Breakthrough Made in Stalled N. Ireland Talks

Ending a stalemate that had hamstrung the Northern Ireland peace process for more than a year, the province’s top Protestant leader Tuesday dropped his long-standing refusal to form a government with the political wing of the Irish Republican Army before guerrilla guns are on the table.

Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble said that if the IRA appoints its representative to an international commission charged with overseeing disarmament, “the way will then be clear for the establishment of political institutions” that include Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political wing.

Sinn Fein, in turn, acknowledged that the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons is “an essential part of the peace process” and forswore the use of violence to achieve political ends.

“All parties have an obligation to help bring decommissioning about. Sinn Fein is committed to discharging our responsibilities in this regard,” Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said. “IRA guns are silent, and the Sinn Fein leadership is confident that the IRA remains committed to the objective of a permanent peace.”

The mutually reassuring statements marked the first time since the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement 19 months ago that Trimble and Adams sounded as if they were on the same team, or at least working together against hard-liners and toward the same goal of peace.

The declarations were part of a carefully choreographed plan worked out with U.S. diplomat George J. Mitchell during 10 weeks of negotiations to try to end a nearly fatal deadlock in the peace process, and they fueled hopes in the province that a government might soon be formed.

For more than a year, the two sides have been stuck on the issue of “guns and government.” Trimble, who as head of the largest party would lead a Northern Ireland executive body, had insisted that he would not form a government with Sinn Fein before disarmament.

Sinn Fein, which is entitled to two seats in a 12-member Cabinet based on its proportion of a popular vote, said Trimble’s stance wasn’t part of the peace deal that Sinn Fein had signed. Party leaders suspected that the unionists, who favor continued alliance with Britain, were trying to wriggle out of co-government.

Mitchell, who helped negotiate the Good Friday agreement, was brought back in September to try to rescue the peace process. He ended his so-called review Monday, saying both sides had finally come to understand each other’s concerns and the requirements for moving ahead.

His remarks were accompanied by a request from Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain, head of the independent commission on disarmament, for all paramilitary organizations to appoint their representatives in order to meet the May deadline for disarmament established by the accord.

Trimble responded Tuesday that if the IRA issues “a genuine and meaningful response” to De Chastelain’s request, a government could be formed with Sinn Fein.

“It is our belief that the establishment of the new political institutions and the disarmament of all paramilitary organizations will herald a new beginning for all sections of our people,” Trimble said.

“The UUP is committed to the principles of inclusivity, equality and mutual respect,” he added in uncommonly conciliatory language.

The IRA is expected to issue its own statement today or Thursday committing itself to a “permanent peace” and naming a senior member to negotiate the terms and logistics of disarmament with the commission.

Echoing Trimble’s newfound spirit of cooperation, Sinn Fein’s Adams acknowledged that all sides had suffered in the 30-year conflict that has taken more than 3,500 lives and said that Roman Catholic republicans are willing to work with Protestant unionists in a new Northern Ireland.

Adams said that disarmament must be voluntary but that he believes it will be “finally and satisfactorily settled” by the independent commission. He said his party has a “total and absolute commitment” to exclusively peaceful and democratic means.

The next step is for both sides, particularly Trimble’s, to sell the deal to their followers while trying to minimize splits in their ranks with hard-liners opposed to compromise.

Trimble began his campaign Tuesday at an appearance with British Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson to announce new jobs for the province.

Asked if he had abandoned his “no guns, no government” policy, Trimble replied, “We are trying to realize both devolution and decommissioning, so they are clearly linked.”

Trimble is expected to put the deal to a vote at a meeting of more than 800 UUP council members scheduled for Nov. 27, but he might lose several of his party leaders in the process.

Sinn Fein also has its work ahead. The IRA had previously rejected the accord’s commitment to total disarmament by May, and it is unclear just how it will choose to interpret disarmament. Until now, the IRA has said that its guns are silent and that that should be sufficient.