Peace Talks at Stalemate Over IRA Disarmament

On the eve of the first Good Friday since the Northern Ireland peace agreement, political leaders failed Thursday to resolve a dangerous stalemate over disarming the Irish Republican Army, demonstrating that, despite a year of congratulation and hope, peace in the province remains far from a done deal.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, after four days of intense talks, was forced to make a tactical retreat and adjourned the discussions for what he termed a two-week “pause for reflection.”

But he released the outline of a deal-in-progress that he said could provide a basis for agreement on the current impasse: how to disarm the IRA and seat members of its political ally, Sinn Fein, in the British-ruled province’s new executive Cabinet.

Last year’s Good Friday peace agreement raised hopes around the world for an end to one of the century’s most intractable conflicts and earned Nobel Peace Prizes for two of the province’s leaders: Protestant David Trimble and Roman Catholic John Hume.

But the atmosphere of hope has been badly strained in recent months. Today was the deadline for nominating ministers to the executive Cabinet, in which Sinn Fein earned two out of 12 seats after elections last summer.

The failure of the talks means a further delay for Sinn Fein’s first chance to exercise governmental power.

“We have to express some sense of disappointment that the deadline for the establishment of the executive has been missed and the democratic mandate of the party . . . has once again been ignored,” said Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

“However, the prize of a lasting peace demands that all of us continue to try,” he added. “Sinn Fein will certainly do that. We will not be deflected.”

The British and Irish governments, aware that the symbolism of the anniversary could intensify a perception of failure, worked to put a positive spin on the outcome.

Blair said the fact that the sides are talking to each other, face to face, represents significant progress since a year ago, when they were still communicating only through intermediaries.

“This entire process is about dialogue and democracy and leaving the past behind,” Blair said. “If anything has shown that in action, it is the spirit of these discussions.”

The adjournment comes just before the Easter holidays--a tense season of anniversaries, speeches and parades that has been marked by violence in the past. And a recent upsurge in attacks, claimed largely by loyalist paramilitary groups that support union of the province with Britain, has raised fears that delays in implementing the peace pact may embolden those trying to undermine it.

“I’m conscious of the negative aspects of the situation,” said Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. “But we’re determined to see the potential of the agreement realized.”

Implementation of the accord has been stalled for months. Trimble, who has been selected to head the new Northern Ireland government, has refused to nominate Sinn Fein leaders to the Cabinet, saying the IRA must first begin handing over its weapons.

Unionists have intensified calls in recent months for IRA disarmament, saying it is unseemly for Sinn Fein to take seats in a democratic government without first “giving up the gun.” They have said that the IRA’s delay in starting the process shows that the militant organization is not committed to peace and is reserving the right to return to war.

The Good Friday agreement left the issue of disarmament open to interpretation.

Sinn Fein argues that the agreement sets May 2000 as a target date for disarmament, termed “decommissioning” in the parlance of the conflict, but does not state when the process must begin.

Moreover, its leaders cling adamantly to the position that they cannot make decisions for the IRA.

“This party cannot deliver on unionist demands for IRA weapons,” Adams insisted. But he added that he supports the principle of disarmament. “We have always said that we want to see all the guns taken out of Irish politics.”

In a joint declaration, Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern tried to finesse the dispute, saying that “there is agreement among all parties that decommissioning is not a precondition but is an obligation.”

The declaration also offers a rough sequence under which decommissioning could take place in tandem with steps to seat the new Cabinet.

Under the proposal, ministers would be nominated first but installed a month later. In the interim, the IRA would have to put some arms “beyond use,” or Sinn Fein nominees would not be sworn in.

In addition, the proposal suggests that the decommissioning should be “a collective act of reconciliation” marked by public ceremonies to commemorate all those who have died in the conflict.

Participants in the talks said the “collective act” also would include moves by the British army to demilitarize the province. That would be important symbolism for the IRA, since it would place the militant organization on a reciprocal footing with British forces. It is not clear whether loyalist paramilitary groups would also take part.

Trimble and Adams now face the tough job of convincing their followers to accept the British-Irish proposal or face a collapse of the peace agreement.

Trimble must persuade his party, which is divided over the agreement, that the IRA moves will amount to more than a gesture.

Adams, on the other hand, must convince the IRA to do something it has pledged for years never to do: lay down its arms, which it sees as a form of surrender. And he must get the militant group to do it within a specific time frame.

“I think there’s a basis for a face-saving formula in what the two governments have said,” said Brid Rodgers, an assembly member from the moderate, largely Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party. “I think the republicans want to move. They have clearly got difficulties, psychological difficulties in particular. That’s why it’s important that some way be found to make it easier for them.”

Others were less generous. The hard-line Democratic Unionist Party, which opposes the Good Friday agreement, quickly dubbed Thursday’s proposal the “April Fools’ Declaration.”

“This is a classic fudge,” said Nigel Dodds, a senior party official. “They have dressed up failure as success. This ‘pause for reflection,’ as it’s being called, is designed to buy some time to bang some more heads together.”