EXAMINER IRISH NEWS

Parties inch towards historic peace agreement for the North

Sinn Féin in crisis over North/South institutions

by Liam O'Neill, Mark Hennessy
and Greg Harkin
AN historic deal to settle the Northern peace talks was on the verge of being finally clinched at Stormont this morning as exhausted negotiators bartered through the night.
Hectic intensive negotiations involving the two governments and the eight political parties seemed to be closing in on a package that would provide for strong north/south bodies and a power-sharing Northern Assembly.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were preparing to launch an agreement after 22 months of talks which intensified greatly in the past two days.
As the unionists seemed to have accepted amendments to meet their reservations, Sinn Fein were expressing concern, but, while there was doubts about them coming on board, speculation that they would leave the talks was flatly denied.
Early this morning, a senior Sinn Féin spokesman said the compromise reached on north/south bodies represented a crisis for them.
The discussions moved into the early hours and delegates were promising to negotiate through to breakfast in a bid to make this the most historic day on this island since partition.
Ulster Unionist delegate David Brown, a Belfast councillor, said: "I think we'll sign and we're quite happy but I don't think Sinn Féin are too happy."
Questioned about reports that Sinn Féin were on the verge of quitting the talks, chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said: "I can deny it. Sinn Féin was instrumental in creating this process and we will be here until it succeeds, or until it is over. But we are unhappy."
During a meeting with the Taoiseach, Sinn Féin reportedly said they could not accept the changes on north/south bodies.
An Irish government source said late last night: "There is a growing expectation that it is possible to get a deal by early morning.
"The governments believe they have the basis for an agreement that will provide legislation-based north/south bodies with power to implement and take decisions on an all-island basis. That has always been our bottom line.
"I'm not sure Sinn Féin will agree to the deal but certainly they will not walk out."
He said the implementing bodies would come into being on the same day as the Assembly and the other institutions which form part of the agreement.
The North/South Council's decisions would be implemented by the Assembly and Dáil separately or by the implementing all-island bodies.
"These are an essential part of the overall arrangements. If they are not allowed to function, the rest of the agreement falls," said the source.
The Assembly will be elected in June but will not meet until the rest of the institutions, including a Council of the Isles, are in place by February.
A Downing Street source said: "We can still get there. There are still considerable difficulties. They have not lessened but the mood is still good. It can be a win-win situation for everyone."
Most of the North's political leaders had reservations about parts of the re-drafted Mitchell blueprint. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble faced the bitter recriminations of UUP members at an evening meeting of the party's ruling executive, with dissidents winning a re-convened meeting on Saturday.
Foreign Minister David Andrews said Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had been "going hell for leather" in a bid to broker an agreement, during a hectic last day of negotiations at Stormont.
By late evening London were proposing that the Northern Assembly could be set up first, but only if unionists accepted that sanctions would be imposed if they refused to cooperate in north/south institutions.
After legislation is passed in Dáil E´ireann and Westminster setting up the all-Ireland bodies, representatives from both parliaments and northern parties would then meet to decide on their specific powers.
There could be up to six all-Ireland bodies taking responsibility for a list of policy areas that would be selected by all sides.
Echoing growing concerns amongst republicans as the night wore on, the Mid-Ulster MP Martin McGuinness said only the British Premier could secure a deal.
The Sinn Féin negotiator warned: "Tony Blair must avoid the temptation to go for a unionist position. The person with the key responsibility, the person who can bring peace to Ireland is Tony Blair.
There was optimism from the Blair camp earlier in the day, and by 9pm a Downing Street aide was expressing the hope that the Prime Minister could join "his wife and three children in Spain."
The talks continued as the two exhausted leaders worked to win unanimous approval for the ground-breaking agreement.

McMichael accuses Sinn Féin of pressurising Government

by Mark Hennessy
Political Correspondent
ULSTER Democratic Party leader Gary McMichael accused Sinn Féin of attempting to pressurise the Irish Government into refusing concessions on North/South bodies, shortly before the Loyalist grouping met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Speaking to journalists after 4pm, Mr McMichael cautioned against hopes that a deal was on the point of being struck: "Varying degrees of optimism have been expressed. At times, there has been a sense that optimism has been possible.
"Whatever advancement has been made so far, we believe that Sinn Féin is trying to put pressure on the Irish Government. What has to be understood is that, unless we can overcome fundamental obstacles on Strand II, this process is not going to produce an agreement."
Despite a day of negotiations, he told journalists in the crowded Portakabin serving as a media centre that the proposals on Strand II on the table at 4pm were "outside the range" of what Loyalists were prepared to accept.
However, his downcast mood did not mean that a deal could not be struck by the midnight deadline, or beyond: "It doesn't mean that the situation is hopeless. But we have to be mindful of the task which lies before us."
In their meeting with Prime Minister Blair, the UDP delegation emphasised repeatedly that the progress that had been made on Strand II "had been brought into question" and "stymied":
"The opportunities are in danger of being lost," Mr Blair was told.
"It is still possible that an agreement can be reached within the deadline, though not particularly likely," said Mr. McMichael, during yet another hectic period of meetings between the sides broken up by regular media briefing sessions.
"We have to prepare ourselves that we might not be able to reconcile our differences. We are here to negotiate on behalf of the Loyalist community to ensure that every stone is turned to try and find an acceptable."
Questioned about a report in the early editions of the Belfast Telegraph, which said that Unionists had won a veto on the operation of North/South bodies, the UDP leader was clearly irritated: "The negotiations are extremely sensitive."
Debate in the media about the nature of a final deal was creating fears within the Loyalist community.
"I think it is unhelpful that it is taking place," he said. "Hopes are being raised and lowered, raised and lowered.
"It is causing a lot of anxiety," he complained.
Asked if the UDP had the freedom to sign up for a deal, Mr McMichael said their final decision would be based upon "a firm understanding and knowledge" on the limits Loyalists were prepared to go to reach agreement.

Tough talk in public, accord inside

THE politicians talked tough to reporters but were compromising with each other in most areas as the midnight deadline approached.
With David Trimble completing negotiations with members of his party at their Glengall Street headquarters in central Belfast, spokesmen for the Taoiseach and Prime Minister said that they were determined to stay at Stormont until a deal was done.
There were still conflicting signals from various talks participants, but the mood of optimism prevailed into the small hours.
"We have come this far," said an Irish source, "we intend to stick at it until the deal is done and dusted. The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister are resolved to finding a solution."
That was a view echoed by Foreign Minister David Andrews: "We have been going hell for leather since early yesterday morning and we will continue to do that until such times as we are agreed."
Progressive Unionist leader Hugh Smyth was also optimistic. He said: "We'll stay for breakfast if need be but I think an agreement can be reached.
"It has to be done now. I don't believe in the theory that we cannot talk again for a generation I do believe this is the best opportunity we have ever had to reach an agreement."
Earlier as attempts were being made to bridge the gaps between the sides, Sinn Féin chairman Mitchell McLaughlin sensed that anything that was being given to unionists was being taken away from Irish nationalism.
"I am seriously concerned at this stage about the strategy that has been deployed by the unionists and I have a view that if they stick to that position, then there isn't going to be an agreement," Mr McLoughlin said.
Ian Paisley's supporters ringed Stormont last night to protest at the historic talks. The crowds grew at entrances to the sprawling estate as the night wore on, with anti-talks protesters being joined by dissident Orangemen.

Balancing the future of an impartial RUC as the North changes

by Brian Keenan
SOME time ago it was reported in many of our newspapers that Sinn Féin, through its spokesman Alex Maskey in Belfast has been calling for the complete abolition of the RUC and its replacement by a more acceptable force.
Mr Maskey suggests that this new force could be made up of existing members of the RUC and that members of the Irish Republican Army should not be disbarred from such a force.
Maskey's expectations are as outrageous as they are naïve, but in the run up to the endgame scenario in our all-party talks, such proposals may be viewed as pre-tournament poker playing before the big game.
Whatever settlement may be arrived at in the days to come, its obvious that nationalists will not exempt either the British Army or the RUC from any decommissioning strategy. Sinn Féin's proposals regarding the RUC may well be viewed as part of strategic response to the eternal problem of decommissioning.
The whole question is now highlighted with the UN report confirming police collusion in the murders and harassment of leading figures in the legal profession.
In attempting to access the workability of Maskey's proposals I was reminded of a chance encounter I had in a hotel in Ballyshannon some six years ago.
I was on my way from Mayo to give a lecture in Magee College in Derry City and stopped in the Donegal town to take some lunch. A wedding reception was in progress and one of the guests came over to me to say hello. I was not long released from my own incarceration in Lebanon and this retired senior Garda inspector, as he turned out to be, merely wanted to congratulate me, and offer his good wishes. During the course of our conversation the gentleman explained to me how he had been one of several senior Garda inspectors who had met regularly with similar ranking officers from the RUC.
I was not surprised as he explained that these meetings, or their outcome, were ever made public. But I was more intrigued when he explained that in the course of one of their discussions, he had suggested to his opposite numbers from the RUC over a number of years, a scheme whereby young officers in the RUC training school in Enniskillen might complete part of their training and first year service at the Garda training centre in Templemore, Co Tipperary with perhaps a few months in a local Garda station in the Republic.
This would of course, be reciprocated with Garda in training going to Enniskillen and spending some time working from a local police station in the north.
I was intrigued by the idea. It certainly seemed more plausible that Sinn Féin's yard brush proposals. But the retired inspector quickly dashed any ideas that were firming up in my head. He informed me that the representatives of the RUC wanted no part of the proposals as they considered that it would compromise their own position. What exactly was meant by this I was unable to ascertain, as my engagement in Derry would not allow me to remain chit-chatting. In any case someone came and dragged my companion back to the wedding festivities with an apology for interrupting us.
Driving off from the hotel I pondered what was meant by "compromising their own position." Did they mean their status or authority within the organisation? Did it have some reference to how they might be viewed within their own social network. I was well aware from my own years in Belfast that there are several silent confederacies amongst the conservative elite of both communities who view change with a kind of patronising dismissal.
Reflecting over both Maskey's and the retired inspector's proposals I began to fathom just how urgent and complex the issue of policing in a dividend society is.
Part of the initial problem is that the concept "divided society" has become an accepted by-word which over simplifies the problems of the North and consequently adds to the complexity of reform or rehabilitation in any area of life there. Whatever the divisions amongst people, they all share the communality of a shared geography and economy. The complex indices of conflict within this, encompass more than simply politics or religion. These categories alone contain their own complexity. The shifting political landscape itself displays this confusion.
The arrival of new political groupings and the emergence of new political parties from the shadowy world of Protestant and paramilitarism are immediate indicators of this complexity, defining that the boundaries of the groups between whom there is conflict is no longer the simple black and white of Catholic and Protestant, Loyalist and Republican.
These are continually being exposed as inadequate. Differences within class, generation and region, as they assert themselves, explode the more accepted differences between both the Unionist and Nationalists camps.
The smaller Unionist parties PUP and UDP seem to have formulated for themselves a language of accommodation which the DUP and IUP show no desire to tolerate, whilst the official Unionist Party seem not yet willing to embrace.
On the other hand, contrary to the much rooted idea of a pan-nationalist consensus, Sinn Féin and the SDLP are more like cursing cousins than kissing ones. With the ambiguous rhetoric of the IRSP and Republican Sinn Féin tenaciously or openly opposed to the peace process, we have something that mirrors the internal differences within Unionism. The whole picture viewed from this angle illustrates the new factionalism in Northern politics.
Yet paradoxically these same divisions have thrown up chance alliances in ideology, if not in fact, which years ago would have been unthinkable. And if the forthcoming talks are to "be worth more than a penny candle" then such flexible alliances are essential. But this is merely a preface to the contemplation that both Maskey in Belfast and the affable retired Garda occasioned.
If we move our focus from the consideration of a divided society to a multi-fragmented one, we might have a better understanding of the problems of policing in the North and hopefully, begin to have some understanding of the possible alternatives.
One of the more apparent problems that currently faces the RUC has arisen particularly with the re-routing issue that held us in breathless anxiety over the summer months and seems set to threaten us again. The RUC is increasingly facing public order problems and condemnation from the majority Protestant community, from which it draws its recruits. As the police continue to investigate criminal racketeering by Protestant paramilitaries and turn their plastic bullets on Protestant demonstrators, this difficulty is deepened.
As a social arbiter it increasingly finds itself alienated from large sections of the community. But this is not the only area in which the independence and communal acceptance of police is threatened.
Every political organisation in any democracy emphasises the necessity of Law and order, consequently, conflicts over who best represents this issue and thus, the police, has been a subject of debate, particularly in the Unionist camp. The dangers here are obvious. Nationalists opinion has for a long time viewed the RUC as the military wing of Unionism but now it finds itself increasingly alienated from this community as a whole and without any solid and powerful political patronage, on whom it can depend for unquestioning support.
But this is not the whole of the problem.
The image of the leader of the Unionist party "strutting his stuff" and pointing fingers of accusation as the phalanx of RUC officers lined out at Drumcree must have been seriously damaging at a personal and professional level to the ordinary rank and file officer.
If the question of 'who speaks for the police' had been long obscured by a smear and propaganda campaign by its opponents, it is further exacerbated by the political partisanship of members of the force itself.
Membership of certain organisations seem to many people incompatible with membership of the police, and rightly so! Ronnie Flanigan's ambiguous remarks on this subject only highlight the problem.
It is well accepted that the prolonged qualification of public support will have a serious impact on the morale and function of any organisation and the police are no exception. For too many people in the North the police are associated only with "intervention" and the numerous newspaper articles on "plastic bullets", "undercover operations" and "Shoot-to-Kill policy" have over emphasised this. In a democracy public opinion is a serious consideration and "perceptions" of the police can and do seriously affect their ability to function. As attitudes change and the Protestant majority begin to withhold their support because of action against them while conversely the moderate nationalists increase their support because the police seem to be acting impartially. Then the organisation looses focus. Their role becomes obscure and a dangerous vacuum may be fuelled by the dubious political partisanship of individual members or groups within the force which may even influence proper management decisions.
Flowing out from these problems is that serious and highly contentious issue of the involvement of the police in matters of internal security.
The more the police are seen as a security vanguard, the more negative will be their public evaluation. Even more ominous is the possibility that "security questions" will dominate the policy and ethics of policing. The unfortunate consequences is that the body politic of the police becomes a dominating voice to the exclusion of all others.
But more important, and significant in any discussion of police policy is how the police reflect and mediate conflict. Once the central importance of this is understood then it is more possible to measure the effect of policing in a divided society and thus go a long way to enabling an appropriate schedule of reform and restructuring.
Unfortunately however, policing policy is affected by agencies and groups external to the organisation itself.
The partisan and pragmatic positions taken by the constitutional parties is problematic.
They have to accept that their traditional positions concerning policing have to change in a changing society. In so doing they might free up the capacity, within the RUC to reorganise in a manner that would allow them to operate without fear or favour, or even more importantly, without allegiance.
Unionist opinion must move out of the assumption that the majority in electoral numbers gives them a majority say in matters of law and order and equally the constitutional nationalists have to accept that their position of guarded opposition which protected them from the charge of an attack on law and order by their unionists opponents and simultaneously protected them from abuse by their more radical counterparts, is no longer functional.
Such a political sea change could invigorate thinking and encourage innovative responses from within the organisation itself.
If a thorough going, root and branch reformation and restructuring are a more viable alternative to Sinn Féin's absolutist proposal, it may well mean getting rid of redundant self protectionism ideologies both within the organisation itself and equally within the thinking of political parties. If we are to broaden our thinking and accommodate new ideas about policing. Then the organisation should similarly develop.
The more heterogeneous the composition in the membership of the force the easier it would be to respond to the demands of various groups and the less likely it would be for some groups to demonise the police.
If the police force is to be properly autonomous of political patronage and operate as the unbiased arbiter of social conflict, then it should have the skilled manpower to do so. Career structures should be made attractive to attract the best.
Open accountability should encourage and enhance the performance of individual police men and woman and of the profession itself.
But any agency which might operate as the instrument to ensure public accountability should not be a convenient patchwork of interests, representative of existing social divisions. That would be the worst kind of tokenism and would serve no-one, neither community nor police.
However a word of caution underlines those proposals. Any discussion of reform or restructuring must be serious in its purpose. It must not become a cudgel for one political group to beat the other with.
The important issue is that policing must be removed from politically contentious debate and recrimination.
In a very real sense the police must be politically correct.
Partisan methods and membership, the unrestrained and selective use of force, the perpetuation of ethnic abuse and the unrestricted intrusion in the everyday life of a community, in pursuit of "threats" to security, have no place in a post-conflict ethos. The sooner they are rejected for contributing to conflict rather than preventing it, the sooner we may arrive at a modern institution which is objective and skilled in its responses and commands respect from those it seeks to serve.
Ultimately, the role of the police in a post conflict society is as vital as it is crucial. I can understand Alex Markey's and Sinn Féin's concerns in this matter though I cannot share the extremism of their proposal. It may have been a solution in the founding of the Republic, but that was over 70 years ago. Options by their nature are the subject matter of any discussion. Demands in comparison are simply dead ends which conclude a debate before it had begun, and usually become the ephemera of historians.
I liked the idea the retired inspector put to me all those years ago in Ballyshannon. I also like travelling between Belfast and Dublin without being stopped at a border check point.
But I would really, really, like to see the hideous and costly fortifications removed from police stations in the North. They have the sense, about them, of being something ominous, set apart from the people. Their high walls and gaunt turrets seem like throwbacks from history and suggest a myopic and defensive vision of the future. In my childhood I called them "barracks". The word has a hard and sterile ring to it… I still use it and wonder why.

Waterford's Power reconnected for An Ras Mumhan bid over Easter

by Brendan Mooney
CIARAN POWER went desperately close to winning the opening classic of the season in Carlow on Sunday when he was just outfoxed by Tommy Evans in the race for the Des Hanlon Memorial trophy.
However, the Waterford man can get quick compensation this weekend when he lines up for An Ras Mumhan, although he's the first to admit it will be a hard race to win. Ras Mumhan replaces last year's Easter Three-Day and will be decided over four days starting tomorrow with a stage from Clonmel to Kanturk and promising plenty of action between then and the finish in Cork on Monday.
"It is going to be very difficult to win on my own," he admitted. "But I would be hoping for a stage win at least."
Last year when it was a three-day Power finished second overall to the flying Limerick man, Brian Quinn. He collected two jerseys along the way — points and mountains — and put the finishing touches to a great weekend by winning the final stage from Killorglin to Cork. And on Sunday in Carlow he went close to recording his first big win of the year. The race developed into a three-way contest also involving former FBD Milk Ras winner Evans and Brian Kenneally (Cidona Carrick), the most improved cyclist in the country this season. Kenneally crashed at The Butts but got back on his bike and caught the other two.
"I felt I did not have enough in my legs so I decided to jump with 500m to go and try an open up a gap," Power said. "Brian Kenneally came after me and Tommy Evans jumped off his wheel for the win.
"It would have been nice to win but anyway it showed me that I'm coming around nicely after Malaysia. I felt tired for about three weeks after that but the form is coming back."
This weekend's showpiece, promoted by the Munster Federation, is an important yardstick for those preparing for the FBD Milk Ras which is just a month away.
Ray Clarke (Premier) had been hoping to get into the placings but those hopes were dashed when he was taken ill last week and is now just back on the bike.
"I'll definitely start and I'll be hoping to finish the race," he said. "But I've been off the bike for nine days and you just can't afford that. I was with the doctor yesterday and he told me it was all right for me to start and then see what happens."
Clarke insisted the race has never been so open. There will be big contingent from outside Munster. Philip Cassidy, a former Ras winner, leads a strong Leinster team while Bill Moore is riding into form.
Munster riders will be anxious keep the title in the province and a rider like Power would need their support to hold off the visiting teams. David Hourigan (O'Mara Motors, Limerick) has a good record in the race and he was back to his aggressive best in Carlow on Sunday.
Cidona's Eddie O'Donoghue, maintained his consistency by making it into the top six with Paul Griffin, now riding for the Dan Morrissey Club in Carlow, seventh. The day before, Aidan Crowley (TSB Bank/Midleton Wheelers) finished third in the Denis Whelan Memorial in Batterstown. With Stephen Sheehan still recovering from an unfortunate early season crash, he will be looking for an alliance to enhance his hopes of making it into the prizes.
Last year's winner Brian Quinn has done enough this season, as have the other Limerick men, to indicate that they will not relinquish the title easily.
It promises to be an exciting weekend with the opening stage from Clonmel to Kanturk tomorrow followed by another interesting stage from Kanturk to Killorglin on Saturday.
An early morning time trial followed by a criterium in the evening will keep fans entertained in Killorglin on Easter Sunday and could decide the destination of the yellow jersey before the race leaves for a finish on the Carrigrohane Road outside Cork city on Easter Monday.

Constitutional reform must be inherent part of peace process

by Pat Brosnan
DECIDING on when exactly the peace process began is rather a subjective exercise.
The ill-fated Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 has been mentioned as a comparison with the current process, because there are similarities in relation to the various structures proposed then and now. That was signed by the then Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, and his counterpart, Ted Heath, and Unionist leader Brian Faulkner. It was subverted not too long after the ink of their signatures was dry.
The Sunningdale conference between the British and Irish Governments and the three parties involved in the Northern Executive was held in December, 1973. Agreement to set up the power-sharing executive made up of the unionists, led by Brian Faulkner, the SDLP and the Alliance Party, and the distribution of offices had been reached at talks at Stormont the previous month.
The conference was intended to establish the "Irish dimension" and the political framework in which the new government would operate.
A Council of Ireland would be set up, limited to representatives from both parts of the island, but with appropriate safeguards for the British Government's financial and other interests.
The Council of Ministers — equivalent of the current executive model — would make decisions by unanimous vote, and would have seven Ministers from either side, and there would also be a consultative assembly with an advisory role.
The assembly was to have 60 members — 30 from the Dáil and 30 from the Northern Assembly. The Council of Ireland was to have a wide range of functions, including the study of the impact of EEC membership, development of resources, co-operative(
ventures in trade and industry, electricity generation, tourism, roads and transport, public health advisory services, sport, culture and the arts.
Also considered were various approaches on law and order, including extradition, the creation of a common law enforcement area in which an all-Ireland court could have jurisdiction and the extension of the jurisdiction of domestic courts so as to enable them to try offences committed outside the jurisdiction.
Currently, the Irish Government and constitutional nationalists, in the present peace process, have been in favour of a cross-border body with at least some real power to take and implement decisions, but this is utterly opposed by unionists generally. Under Strand Two of the process, if a North-South Council came into being, its members would be drawn at Ministerial level, from the assembly in the North (proposed under Strand One) and the Oireachtas. As far as Dublin is concerned, that council would be a vital element in keeping the SDLP and, importantly, Sinn Féin, on the inside track of any settlement deal.
Redolent of the Council of Ireland under Sunningdale, this council would deal with issues of common interest, such as roads, farming, fisheries, economic development in the border counties, etc.
As far as the Irish Government is concerned, the council should have executive powers if it is to be relevant and to sell it to both the SDLP and Sinn Féin, as well as people in the South. What they mean by that, is that it should be headed up by a Cabinet-style committee with collective decision-making authority, and that's the last thing the unionists want because it would be a reversal of their traditional policy. Quite simply, David Trimble, knowing such a scenario would create major problems for his grassroots, is insisting that the North-South council should have no separate identity of its own and, up to now, has resisted any question of devolving powers to it.
Inherently, their belief is that it is the thin edge of the wedge for a United Ireland, a lá Sinn Féin, despite repeated assurances from the South on the question of consent.
The quid pro quo from the Southern perspective to achieve that would be a readiness to change Articles Two and Three of the Constitution.
But Trimble's Ulster Unionist Party has a major problem with the concept of executive powers vested in a cross-border body, which was witnessed on Tuesday when they withdrew from discussions on the Mitchell draft plan. At that stage, it was reported their main problem was with Strand Two — the North-South council. One of the main points of the Sunningdale Agreement was that the Irish Government and the SDLP upheld their aspirations for a united Ireland, but only by consent. The unionist and Alliance parties voiced the desire of the majority in NI to remain part of the UK.
Then, as now, the Irish Government fully accepted and solemnly declared that there could be no change in the status of Northern Ireland until a majority of the people of the North desired such a change.
Back in 1973, Sunningdale seemed to herald a watershed in Northern affairs, but the Council of Ireland aspect of it, which was part of the agreement, was unacceptable to unionists.
It became another victim of intransigence when, after a series of strikes organised by the Ulster Workers' Council which paralysed the North in 1974, the assembly collapsed. The paramilitaries once again took the centre-stage.
Three days later, car bombs killed 33 people in Dublin and Monaghan.
It has been said that a defect in the Sunningdale Agreement was that those involved in it had completely different views of what it entailed and that would appear to hold true today for the peace process.
From then to the end of the Seventies, Northern Ireland experienced some of the worst atrocities since the troubles started.
There are even similarities between David Trimble and Brian Faulkner, apart from their political colour.
Faulkner, like Trimble, was very unpopular with the nationalists.
At one time, he led a triumphal Orange parade through a hostile Catholic area, the Longstone Road in Annalong, Co Down.
David Trimble's support of the Orange stand-off in Drumcree gave nationalists no confidence that he was a man in a mood to accommodate their position or compromise on the marches which are anathema to so many Catholic communities across the North. A significant constitutional shift has occurred in the 25 years since Sunningdale to the current situation.
That agreement did not recognise even the possibility of a change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.
In fact, it declared unequivocally: "The present status of Northern Ireland is that it is part of the United Kingdom."
Now, constitutional reform is an inherent part of the peace process.
That shift has been accommodated, in the interim, by three other agreements.
In 1985, Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, or the Hillsborough Agreement, which marked a major change in the attitude of the British Government.
A joint ministerial conference of Irish and British Ministers was set up to monitor political, security, legal and other issues of concern to the nationalist community.
It gave the Republic a role which amounted to something more than consultative, and outraged the loyalists.
In 1993, the Downing Street Declaration was signed by Albert Reynolds and John Major.
In that, the British Government agreed: "That it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts, respectively, to exercise their right to self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish."
In 1995, the Framework Document was announced and it was another step along the road to the present peace process.

A chance for old enemies to be friends

by Greg Harkin
Stormont
AT last the political enemies who have contributed to the hell of the past 29 years have finally come together to agree a settlement which the vast majority of people can stand over.
Republicans and loyalists, nationalists and unionists have all been represented for the first time around the same talks table.
With three brilliant politicians standing over them, Messers Ahern, Blair and Mitchell, old enemies may even one day become new friends.
There are those who have stayed outside this process, terrorists and politicians, with their own interests in wrecking what the brave men and women of the North have being trying to do.
I say brave because it is harder to confront your enemy across a talks table than it is to ridicule them in public and private.
It's also much easier to slip a car bomb into a village and wreck the heart of a town.
It's easier to sneak into the driveway and sneak a boobytrap device under somebody's car, or squeeze a trigger from a mile away and send someone you have never met to an early grave.
It's far far easier to pick up your plastic bullet gun and aim head-high at a nine-year-old girl on an errand to the shop for her granny.
And it only takes 30 seconds to walk into a country pub and spray punters with gunfire, leaving a mark there for generations to come in the form of six or seven graves in the nearby cemetery.
These are all real people, and for the most part, really innocent people.
I speak of Bloody Sunday, Bloody Friday, La Mon, Stephen Restorick, Enniskillen, Moira, Greysteel, the Shankill, Loughinisland.
That is what has made this so important.
The LVF, the Continuity IRA, the 32-county sovereignty committee and the INLA will try to bring the names of more villages to the horror headlines to what has ridiculously been called the Troubles.
But we all hope that while these people retain the capacity to murder and maim, we the people of this part of the island will be much stronger because of this peace process.
If prisoners are released, if there is a genuine power-sharing executive, if there is a real all-Ireland dimension and unionists are given the guarantees they deserve, then there is a way forward for this bloody country after all.
For the record, despite the political posturing which has gone on up here at these drab Castle Buildings for the past two years there is real co-operation going on just a few miles down the road at Belfast City Hall.
Last month for example representatives of Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the other parties shared the same planes, same hotels and same dinners on a six-day investment seeking trip to Nova Scotia in Canada.
It's paying dividends already, with the hope that hundreds of jobs could soon be on their way to a city ravaged by unemployment and violence of course.
Intensive work still needs to be done.
Hacks like me would far rather sit through the boredom of a Northern Assembly than constantly chase ambulances.
People like me just want an end to this sickening violence.
And let's be blunt about this — everyone is to blame. EVERY single one of us who has ever had even a malice thought in our heads.
There are 3,248 reasons why we must move ahead. That's how many people have died here since 1969.
There have also been 30,000 casualties, the worst of those blinded and crippled by trigger men on all sides.
Holy Thursday was a good day to end it all.
Now we have to tackle the ravages of sectarianism which permeate through every strand of our society.
As the politicians talked, residents of the Whitewell area of north Belfast continued to blame each other for sectarian attacks.
Work will begin soon on a £150,000 'peace wall' for the two sides.
That is where the real work must start now.
The Catholic Church could start the process by relinquishing control of schools and actively encouraging integrated education.
It may take two generations to break down sectarian divisions but it must start now.
And funding for REAL cross-community projects must start because there has been too much messing around here in the past ten years.
Ninety-nine per cent of the cash which has flowed in here has gone to businesses, towards job creation. It has been nothing short of scandalous.
But what is the point of having 50 people from the Shankill and 50 people from the Falls working in a west Belfast factory together when they hardly speak to each other and their kids throw rocks at night over the peaceline? Take for example a good guy I know from east Belfast.
Gerry Bennett works day in and day out bringing Catholic and Protestant kids together across the peaceline.
They've travelled to Wicklow, Liverpool, to Europe together. The children have become friends, some of the teenage boys have fallen in love with some of the teenage girls.
But these good people like Gerry have to raise their funds for these trips through selling ballot tickets. And if they don't sell enough ballot tickets, they don't get.
For God sake Bertie and Tony, please look at this.
The future may begin today this Good Friday, but we face disaster unless people from both sides of the community and children in particular, come together to break down barriers.
And to our American cousins, don't give another cent to the International Fund for Ireland until the rules are changed and the dollars stop going to business people with money and instead to real cross-community work.

Poyntzpass killing defines the macabre legacy of the 'troubles'

by Dan Collins
VIOLENT atrocities in Northern Ireland have through the decades managed to plumb ever deeper depths of depravity.
Just when you think you have gone beyond the point of shock and repulsion, another incident will chill your blood.
Early last month, the violent and grim thuggery which has dominated the so-called 'troubles' visited the quiet County Armagh village of Poyntzpass, which had previously been untainted by sectarian hatred.
Damien Trainor and Philip Allen were gunned down in their local pub by fanatical loyalist butchers for no other reason than the fact these men were of different religious persuasions.
The killing of these two pals was a macabre illustration of the bitter madness which has possessed the terrorists and which in turn has continued to haunt those who want to live their lives in peace.
The ugliness of Northern Ireland's bigotry is beyond human comprehension.
In June 1997 a Loyalist baying mob jumped and stamped on the head of an off-duty RUC policeman outside a public house in Ballymoney, County Antrim.
Constable Greg Taylor, a 41-year-old father of three, was abused while in the pub because of the RUC's handling of a banned Protestant parade in Dunloy. At closing time the thugs who had confronted the policeman in the bar lay in waiting outside to claim another life for their depraved cause.
The body count in Northern Ireland is 3,243. Of that shocking statistic, 2,288 were civilians. It is difficult to break the figure down into religious/political affiliations as both sides have killed people of their own persuasion and there are a whole host of mystery killings with no claims of responsibility.
The security forces in Northern Ireland have lost 955 members —RUC (199), RUC Reserve (102), British Army (451), UDR (197), RIR (6).
The official figure does not include the 'disappeared', those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried; people killed in bombings in the Republic and people killed in IRA attacks in Britain.
One Northern Ireland commentator recently claimed that the IRA had killed 1,700 Protestants in the last 25 years.
Looking over the recent violent history of Northern Ireland it is impossible to come to terms with the atrocities.
Among those which best illustrate the depravity of the Northern Ireland situation were the murders committed by the so-called Shankill Butchers during the '70s. This gang of Loyalists, led by psychopath Lenny Murphy, abducted, tortured and cut to pieces as many as 20 Catholics.
The Restaurant Fireball was another senseless atrocity which defines the mindlessness of 'the troubles'. In February 17, 1978, an IRA bomb attack on the La Mon House restaurant, Co Down, claimed 12 lives and left more than 30 people injured.
The Miami Showband massacre by the UVF outside Banbridge, County Down, in July, 1975, was one of the most repulsive terrorist acts ever carried out.
When a bomb-ferrying plot collapsed on the premature detonation of the device which killed two of the UVF men, the Loyalist thugs turned their guns on the band killing three and seriously wounding another.
The Ballykelly Bombing on December 1982 killed 17 people, 11 of them soldiers when an INLA bomb destroyed the Droppin Well bar.
And none will forget the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing on November 8, 1987, when a huge no-warning device cut down 11 innocent people.
At the close of August 1994 the IRA declared a ceasefire to pave the way for constructive peace talks. The cessation, which would be reactivated at a later date, abruptly ended at 6.59pm on Friday, February 9, 1996, when a huge explosion ripped through Canary Wharf in London's Docklands killing two and injuring many more.

Cab taken for over seven minutes as driver scuffled with passenger

A GALWAY taxi driver who was busy overpowering a passenger who attacked him, found himself without his cab for over seven minutes when another passenger in the hackney disappeared with the vehicle, a court heard yesterday.
The taxi man claimed documents had been disturbed and a sum of money was missing from the vehicle when it was returned to him.
However, David Scully of Clonboo, Corrandulla, who was charged with unlawfully using the vehicle at a special sitting of Headford District Court, claimed the taxi was rolling backwards onto the main Galway/Headford Road as the scuffle ensued between the driver and the other passenger and he only got into the driver seat to stop it.
Scully was also charged with stealing £30 from the cab, the property of Richard Burke, at Clonboo on August 3 last.
The taxi driver, who is from the Mervue area of Galway city, stated that he asked the passengers to stop smoking in the car before they left Galway and he suspected from the conversation that there would be a problem.
He was hit by a man who had already been before the courts and while he was struggling with him the other passenger, David Scully, drove off in his car.
Replying to solicitor Michael McDarby, defending, witness said if the car was rolling back the defendant could have put his foot on the brake. He pointed out that the defendant went down a slip road at the side of Regans Pub and was gone for up to 7 minutes.
In evidence, Scully said the scuffle broke out first over the fare and then the taxi man was struck by Moylan when he threatened to take them to the Garda station.
He said he told the driver three times that the car was rolling back but the taxi man mustn't have heard him. Witness jumped between the seats and moved the car.
He only went down the slipway and turned into Regans car park. Then he brought it back and left it in front of the pub and went over to the taxi driver and told him not to choke his friend, that he would pay the fare.
Hearing that the other man, Moylan, had been fined for assaulting the taxi driver, the Judge added that he should have been jailed for such a despicable act of blackguardism.
He convicted Scully and fined him £250 for unlawfully using the taxi without the consent of its owner and ordered him to pay £50 witness expenses.

Hopes of breakthrough swing like yo-yo on countdown to the midnight deadline

by Lam O'Neill
Political Editor
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was back in the North, yesterday morning, to resume his bid with Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to save the peace talks process within eight hours of having left it to return to Dublin.
The two leaders had a breakfast meeting at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down at 9 o'clock before moving back to the talks' venue at Castle Buildings in Belfast for further talks with the political parties.
Ahern began a round of talks with the other party leaders in an attempt to copperfasten a deal on the North/South bodies.
"It is looking a bit more hopeful," said a Government source a couple of hours later.
Meanwhile, John Hume and other SDLP leaders were closeted with David Trimble and his Ulster Unionist Party colleagues arguing about the shape and form of a new Northern Assembly.
By 11.30, a Downing Street source said that Prime Minister Blair remained of the view that a deal could be done.
A half-an-hour later, Ulster Television was reporting that the substance of an agreement on North/South bodies had been reached between the Irish Government and the Ulster Unionist Party. Outside in a biting wind whirling through the shanty cabins serving as a press centre, journalists up to their ankles in mud, were listening to contrary spins, however.
An Ulster Unionist Party spokesman was complaining that the Irish Government had not, after many hours, responded to amending proposals from Mr Trimble and his colleagues on the North/South issues.
He also warned that the issue of the assembly could still make or break the talks.
In the meantime, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams had emerged from the talks' centre to warn that the unionists were trying to undo the work of two years.
He claimed that the Ulster Unionist Party's difficulties were with the substance of the draft agreement put forward by talks' chairman George Mitchell, and they were trying to undo it.
"Rather than move forward the unionists want to move back.
"The two governments must be clear that this cannot happen," he said.
Around the same time, an Irish Government source was telling journalists that the UUP's position on North/South bodies was still not absolutely clear.
"The two governments are desperately trying to pin Trimble down as to what he needs," said the source.
Optimism of a positive outcome before the midnight deadline increased when the word spread in the early afternoon that a mechanism to meet the UUP's concerns about the North/South bodies was on the point of being agreed.
The new Northern assembly would have an "input" into the appointments of the cross-border institutions but these would still be set up by legislation in the Dáil and at Westminster, according to the well-informed source.
It did not make nationalists happy, however, to see this interpreted in the early afternoon Belfast Telegraph as giving the unionists a "veto."
But the cautious optimism was growing and there were almost cheers raised when the news ran through the Castle complex at about 4 o'clock that George Mitchell had phoned President Clinton to tell him that a deal had been "almost done" but it would run beyond the midnight deadline.
Optimism was fuelled a short time later when Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition came out of the talks to tell journalists that she was confident a deal would be done by midnight or in the early hours of the morning.
Her press conference chair was no sooner vacated than it was filled by the Downing Street spokesman, Allister Campbell, who conveyed the view that the Prime Minister continued to be optimistic that a deal could be reached within the deadline.

Public shut out of inquiry into Oireachtas allowances

LET'S hope our TDs and senators who expressed outrage and indignation about the nefarious conduct of some of our banking institutions and demanded all sorts of inquiries, will adopt the same high moral ground in relation to some of their own colleagues.
The people's watchdog over public finances, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has been called in to conduct an audit on travel expenses claimed for former and present ministers, TDs and senators.
Apparently, some of them were so weary from all the travelling they didn't know whether they were coming or going, and claimed expenses on the double.
In fact, some of them were so bewildered they claimed mileage for travelling from their constituencies to Leinster House at times when they were out of the country.
At least, that is what has been alleged.
The extraordinary thing about the affair is that staff in Leinster House, who are responsible for processing travel allowance claims, detected some of this inventive accounting and disallowed a claim — but that decision was subsequently overturned.
I don't know who decided to allow the double claim, but if taxpayers are being ripped off by those who are elected to public office then they should certainly be held accountable for it.
The current audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General concerns allegations about up to 30 TDs and senators, a significant enough number, and it relates back to 1994.
But despite the fact that many of our elected representatives ranted about the banks who were ripping off their customers, and demanded investigations and inquiries, we will probably never know the extent to which some members of the Oireachtas have been doing the same to taxpayers.
You see, it's a matter of discretion for whoever is responsible for keeping an eye on them.
The Comptroller and Auditor General is the Government's watchdog over matters of finance, and you would imagine that his concern would be to protect the interests in that area of the public at large. But, although what are termed 'dubious' expenses claims have been found, our public watchdog isn't telling the public about it.
Not only that, he is refusing to confirm or deny whether or not any fraud was revealed during the investigation.
A spokesman for him said that if anything serious was found in the audit it would be passed on to the relevant departmental head. Depending on that person's response, the Comptroller would decide whether or not remedial action should be taken.
What is meant in this case by 'remedial' action, I'm afraid, I can't enlighten you, but from the sound of it, it doesn't amount to a whole lot.
The Comptroller has discretion on whether or not to publish the findings of any audit carried out by his office and, interestingly enough, he is outside the scope of the new Freedom of Information Act.
In fact, the Comptroller was deliberately excluded from the jurisdiction of this legislation.
Maybe 'dubious' is the extent of the allegations about their expenses, but TDs and senators who have clear consciences should not be tarred with the same brush.
Accountability, in this case, should be transparent.