of the IRA,



On April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded.

The road to peace

The governments of Britain and Ireland have been the most important international players in

the Northern Ireland context.

The British army was deployed in Belfast and South Armagh

Different British governments have tried different means to manage the conflict. Both


forward.

As the years of violence dragged on, the nationalist community, among others, came to

realize that maybe the British presence was not the problem, and that the border was onlymaintained at the insistence of the Unionists. Irish unity would only come about with

Protestant consent. This would only come about if Protestants and Catholics accepted each

others traditions with respect, through reconciliation rather than coercion. The real border, it

was now said, was not geographical but in people minds.

In 1983 the former Irish Prime Minister Garrett FitzGerald and now the leader of Fine Gael

had established the New Ireland Forum, a think tank consisting of representatives of the

main constitutional nationalist political parties. The think-thank put forward three

constitutional options for Ireland, to be discussed with the British: a unitary 32 county state, a

confederal Ireland, and joint authority. (Patterson ,pp.296-297).


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All options were to be achieved peacefully and by consent of the Irish people. British Prime

Minister Margaret Thatcher rejected all three options. Thatcher was adamant that formal

British sovereignty over Northern Ireland was untouchable. She looked to political leaders in

Northern Ireland for more cooperation in the intelligence, security and judicial fields, because

she realized that Northern Ireland was the only place in the world where British soldiers were

losing their lives.In November 1985 an Anglo-Irish agreement was signed by Thatcher and FitzGerald. The

Irish Republic now for the first time had a say in the running of the six counties in the North.

Thatchers prize was enhanced security cooperation. (Patterson, p.258)

The agreement was rejected by the Unionist parties of Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, the

door was open for other views that may lead to a political settlement. Dialogue was

significantly helped by the fact that the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 gave the Republic of

Ireland a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland for the first time. The agreement

also brought the problems in Northern Ireland into a new international debate with other

world powers.

The persuasion and support of both the British and Irish government was to be an important

factor in the eventual establishment of the Belfast Agreement in1998.

However, it was not until nine years after the signing of the Anglo-Irish agreement that the

IRA announced the cessation of fire in August 1994

Downing Street Declaration of 1993

In February 1993 the British and Irish governments published the Downing Street

Declaration. In this document they outlined their position regarding Northern Ireland and the

issues arising in any political settlement. The declaration laid down the basics principles of a

settlement that could create the conditions for an IRA ceasefire.

(Mulcahey, p. 6)It was followed by intense negotiations, in which participated Church leaders and Gerry

Adams, as well David Trimble, leader at that time of the

Ulster Unionist party. British Prime Minister John Major, American senator George Mitchell,

and especially President Clinton of the United States also played important roles. The

Downing Street Declaration offered the Republicans inducements like an end to their

banishment from the airwaves in the Republic, and an Irish version of a proposed Anglo-Irish

Framework document that provided a dynamic set of North-South institutions that

Republicans could envisage as transitional to united Ireland. However, as Irish Prime

Minister Reynolds made clear to Gerry Adams, there had to be a permanent end to the

violence.


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On 31 August 1994 the IRA announced a a complete cessation of military operations. Six

weeks later, on 13 October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC, a body

representing the main loyalist paramilitary organizations) also announced a ceasefire.

In September 1997, Sinn Fein affirmed its commitment to the so-called Mitchell principles of

democracy and non violence, but the Unionists remained unconvinced. The Mitchell

principles (named after American senator George Mitchell who chaired the political talks inthe negotiating process that led to the Downing Street Declaration) included the total

disarmament of all paramilitary organizations and the end of the so-called punishment

killings and beating with-in the republican areas. The deadlock was broken as the parties

concerned stroke a deal opening the way to peace talks. In addition, in October 1997 for the

first time unionists, loyalists, nationalists and republicans sit together to seek a solution to

troubles in Northern Ireland.

This finally led to the signature of the historic Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, a

blueprint for the comprehensive political settlement. After 25 years, it seemed that the

conflict was finally over.

Why the IRA gave up its arms

The IRA ended its long campaign without achieving its primary political objectives: to

achieve freedom and unity of Ireland by forcing a British withdrawal. (Alonso, p.1).In theend, the political effectiveness of the IRA terrorism proved very limited.

There are many countries in the world facing similar conflicts, including armed resistance

and terrorism. These conflicts have many different causes, like nationalism and separatism, or

religious or ethnic divisions. It is therefore interesting to see why the IRA fighters laid down

their arms and were willing to participate in peace process.

Maybe some lessons can be learned that might help to put an end to armed conflict elsewhere

in the world.

The explanation most given for the cessation of armed struggle is that IRA defeated itself'.

Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland's grew tired of the mayhem and bloodshed. This

weakened their political influence in Northern Ireland's in the "republican" community, inDerry, Belfast and South Armagh.

Increased international attention for the conflict was also important. Bill Clinton, elected in

1992 as the new president of the United States, had supported the granting of a visa to Gerry

Adams and sending an American peace envoy to Ireland during his campaign.

He was backed by a group of powerful, business-oriented Irish Americans. (Patterson,p.

323).

Another explanation is that the IRA could no longer receive arms supplies, notably from the

Libyan government.


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The 9/11 attacks in New York also changed the context of the struggle. Any support for the

IRA using violence disappeared after 9/11.

America responded to the attacks with its war on terrorism, which included the Provisional

Republican army. The US Department of State stated that terrorism which was planned was a

political act of violence carried out against the civilian population by murderous terroristorganizations such as the provisional republican army. They were in the top five of the USA

most wanted!

It is important to bear in mind that the cessation of violence and an end to the armed struggle

by the IRA was unconditional, a sine qua non, if they wanted to participate in the political

process.

The Good Friday Agreement

Despite the grounds for optimism after the 1994 cessation of violence, following political

negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the decommissioning of the weapon arsenal of theparamilitary groups stalled. On 9 February 1996 the IRA announced that it had abandoned its

17-month-old ceasefire and would resume its campaign. The same evening a massive IRA

bomb exploded in Londons Canary Wharf, killing two people, injuring hundreds and causing

up to one billion pounds worth of damage. Political negotiations dragged on. In July 1997 the

IRA renewed its ceasefire, and in April 1998 the negotiators produced the Belfast Agreement,

known generally as the Good Friday Agreement. (Mulcahy, pp. 6-7)

The Good Friday Agreement provided a blueprint for a comprehensive political settlement.

The pillar supporting it is the acceptance of the fact that the unification of the north and south

of Ireland would come about only if the majority of the Northern Irish population gave their

assent. This principle, rejected for decades by the IRA, is the pillar supporting the Good

Friday Agreement since 1998.

The agreement proposed an elected assembly in Northern Ireland, all-Ireland bodies with

executive powers, a council of the Isles to discuss matters relevant both to Ireland and the

UK, and other matters such as

the release of paramilitary prisoners.

On 10 May 1998, the agreement was ratified in separate referenda in Northern Ireland and the

Irish Republic.

The tenets of the Good Friday Agreement

Strand 1, of the agreement defines the conflict in terms of a divide between unionist and

nationalist identities, Irish and British. This is most clearly obvious in the elections (for the

purpose of measuring cross-community support in Assembly votes) that all members of the

Northern Ireland Assembly state their affiliation as either unionist or nationalist in order to

have full voting privileges (GFA 1998: Strand1.6).

This has been described by former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald (2003), as founding the

assembly in Northern Ireland on sectarian lines between the two communities. This became

apparent in November2001, when the lack of required cross-community support in the

Assembly led to failure to elect a First and Deputy First Minister (thus preventing the


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establishment of the Executive), until three Alliance Party and two Womens Coalition MLAs

switched themselves as unionist rather than other to elect a government.

The success of the institutions in Strand 2 (north-south) has been restricted by problems

encountered between the two sides in Strand 1. This was most clearly illustrated in October

2000 when First Minister David Trimble, supported by his Ulster Unionist Party and Council,prevented Sinn Fein representatives from taking part in meetings of the cross-border bodies

until they fully cooperated with the International Body on Decommissioning of the weapons

which were in storage by the Provisional Army.

It has been suggested that Strand 3 has been the most flourishing component of the

agreement, as it was not based so much on the inter-regional British-Irish Council but on the

intergovernmental relations that built the peace process.

The developments in Strand 1 depended on close connections between the British

government and unionist parties on the one hand, and the Irish government and nationalist

parties on the other.

The framework of the agreement associates the British state ideologically, constitutionally

and politically with unionism in Northern Ireland, and with loyalists including the

paramilitaries groups that claimed to act in defense of British occupation of the six counties.

On the other hand, it linked the Irish state ideologically, constitutionally and politically with

nationalism in Northern Ireland, and with the republicans including the paramilitary groups

that were motivated by Irish people who support the return to their country of territories that

used to belong to it but are now under foreign rule.

The way forward from the Good Friday agreement, therefore, depended on the working

together of unionism and nationalism communities, rather than the establishment of a middle

ground between them.

.

But there was now a joint British and Irish responsibility towards the six counties of Northern

Ireland. Both governments openly criticized all terrorist activities. They agreed on for

speedy withdrawal of British military forces following paramilitary ceasefires, substantial

reduction of police forces, and the reintroduction of normal judicial procedures in the court

system in Ireland.

Decommissioning


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For example, developments in Northern Ireland have been implicated in US security

measures taken in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks.(Mulcahey, pp. 291-293).

Community Relations Commission and Council. And the role of Civil Society

When civil violence broke out in the six counties, the British government set up a

ministry for community relations and a Community Relations Commission, charged with

the promotion of policies that would improve community relations.

The commission decided to adopt as its main strategy the initiation of local community-

development programs across the six counties. The communitys leaders were ex

prisoners, from both paramilitary camps. The Commission did not survive but this

process underpinned many programs that followed in 1990s.

The Community Relations Council was an independent body established to address

issues of policy, training, and funding for community-relations work. This created a large

number of the community groups working at peace building, which the British

government financed. Issues addressed were cultural diversity, justice work, cooperation

on social and economic issues, single-identity work, "neutral" venue work, education

work, anti-sectarian and anti-intimidation work, trade union work, and political dialogue.

Mediators, Economy & Politics

The aim by the mediators was to help politicians to look at issues of mutual concern such as

social issues, or the economy, and the effect the conflict was having in the North of Ireland.

Then many local people became involved in debates from 1994 onwards; the issues were on

the social and political hostilities at interfaces (the divide between Catholic and Protestant

areas when civil unrest was at its height, at times).

Political life in Ireland was dominated during 1998 by attempts to resolve the conflict in

Northern Ireland. The resolution eventually took place on a global scale, with the direct

involvement of three governments--Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States--and

the indirect participation of other countries and blocs.

Within the republic there was support from all political parties for the proposed agreement,

which would create a Northern Ireland Assembly, establish north-south political structures,

and amend Ireland's 1937 constitution by removing from it the claim to Northern Ireland.


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Initiative 92: Community Consultation

Local communities and other interested bodies and individuals were asked by the British

government to put forward their views about future plans for the six counties on a

political, economic, and social level.

Although most politicians condemned these proposals (they at first saw it as

inappropriate or intimidating), the initiative was a success in achieving its objective of

stimulating discussion on all issues. The people of the six countries from a cross-

community basis responded well, which later led to public work-shops being held. This

was to allow all sections of the community more openness to address the way forward, in

politics and social concerns, housing, police, schooling, and employment.

Education.

The majority of Protestant children in Northern Ireland attend state controlled schools,

whilst the majority of Catholic children attend Catholic maintained schools. These are

essentially Protestant and Catholic schools.

By choosing an Integrated Education, children and their parents are contributing to thepeace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland.

Academics Help

During the early and mid 90s, academics who were devoted to a dialogue process used

their skills in organizing workshops for the politicians and others to meet in places like

the United States or South Africa in order to address issues of conflict resolution. These

conferences often provided opportunities for relationships to form between the

politicians from the North of Ireland, which would have been difficult to develop athome in the six counties given the coverage the media was giving. In addition, it was a


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learning process which gave the politicians many opportunities to learn from other

countries politicians about what had been useful in constructing peace in other countries.

It also enabled the politicians to gain experience in global politics at International

Churches

Some members of the Catholic clergy opened up dialogue with Sinn Fein in order to helpend violence; confidential workshops were held over a period of several years from the

mid-1990s between Sinn Fein and members of the Protestant/unionist clergy. These were

very useful in developing understanding between the opposing political parties.

District Councils

Northern Ireland has twenty-six local councils. In the late 1990s; a district council

community-relations program was established within all councils. It was time for change

although it was met with resistance by many of them. Each of the twenty-six district

councils now has at least one full-time community-relations worker addressing

coexistence needs in its local area. As their programs have had to ensure an overallcommitment from what was often politically divided councils, their existence has

marked a substantial sign of progress in the field. Such programs involved contact work,

cooperative economic development programs between the communities, cultural events

that exemplified cultural diversity, mediation, problem solving, and political discussion

in workshops at local level.

Business Community

The Clinton Administration in 1996 encouraged all political parties to get involved in

negotiations to create new business. Groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, and thetrade unions involved themselves in dialogue with Sinn Fein and the Loyalist parties,

often on issues of the economy. Their influence was very helpful, particularly as it also

put pressure on the political parties to enter into serious dialogue. The Clinton

Administration was committed to underpin the peace process in Northern Ireland

through diplomatic and commercial efforts. The U.S. Department of Commerce has been

at the forefront in support of those efforts through specific initiatives that encourage the

U.S. business community to access trade and investment in Northern Ireland and the

border counties of Ireland.

A United States business development delegation was sent to Belfast and Derry-City in

the North of Ireland to focus on the growth sectors of environmental technologies,

information technologies and health technologies to help create more employment after

1998. More recently the economy has benefited from major investment by many large

multi-national corporations into high tech industry. These large organizations are

attracted by government subsidies and the highly skilled workforce in the North of

Ireland.


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Cultural Traditions Group

Since the existence of the six counties, established by the British, expressions of cultural

and political identity have been causing or likely to cause disagreement and disputes

between people with differing views. Much has changed in the mid and late ninetys mainly due to the work of the Cultural Traditions Group, a group of academics and

policymakers from both traditions to address issues of culture and division. Top of the

agenda, they addressed the hostility about the use of the Irish language, which was

considered illegal in certain circumstances; they ensured that radio and television

programs when delivered should represent all cultures. The Irish language received

official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday

Agreement

Civil Society and New Leaders

The community development program led to political dividends in the 1990s. In the

absence of local democracy, such work had provided for community participation in

governmental consultation processes about social, economic, and political issues.

From the 1990s onwards, this helped to generate a new breed of "community" politicians.

This developed Loyalist, and feminist thinking at grass roots level, into the already

established political mix of parties who were eventually able to sign the Belfast Agreement

and for some to get elected. Parties such as: the PUP and Sinn Fein all have considerable

experience at community and social politics.

There work provided them with contacts gained from their experience in addressing local

social issues in the communities together, and the experience gained was to prove useful for

the social and economic tasks that were to face them as representatives in the new

Assembly. In addition, in December 1998, Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein delegation meet Prime

Minister Tony Blair at Number 10 Downing Street to debate on the political process.

"YES" Campaign

Politicians at times find its not easy to deliver on political agreements. They find it

difficult to develop policies of diversity in the face of the fears of their electorates.

Therefore there is often a need for a constituency for such validation to be developed bytheir electorates. This can enable or permit them to move with energy on such policies,

and here NGOs and others can play a crucial part.

Such was the case in the North of Ireland where the work of the NGOs was vital in

developing processes of dialogue, models of training, and constituencies for political

agreement both during the pre-agreement phase of the peace process and afterward. The

"YES" campaign was a cross-community, cross-party campaign organized by civil-

society leaders to secure its endorsement of the Good Friday agreement reached by the

politicians and the people in 1998.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreement


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Conclusion.

Northern Ireland has been the stage of a violent conflict that took a heavy death toll and

caused a great deal of human suffering.

In August 1994 Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political branch of the IRA,announced a cessation of violence on behalf of the IRA. Events that followed led to the IRAs


The governments of Britain and Ireland were the most important international players in the

Northern Ireland context.

Different British governments have tried various ways to manage the conflict. Both


forward.

The basics principles of a settlement that could create the conditions for an IRA ceasefire

were laid down in 1993 in the Downing Street Declaration. In this document the British and

Irish governments outlined their position regarding Northern Ireland and the issues arising inany political settlement.

On 10 April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded.

It provided a blueprint for a comprehensive political settlement, based on the acceptance of

the fact that the unification of the north and south of Ireland would come about only if the

majority of the Northern Irish population gave their assent. This principle had been rejected

for decades by the IRA. The Good Friday Agreement proposed an elected assembly in

Northern Ireland, all-Ireland bodies with executive powers, a council of the Isles to discuss

matters relevant both to Ireland and the UK, and other matters such as the release of

paramilitary prisoners.

At last a political settlement was in place.

The IRA ended its long campaign without achieving its primary political objective: to achieve

freedom and unity of Ireland by forcing a British withdrawal. The question arises why the

IRA laid down their arms to participate in peace process. The explanation most likely is that

IRA defeated itself'. Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland's grew tired of the mayhem

and bloodshed. This weakened the IRAs political influence in Northern Ireland.

Increased international attention played an important role in ending the conflict and reaching

an agreement. American senator George Mitchell and President Bill Clinton played important

roles.

At home they were backed by a group of powerful, business-oriented Irish Americans.

Civil society also made an important contribution to the peace process through many

local community-development programs that addressed issues like cultural diversity,

justice work, cooperation on social and economic issues, and political dialogue.

After the Good Friday Agreement was concluded, important issues like decommissioning, the

border issue, and the role of the police had to be solved. An Independent International

Decommissioning body was set up to monitor the disarmament process and actually verifying

the disposal of stocks of arms. It consisted of three persons and was headed by former

Canadian general John de Chastelain. The South African government also helped resolve the

Irish / British border issue.


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An Independent Commission on Policing (ICP) was set up to bring forward proposals for

future policing arrangements. This resulted in the Patten Report, titled A new beginning,

that was published in September1999. The Patten report recognized the crucial role of the

police in the peace process, and advised a genuine partnership between police and the

community. In fact, it offers a human rights-based model of policing. The Patten Report

offered itself as a model that met universal needs regarding policing and community safetyand so could be implemented in any jurisdiction. The recommendations of the Patten

Commission and the success of the police service of Northern Ireland in implementing them

are now being seen as models for many police forces around the world.

The peace process in Northern Ireland is studied in other countries around the world that

suffer from similar conflicts. For example, Israeli Justice minister Tzipi Livni, in 2005

warned American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to let Hamas participate in the

parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories. She had looked at the constitutions of

dozens of countries and had studied the transition to power in the North Ireland, Afghanistan

and other hot spots. She concluded that armed militias were always required to give up their

arms before they could participate in the political process. (Kessler, p. 134)

The situations in the Palestinian territories, in Chechnya, Iraq, Darfur or Uganda, of course

differ in many ways from Northern Ireland. But there are also similarities. Hopefully, the

peace process in Northern Ireland may offer some guiding and best practices to solve other

conflicts around the world. Implementation of the human rights-based model of policing

looks very promising.

References.

Adams Gerry ( 1982),Falls Memories, Dingle: Brandon; ( 1987), The Politics of IrishFreedom


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Adams James, Robin Morgan, and Anthony Bambridge ( 1988),Ambush: The War between the SAS and the IRA, London: Pan.

Adams Michael ( 1968), Censorship: The Irish Experience, Dublin: Scepter.

Alexander Yonah and Alan O'Day, eds. ( 1984), Terrorism in Ireland, London: Croom

Alonso Rogelio, The IRA and armed struggle, New York 2007 (first published in Spanishin 2003)

Armstrong David, with Hilary Saunders ( 1985),A Road Too Wide: The Price of Recon

ciliation in Northern Ireland, Basingstoke: Marshalls.

Arthur Paul ( 1974), The People's Democracy, 1968-1973, Belfast: Blackstaff; ( 1980),

Government and Politics in Northern Ireland, London: Longman.

Arthur Paul, and Keith Jeffrey ( 1988),Northern Ireland Since 1968, Oxford: Blackwell.

Aughey Arthur ( 1989), Under Siege: Ulster Unionism and the Anglo-Irish Agreement,Belfast: Blackstaff.

Aughey Arthur, and Duncan Morrow, eds. ( 1996),Northern Ireland Politics, Harlow:

Longman.

Babington Anthony ( 1990), Military Intervention in Britain, London: Routledge.

Bailey Sydney D. ( 1988),Human Rights and Responsibilities in Britain and Ireland. A

Christian Perspective, Basingstoke and London: Macmillan.

Bambery Chris ( 1986),Ireland's Permanent Revolution, London: Bookmarks.

Bardon Jonathan ( 1992),A History of Ulster, Belfast: Blackstaff.

Barton Brian, and Patrick J. Roche, eds. ( 1994), The Northern Ireland Question: Per

spectives and Politics, Aldershot: Avebury.

Calvocoressi Peter, World politics since 1945, New York 1982 (4th edition)

Cash John D. (1996) 'The Framework Document and its Discontents' from Identity,

Ideology and Conflict

Dingle: Brandon; ( 1988),A Pathway to Peace, Cork: Mercier; ( 1990),Cage Eleven, Dingle: Brandon.

Gormley-Heenan, Cathy. (2006). 'Political Leadership and the Northern Ireland Peace

Process: Role, Capacity and Effect'. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Helm; ( 1986),Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus

Kessler,Glenn The confidante. Condoleezza Rice and the making of theBush Legacy, New

York (September) 2007 (first edition)
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Mulcahey, Aogn, Policing Northern Ireland. Conflict, legitimacy andreform, Devon UK/

Portland USA 2006.

Nijhoff; ( 1989),Ireland's Terrorist Trauma: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Hemel

Hempstead: Harvester Weatsheaf; ( 1991), The Irish Terrorism Experience, Aldershot: Dartmouth.

Patterson Henry, Ireland since 1939. The Persistence of Conflict, Dublin 2006

Reference Web Sites.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Northern_Ireland

Groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.african/browse_thread/thread/09a86435bd...

jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/57/7/488

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976

www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D91438F931A3575AC0A962958260

www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/

www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/ (the Conflict Archive on the Internet [CAIN] site)

www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/cds/countries/nireland.html (the INCORE

www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.html

www.northernireland.gov.uk/ (government of Northern Ireland

www.nio.gov.uk/ (Northern Ireland Office

www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stm

www.nio.gov.uk/ the- agreement

www.paradescommission.org/ (Northern Ireland Parades Commission)

www.community-relations.org.uk/community-relations/ (Community Relations Council)

www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflic...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/http://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stmhttp://www.nio.gov.uk/the-agreementhttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflichttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v118/ai_19753976http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cease-fire/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/http://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/index.htmlhttp://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4079267.stmhttp://www.nio.gov.uk/the-agreementhttp://www.questia.com/library/book/political-violence-in-northern-ireland-conflic


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www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-i..

www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.html

www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.html
http://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-ihttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.htmlhttp://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/northern-ireland/northern-ihttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-NorthernIreland.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IrelandR.html

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