Northern Ireland Unionists to consider IRA disarmament offer

May 12, 2000
Web posted at: 2:25 p.m. EDT (2125 GMT)

In this story: Trimble to hold more talks before meeting Blair, Ahern keep looking for solution RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Northern Ireland's leading Protestant party will meet next weekend to decide whether to rejoin a power-sharing government with Roman Catholic republicans in the British province, the party's leader said on Friday.

"I must make it clear that the calling of the meeting does not mean that we have committed ourselves to endorsing any set of proposals," David Trimble told reporters after he and other Ulster Unionist Party leaders emerged from a meeting at the party's Belfast offices.

MESSAGE BOARD Peace in Northern Ireland?

The UUP'S ruling body will sit down on May 20 to consider a joint British-Irish proposal to launch the partnership government on May 22, a plan that prompted the Irish Republican Army to say last week it was willing to "set aside" its weapons "beyond use."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern announced their proposal -- along with an extension of the IRA's disarmament deadline to 2001 -- on May 6. Just hours later, the IRA issued a statement saying its leadership "will initiate a process that will completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use."

"We will do it in such a way as to avoid risk to the public and misappropriation by others and ensure maximum public confidence," the statement said.

May 22 was the original deadline set by the Good Friday accord for IRA disarmament.

Trimble, who said last week that the IRA offer was "very interesting," said on Friday that he would hold more talks with Britain and other parties before the May 20 meeting.

"We are hoping in the days to come that we will obtain more clarity and certainty about how far the IRA statement goes," he said. "We hope we will be able to obtain more information from the government on its position on matters which we regard as matters of our concern."

Britain assumed direct rule over the strife-torn province in 1974, early in the 30-year guerrilla war between Catholic republicans, Protestant loyalists and the British government. More than 3,600 people have been killed in the conflict, known as "The Troubles."

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday agreement, brokered by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, Britain handed the reins of Northern Ireland's government to a four-party Cabinet -- which included the UUP and Sinn Fein, the party allied with the IRA -- late last year.

Trimble had persuaded the hard-line Unionists to join the self-rule government with Sinn Fein with the assurance the IRA would begin the process of disarmament.

The Unionists threatened to withdraw from the Cabinet after a disarmament commission report said that no outlawed paramilitary group on either side, including the IRA, had made progress on disarmament. Britain then suspended the province's self-rule government and took over its administration.

Both pro-British Protestants and pro-republican Catholics accused the other of violating the spirit if not the letter of the Good Friday agreement, and the IRA cut off contact with negotiators.

But Blair and Ahern pressed forward with their efforts to reconstruct the shattered peace process, putting their proposal on the table after a two-day negotiating session that ended on May 5.

The IRA responded within hours, saying it would seal its weapons in dumps that would be inspected by international monitors.

But some members of the UUP -- many of whom want to see the IRA's weapons destroyed and not merely put away -- are hesitating over the IRA offer.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

IRA disarmament pledge puts N. Ireland peace focus back on Ulster Unionists
May 6, 2000
Blair, Ahern make new bid for peace in Northern Ireland
May 2, 2000
Royal visit to Northern Ireland spotlights stalled peace process
April 12, 2000
Queen bestows top honor on Northern Ireland's police force
April 12, 2000
Britain, Ireland scramble for N. Ireland solution
February 9, 2000

The Irish Republican Army
Houses of Parliament Home Page
The Northern Ireland Office
The Irish Government
Ulster Unionist Party
Sinn Fein Home Page

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.