Northern Ireland

H

IRA Ceasefire

On August 31, 1994, the IRA announced a complete cessation of its military operations, ending 25 years of fighting. In October of that year, the Loyalist terrorist paramilitaries followed suit. In December 1994 the British government, despite strong opposition from the Democratic Unionists and other Protestant groups, held its first public talks with Sinn Féin; secret, often indirect, talks had gone on with the IRA for some time previously.

The ceasefire held throughout 1995, despite severe strains at times. The insistence of the British government that the IRA turn in its arms, and the rejection of the IRA of this demand, delayed the start of all-party talks including Sinn Féin. During early 1995, the British government scaled down the number of troops in Northern Ireland for the first time in 25 years, and then, in March, ended routine British troop patrols in the province. In the previous month, the British and Irish governments issued a framework document for all-party talks on a durable settlement in Northern Ireland.

I

Mitchell Report

In July 1995 John Bruton, Ireland’s prime minister, tried to break the impasse over IRA disarmament by proposing that talks that included Sinn Féin could start if it agreed to parallel disarmament talks. His efforts failed because of continuing British insistence on IRA disarmament.

On November 28, with the peace process in danger of derailment, and US President Bill Clinton about to visit Northern Ireland, Bruton and British Prime Minister John Major announced an international commission to study the decommissioning programme, to be chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell. On December 15 the international decommissioning panel began its hearings. Its report, published on January 24, 1996, rejected decommissioning in advance of all-party talks. Instead, the report proposed that all parties should commit themselves to a phased disarmament, parallel to the talks, and recommended that the decommissioning should be carried out under international supervision. The report also discussed the idea of elections to a constitutional assembly.

The Irish government endorsed the report, but the British government focused on the idea of an elected assembly. Major told Parliament that both Republican and Unionist parties should seek an electoral mandate and discuss peace in the new forum. This drew furious criticism from the Republican movement, which accused Major of adopting a Unionist agenda and of buying votes to bolster his dwindling parliamentary majority.

J

Ceasefire Ends

On February 9, 1996, the IRA ended its 17-month ceasefire by exploding a huge bomb in the Canary Wharf area of London’s Docklands, killing two people and injuring many more. In an effort to save the peace process Major and Bruton issued a communiqué on February 28 detailing a timetable for future negotiations and setting a specific date for the start of all-party talks: June 10. This was viewed as a concession to Sinn Féin by Major, but the plan also included an elected assembly, a concession to the Unionists. Both leaders made it clear, however, that only if the IRA re-established the ceasefire could Sinn Féin attend the all-party talks, and also the preceding “proximity talks” to be held in the first half of March to discuss details of the elected assembly.

The IRA did not declare a ceasefire; Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was therefore prevented from attending the proximity talks. The results of these talks included the establishment of a 110-member elected forum to discuss issues relevant to the promotion of understanding in Northern Ireland, and which would select teams to attend the all-party negotiations in June.

K

Forum Elections

The forum elections were held on May 30, 1996: 90 members were elected on the basis of 5 each from the 18 parliamentary constituencies in the province; the other 20 seats in the forum went (2 each) to the 10 most successful parties according to their total vote across the province. Sinn Féin came fourth with 15.47 per cent of the vote, a record and far higher than had been expected. The Ulster Unionist Party (24.17 per cent) was first, followed by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (21.37 per cent), and the Democratic Unionist Party (18.8 per cent).

L

Manchester Bombing

Despite this success, Sinn Féin was excluded from the all-party talks, which started on June 10. On June 15 a huge IRA bomb exploded in Manchester city centre; although nobody was killed, hundreds were injured. The Irish government therefore announced that it would have to re-evaluate its relationship with Sinn Féin, and, for the first time, backed Britain’s insistence on a permanent IRA ceasefire, and on moves towards IRA disarmament before Sinn Féin be allowed participation.