Substantive Peace Negotiations to Begin

The eight parties in the province’s peace talks agreed to start substantive negotiations next week, after the main pro-British party was rebuffed in its attempt to exclude allies of the Irish Republican Army. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the agreement and urged the sides to get down to work. The session scheduled for Monday stands to be the first significant negotiations involving Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, since the talks on the future of Northern Ireland began in 1996. Sinn Fein was admitted to the table only this month, after the IRA called a cease-fire and Sinn Fein affirmed its support for nonviolent tactics.