Key Irish Moderate Asks for Clarification of Peace Proposal
A key moderate Catholic leader in Northern Ireland urged British Prime Minister John Major on Saturday to spell out parts of a British-Irish peace proposal, a move requested by the Irish Republican Army.
John Hume, leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party, said a review of the proposal would not constitute negotiations, which Major has refused.
“The prize at the end of the road is so great,” Hume said, “that I think everybody should do everything in their power, and particularly governments, to ensure that comes about.”
Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political arm, has written to Major asking for clarification of the accord before an official IRA response is given.
Adams particularly sought clarification of two points: a reference to self-determination for the people of Ireland and whether the Protestant majority in Ulster would have a veto over island-wide moves for unification.
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