News from IAIS
2003-02-05 10:50:00 EST
HAASS RECOMMENDS 'BOLD STEPS'
US President George Bush`s special adviser on Northern Ireland, Dr. Richard Haass, predicted today that it would be known within six weeks whether the political breakthrough necessary to restore devolved government in the North was achievable. Dr. Haass rounded off three days of intense talks with the British and Irish governments and the political parties in London, Dublin and Belfast saying everyone knew what was needed. It was now a question of whether the various parties were ready to `grasp the opportunities`.
2003-01-30 09:38:00 EST
AHERN AND BLAIR TO HOLD TALKS ON FEB 12
The Irish Premier, Bertie Ahern and the British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair are to hold talks with the Northern Irish parties in Northern Ireland on February 12th, Downing Street confirmed today.
2003-01-26 10:21:00 EST
TRIMBLE LIKELY TO BOYCOTT TALKS
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is likely to stay away from round table talks this week to revive devolution in Northern Ireland, party sources indicated today. As efforts to restore the Assembly, power sharing government and other institutions intensified at Stormont, UUP sources believed Mr Trimble would continue to insist that the meeting on Thursday of the British and Irish Governments and Northern Ireland parties was a "sham process".
2003-01-23 11:09:00 EST
GOVERNMENTS CHART PLAN FOR DEVOLUTION RETURN
The British and Irish Governments still do not have a deal to put to the parties to move the Northern Ireland political process forward, the Ulster Unionist Party leader has claimed. Speaking after talks with Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in London today, David Trimble said Mr Ahern had told him there was no "saleable deal" on the table. Mr Trimble said the level of trust amongst unionists was so low that this time "republicans must jump first".
2003-01-20 14:11:00 EST
GOVERNMENTS DISCUSS AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION
Multi-party talks dealing with equality and human rights have taken place today at Stormont without Ulster Unionist Party participation. In a letter to the Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, David Trimble said that "secondary issues would serve as a smokescreen to divert attention away from the key issue of paramilitarism".
2003-01-17 09:38:00 EST
UVF ENDS CONTACT WITH DECOMMISSIONING BODY
The Ulster Volunteer Force/Red Hand Commando today withdrew from disarmament talks with the international decommissioning body in Belfast. Progressive Unionist Party Assembly member Billy Hutchinson, who was the negotiator for the loyalist group, said they were withdrawing because of the handling of the peace process.
2003-01-10 11:42:00 EST
ADAIR RETURNED TO PRISON - LICENSE REVOKED
The loyalist paramilitary leader Johnny Adair has been arrested and returned to prison tonight following the revoking of his licence by Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Paul Murphy. Mr Murphy said: "I am satisfied that Adair is a danger to others and while he is at liberty, is likely to commit further offences. On the basis of security information available to me, I have decided to return Johnny Adair to prison. I will not hesitate to revoke the licence of any prisoner released under the Remission of Sentences Act if they present a risk to the safety of others."
2003-01-08 13:02:00 EST
DURKAN SPEAKS ON MAY ELECTIONS
SDLP leader Mark Durkan tonight rejected the suggestion by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble that the British government might have to consider rearranging the date of the next Assembly election from May 1 because of the suspension of devolution. "There is nothing to suggest that postponing the election is actually going to enhance the incentives and imperatives in and around getting the confidence issues in the political process resolved and the institutions reestablished," the SDLP leader said.
2003-01-07 10:46:00 EST
TRIMBLE CASTS DOUBT ON ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
British prime minister Tony Blair must make a decision soon on whether to restore devolved institutions in Northern Ireland if the planned elections to the Stormont Assembly are to go ahead, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said today. Speaking after an hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, Mr Trimble said it was "increasingly problematic" whether the elections scheduled for May can go ahead.
2003-01-06 01:42:00 EST
BLAIR TO LAUNCH DRIVE TO RESTORE DEVOLUTION
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to launch a new drive to save the Northern Ireland peace process this week. Mr Blair is to hold talks with Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble at Downing Street, in the first of a series of meetings designed to break the political deadlock in Belfast.
2002-12-19 01:12:00 EST
CENSUS FIGURES TO SHOW GAP IS NARROWING
The results of the Northern Ireland 2001 Census, to be published today, will show the spread between the North's Catholic and Protestant populations has decreased significantly since the previous census, carried out in 1991.
2002-12-18 13:10:00 EST
SINN FEIN CALLS FOR FULL IMPLEMENTATION
The British Government must implement in its entirety the Good Friday Agreement, a Sinn Fein member of the Irish Parliament said today. On the eve of a fresh round of multi-party talks at Stormont, Kerry North TD Martin Ferris called for commitments on policing, human rights, equality and demilitarisation to be implemented as of right.
2002-12-16 06:57:00 EST
SINN FEIN AND UUP TO MEET TODAY
Representatives of Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party are to meet today in the first in a series of bilateral meetings between parties in the run-up to a round-table discussion later this week.
2002-12-02 12:16:00 EST
COLUMBIA THREE BOYCOTT COURT HEARING
Three alleged IRA members charged with training left-wing guerrillas in Colombia have refused to appear in court in the country's capital, Bogota, to face trial. Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, who were arrested last year in the city, are accused of training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Colombia.
2002-11-30 16:44:00 EST
BLAIR AND AHERN MEET IN BELFAST
The Irish premier and the British prime minister had private discussions at Chequers this morning. They are said to have discussed the prospects for the resumption of powersharing government in Northern Ireland and to have reviewed the work of the Convention on the Future of Europe. This morning's meeting at the British Prime Minister's country residence in Buckinghamshire was informal with Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair spending about two hours talking on their own without officials.
2002-11-28 17:49:00 EST
TALKS WERE "ROBUST AND USEFUL"
Multi-party talks at Stormont aimed at restoring devolution have been described as "robust and useful". The discussions , which included all the pro-Agreement parties were hosted by the Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen. Speaking afterwards, Mr Murphy said they will be asking all the parties to meet each other and the two governments over the next two weeks. "At the end of that we will have another meeting such as this," he said.
2002-11-27 17:09:00 EST
FORUM CALLS FOR DISBANDMENT
Both coalition partners in the Irish Government said today that paramilitary groups must disband if further political progress is to be made in Northern Ireland. In his addresses to the reconvened Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern insisted that the call for the disbanding of paramilitary groups was not merely a question of unionists demanding that the IRA disband.
2002-11-26 17:38:00 EST
PATTEN CAN STILL BE ACHIEVED - McGUINNESS
Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness has said the full recommendations set out by the Patten Commission on policing reform two years ago can still be achieved, despite nationalist disappointment at the amendments topolicing legislation which were published on Monday by the British government
2002-11-25 16:09:00 EST
POLICE REFORMS PUBLISHED BY BRITISH GOVERNMENT
The law could be changed to allow former IRA prisoners to sit on Northern Ireland's District Policing Partnerships if the IRA ceases all activities "forever", the British government has said. Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy made the announcement on Monday afternoon as the British government published the draft bill setting out proposed further changes in the North's policing legislation.
Read the full stories at The Irish American Information Service
The raw, unadjusted data for the 2001 census shows the Protestant/Catholic breakdown to be approximately 46% to 40%. This 6% spread is in stark contrast to the 1991 census which showed a 58% Protestant population and a 42% Catholic population.
The overall religious balance is recorded as 43.76% Catholic and 53.13% Protestant and other related Christian denominations. The remainder is made up of 0.39% who belong to "other religions and philosophies" and 2.72% who cannot be allocated.
In the 2001 census, 14 per cent of respondents did not state their religion or said they had none. However, the census officials have adjusted the raw data to try to indicate which community these 14% came from, taking indicators such as addresses into account. Following their adjustments, the Census officials have ascribed between seven and eight percentage points to the Protestant community while Catholics increased by between three and four points. If the adjustments are accurate, this would mean that the Protestant/Catholic breakdown would be at 53/44%, a difference of 9% as opposed to a difference of 6% in the unadjusted data.
Saturday, October 19, 2002:
FINAL RESULTS:
NO: 37.11 per cent.
Monday, October 14, 2002:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive with effect from midnight on 14 October, 2002.
The Secretary of State, assisted by his team of Northern Ireland Office Ministers has assumed responsibility for the direction and control of the Northern Ireland Departments.
Speech by Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, at the Harbour Commisssioners' Offices in Belfast, 17 October 2002. Read the full text.
Friday, May 17, 2002:
FINAL RESULTS
| Party | Seats | Seats last election |
| Fianna Fáil | 81 |
77 |
| Fine Gael | 31 |
54 |
| Labour | 21 |
21 |
| Progressive Democrats | 8 |
4 |
| Green Party | 6 |
2 |
| Sinn Féin | 5 |
1 |
| Socialist Party | 1 |
1 |
| Others | 13 |
6 |
May 16, 2002
April 8, 2002
Irish Proclamation of Freedom Read by Patrick Pearse from the Steps of the General Post Office, Dublin, Ireland on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916
The Irish Government, June 1997:
Bloody Sunday and the Report of the Widgery Tribunal
Full text of the Good Friday Agreement, April 10, 1998.
Investigation into the human rights in Northern Ireland, September 29, 1998
Statement by Rosemary Nelson, solicitor for Garvaghy Road residents
Nobel Peace Price Award, December 11, 1998:
Nobel Address by David Trimble, First Minister and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
Nobel Address by John Hume, leader of the catholic SDLP
George Mitchell's Peace Principles, November 1999:
Statements of November 16 and 17, 1999, by Ulster Unionist Party, Sinn Féin, Progressive Unionist Party and IRA
George Mitchell's statement, November 18, 1999
Suspension of Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. February 2000:
Decommissioning reports, Mandelson in House of Commons, IRA statements
Peace process resumed. May 2000
British-Irish joint statement and IRA statement.
Inspection of IRA weapons dumps, June 2000
Arms inspector's report
Abortion Referendum March 7, 2002
IRA Statement on Decommissioning April 8, 2002
Speech by Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, at the Harbour Commisssioners' Offices in Belfast, 17 October 2002.
An Irish bookshop: Read Ireland
Wesley Johnston's History of Ireland
The CAIN Project (The Northern Ireland Conflict)
Danish Irish Society
Sinn Féin Homepage
The Irish Times
I started reading about Ireland and about its history in order to understand just a bit of the Irish paradoxes. Although I started from the very beginning the matter was still incomprehensible. I therefore began to write down the headlines in Danish.
In 1998 when I got my own website I wondered what to put there. My family, my career or my garden could not attract much attention. But my Danish survey of the history of Ireland would be different from most other websites, so I uploaded the whole story.
I considered my web-project to be complete by then. However the beginning of 1998 was to become a turning point in the history of Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement created optimism and a new hope of lasting peace. I therefore added new chapters on the peace agreement and on the ups and downs since then. Obviously there is still a way to go before a real peace has been achieved and right now I can't see the end of my project.
A lot of people wrote to me asking for details or references. This has proved the need for a brief Danish version of the history of Ireland. In 2001 more than 50 persons on the average have been visiting my website every day.
However about 10 % of the visitors on my website are non-Scandinavians. I have added this page in order to serve these people with some information about my project and with some of the important references.
I considered reference documents and speeches most interesting in the original English language. I also have to admit that a proper translation of the documents to Danish is not that simple. On the other hand the number of visitors to the reference pages in English has been very limited. Therefore all information in English will be concentrated in this English section of my website together with selected news.
I have no intention of making an English version of the whole story. I have neither the ability nor the capacity to write in English and several excellent sites already offer that sort of information.
E-mail me your comments and questions
Ireland History in Maps
Irish History on the Web
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
Ulster Unionist Party
The Irish Republican Socialist Party
Fine Gael
Ulster Democratic Unionist Party, DUP
Fianna Fáil
Ulster Democratic Party
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Progressive Unionist Party
Ulster Nation
The Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Wild Geese (USA) Irish soldiers in exile
Visit Danish Irish Society
December 16, 2001 Top
Since my first visit to Ireland the history of Ireland was a puzzle to me. Why has this beautiful country with its charming and hospitable population become the arena of a never-ending conflict? Differences in religion, language, race or culture gave no reasonable explanation. Which coincidence has caused so much suffering in Ireland while other countries such as Denmark had nothing but trifles to quarrel about?