ARCHIVE 2005 No. 2 |
06/17/05 08:55 EST LOYAL ORDER MARCHING SEASON BEGINS IN NORTH The Orange Order's "Tour of the North" march will take place in north Belfast this evening in what is the first major loyalist parade in the city of the marching season. As many as 1,000 Orangemen, including 22 bands, are expected to parade along a 7.5km route and past republican Ardoyne, where a protest is expected. Sinn Féin's Mr Gerry Kelly said although he is opposed to the parade, he hoped for a peaceful outcome. 06/09/05 13:23 EST AHERN HOPES FOR EARLY RESPONSE FROM IRA Irish premier Bertie Ahern has said he hopes the IRA will respond soon to Gerry Adams's appeal for the organisation to abandon its armed struggle. The IRA has been conducting an internal debate since the Sinn Fein President's call in April for the IRA to "fully embrace a democratic path". Mr Ahern refused today to put a timescale on the process. But he said he hoped it would not be much longer. There has been speculation that the British and Irish governments would like to see the statement before the Protestant loyal order's marching season in July. 05/26/05 13:16 EST REISS UPDATES CONGRESS ON POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN NORTH President Bush's envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss told a congressional hearing yesterday that the Bush Administration remained committed to keeping the Northern Ireland peace process moving in the direction of long-term peace and stability. He said the Bush Administration's role was that of "honest broker, impartial advisor and strong advocate for the principles of the Good Friday Agreement". Dr. Reiss updated the committee on the political landscape in the North, including the failed December deal which fell on the DUP demand for republicans to "wear sackcloth and ashes". "In early December, after several weeks of negotiations, the parties refused to accept the comprehensive settlement because of a number of disagreements, the most prominent of which was whether the IRA would permit photographic evidence of weapons decommissioning," Reiss said. He also warned that the US made the wrong decision if it denied a travel visa to a Sinn Féin representative for political reasons. 05/24/05 14:16 EST NO SURPRISES AS IMC ISSUES 5TH REPORT The IRA is still a "highly active" organisation involved in recruiting, training and intelligence gathering, the Northern Ireland's's 'Independent' Monitoring Commission (IMC) claimed this morning. The highly controversial commission, whose actual independence is called into question by republicans, was set up at the behest of former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, and is made up of Lord Alderdice, Joe Brosnan, John Grieve and Richard Kerr. The British government appoints all but one of its members, ex-Irish civil servant Joe Brosnan being Dublin's nominee. Full text 05/20/05 08:53 EST AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE RENEGOTIATED SAYS AHERN The Belfast Agreement has already been reviewed and must not be renegotiated again, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today. Mr Ahern rejected comments yesterday by the Democratic Unionist Party that the 1998 deal was dead and a new beginning was needed. He said the agreement was reviewed for most of 2004 with political parties in Northern Ireland and was accepted by the DUP and other political parties in Northern Ireland before the aborted power-sharing deal last December. 05/10/05 12:12 EST DURKAN SAYS SDLP WILL NOT MERGE WITH FIANNA FAIL The nationalist SDLP is more focused on political realignment through a united Ireland than on any post-election link-up with Irish premier Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fail, its leader insisted today. After general and local government elections in Northern Ireland which saw the SDLP hold its three Westminster seats, hold its Assembly Election percentage vote but lose some ground to Sinn Fein, Mark Durkan insisted his party had confounded critics who had predicted meltdown for the party. He also dismissed suggestions that a merger or link up with Mr Ahern`s Fianna Fail was on the cards. 05/07/05 14:52 EST DEVOLUTION A PRIORITY SAYS HAIN New Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain today said his priority was the restoration of the Assembly. He said goodwill and effort on all sides would make it possible to "crack this problem". British prime minister Tony Blair had stressed the importance of securing a permanent peace deal, Mr Hain said. He will arrive in Belfast on Monday to begin work. "There is no prize more important than peace," he said. 05/07/05 12:58 EST TRIMBLE RESIGNS AS ULSTER UNIONIST PARTY LEADER Davide Trimble has announced his intention to step down as leader leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. "At a private meeting with the president and chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party this morning I indicated to them that I do not wish to continue as leader," he said in a brief statement issued this afternoon. The move follows yesterday's general election results which left his party with just one Westminster having had five previously. He lost his own seat in Upper Bann to the rival DUP and today the Nobel Laureate issued a brief statement indicating he would step down. 05/06/05 16:11 EST HAIN TO BE NEW NORTHERN IRELAND MINISTER Paul Murphy will be replaced as Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary by Peter Hain as part of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet reshuffle. The new Northern Ireland Secretary will continue to work in his old portfolio as Welsh Secretary, it has emerged. This is not the first time Mr Hain has taken over from Mr Murphy, having replaced him in the Welsh job in 2002. 05/03/05 10:55 EST NORTH WILL BE A PRIORITY SAYS BLAIR Northern Ireland will remain a priority for him if he is reelected, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said. Embarking on the final leg of the election campaign, Mr Blair said the way forward was still obvious. He said republicans must work by exclusively peaceful means and unionists must share power on that basis. He said: "That's the deal there has been all these years and it is still the deal. It's the only deal that is ever going to be done." 04/20/05 07:47 EST AMNESTY CALLS ON JUDGES NOT TO SIT ON FINUCANE INQUIRY Amnesty International has called on all judges in Britain to decline appointments to sit on any inquiry set up under the recently-enacted Inquiries Act - including a planned inquiry into allegations of British security force collusion in the murder of Belfast attorney Pat Finucane. 04/19/05 12:20 EST NOMINATIONS CLOSE FOR WESTMINISTER ELECTIONS Nominations have closed for the 2005 British general election with a total of 105 candidates contesting Northern Ireland's 18 seats. The figure is slightly down on the 2001 election. Fifteen of the outgoing MPs are defending their seats, whilst three political veterans are stepping down. They are the Ulster Unionist, Martin Smyth in South Belfast, the SDLP's Seamus Mallon in Newry and Armagh and former SDLP leader John Hume in Foyle. 04/14/05 10:01 EST JUDGES ASKED NOT TO BOYCOTT FINUCANE INQUIRY The widow of murdered Belfast attorney Pat Finucane has written to all senior judges in Britain urging them not to sit on an inquiry into her husband's killing. Geraldine Finucane wrote to every senior judge in England, Scotland and Wales expressing her concerns about the new Inquiries Act. Despite having been pressing for a public inquiry for years, Mrs Finucane believes the terms of the act could prevent the truth of her husband's murder in 1989 - and allegations of British security force collusion with the loyalist paramilitaries responsible - from coming out. 04/14/05 06:08 EST McGUINNESS MEETS WITH REISS IN WASHINGTON Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness, taking two days off from his Westminster re-election campaign to visit the US, had a 45-minute meeting with the Bush administration's envoy to Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, in Washington yesterday. Mr Reiss described it as a "good meeting" and a "businesslike session", held at Mr McGuinness's request. They discussed "Gerry Adams's statement to the IRA, the timing and the content of a response by the IRA, the upcoming elections, and how the peace process can be put on course," Mr Reiss said. 04/08/05 07:24 EST US GOV.T ENCOURAGED BY ADAMS SPEECH The US government said yesterday it was "strongly encouraged" by the speech of Gerry Adams calling on the IRA to end violence. But it stressed it would wait to see "concrete actions" by the IRA. "We welcome the statement by Gerry Adams," a State Department spokesman said in Washington. "We are strongly encouraged by his call for the Irish Republican Army to renounce violence and rely on purely political and democratic means." He added: "We await concrete action by the IRA to support the policy advocated by Mr Adams. Respect for the rule of law is an essential element of the democratic society that Mr Adams has outlined. We strongly endorse this vision and once again call for all paramilitary activity and criminality to cease." 04/07/05 14:10 EST IRA WILL GIVE DUE CONSIDERATION TO ADAMS REQUEST The IRA has said it is giving "due consideration" to Mr Gerry Adams's speech yesterday when he called on it to commit itself to pursuing its goals through political and democratic means. Mr Adams's speech, which was delivered in Belfast yesterday afternoon, was welcomed in Dublin and London, but the governments stressed it was ultimately dependent on an IRA response. Mr Adams appealed to the IRA to begin intensive internal consultation on his call as quickly as possible. 04/06/05 12:38 EST ADAMS CALLS ON IRA TO END ARMED STRUGGLE Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has called on the IRA to end its armed struggle and embrace politics. Speaking in Conway Mill in West Belfast this afternoon at the start of Sinn Fein's general election campaign, Mr Adams said the Northern Ireland peace process was at a critical stage. He accused the Irish Government in particular of being involved in a "vicious campaign of vilification" against republicans due to Sinn Féin's growing political influence. Full text. 03/22/05 18:53 EST IRA RELEASES EASTER MESSAGE The IRA in its Easter statement said its members are not criminals, and it has done all in its power to assist the McCartney family to bring Robert's killers to justice. "The IRA moved quickly to deal with those involved. We have tried to assist in whatever way we can," it said. "Unfortunately, it would appear that no matter what we do it will never be enough for some. The IRA has spelt out its position in relation to the killing of Robert McCartney. It was wrong, it was murder, it was a crime. But it was not carried out by the IRA, nor was it carried out on behalf of the IRA." See full text. 03/21/05 23:46 EST REYNOLDS CALLS ON IRISH GOV.T FOR GREEN PAPER ON UNITY The nationalist SDLP (Social, Democratic and Labour Party) has said that the threshold for a united Ireland must be a majority of the people in Northern Ireland voting for it rather than unionists consenting to unification. In its unity document, A Better Way to a Better Ireland, published yesterday in Belfast, Dublin and Newry, the SDLP urged the creation of a united Ireland based on the principles and protections of the Belfast Agreement. 03/18/05 03:20 EST BALL IN REPUBLICANS COURT SAYS NORTHERN SECRETARY Political progress in Northern Ireland will be stalled until Sinn Féin deals with alleged IRA criminality, Britain's Northern Secretary Paul Murphy said today. Speaking in Washington DC, he said the ball was firmly in the court of republicans to deal with the issue once and for all. He told BBC Radio: "To all intents and purposes we are not talking about any future negotiations or discussions until the issue of criminal activity on the part of the IRA is addressed. The onus is entirely on the leadership now of Sinn Féin to resolve the issue of criminality, and until that happens we have not got any hope at all of making any progress towards restoring the institutions of Government in Northern Ireland." 03/17/05 13:38 EST JUDGE BLASTS BRITISH FINUCANE INQUIRY LEGISLATION Retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory blasted the British government's plan to push through new legislation before it complies with its commitments to investigate British state-sponsored collusion as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. "Judge Cory could not be any clearer," said Chairman Chris Smith who chaired his tenth hearing on human rights in Northern Ireland on Capitol Hill this week. "In his letter to me this morning he accused the British government of trying 'to change the ground rules" and place any future investigatory commission in an "impossible situation.' "The bill pending before the British parliament should be named the 'Public Inquiries Cover-up Bill,'" Smith said. 03/17/05 09:21 EST AHERN AND ADAMS MEET IN WASHINGTON Irish premier Bertie Ahern met with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams for almost an hour last night to discuss the current difficulties facing the peace process. They discussed the options required to get things back on track and agreed to meet again on their return to Ireland. Mr Adams said: "The peace process is in serious difficulties at this time and I welcome the opportunity to meet the Taoiseach and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern. It was a useful meeting and an opportunity to focus on how we can collectively resolve the outstanding issues," he said. 03/16/05 22:23 EST CONCERNS OVER TRANSPARENCY OF FINUCANE INQUIRY The British government's inquiry into the death of Belfast human rights attorney Pat Finucane must be transparent and have the necessary power to publish the full truth, it was warned las night. Mitchell Reiss, US Envoy to Northern Ireland, expressed concern that the new legislation governing inquiries could potentially reduce the independence and transparency of an investigation into the murder. Mr. Finucane was murdered in February 1989 and his family is still fighting for the truth surrounding allegations of British military and police collusion. 03/16/05 16:19 EST PSNI NOT MANIPULATING MURDER INVESTIGATION SAYS REISS President Bush's envoy to Northern Ireland, Dr. Mitchell Reiss, has contradicted Sinn Fein's assertion that the Police Service of Northern Ireland is manipulating the investigation into the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney in order to maximize damage to Sinn Fein while the McCartney sisters are visiting the United States. Claiming that the PSNI are holding back on charging suspects in an attempt to damage Sinn Féin, Mr McGuinness said that the PSNI turned away two key people in the McCartney murder investigation, one a key witness and the other, more importantly, a key suspect. 03/14/05 14:37 EST SINN FEIN AN INDISPENSABLE PARTNER - DERMOT AHERN The Irish Government recognises Sinn Féin's democratic mandate and that the party is an "indispensable partner in inclusive institutions", but it is also in a "crisis of its own making", Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said. However, he said the vision of the Belfast Agreement will not be fully achieved until all sides "fully live up to their commitments". 03/13/05 20:26 EST KENNEDY REFUSES TO MEET WITH ADAMS United States Senator Edward Kennedy today reversed course and joined President George W. Bush in refusing to meet Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams on his trip to the United States this week. Mr Kennedy had scheduled a meeting with Mr Adams on March 17th on Capitol Hill for a briefing on events in Northern Ireland. His spokeswoman, Melissa Wagoner, said that "Senator Kennedy has decided to decline to meet with Gerry Adams, given the IRA's ongoing criminal activity and contempt for the rule of law." However, Mr Bush's envoy to the peace process, Mitchell Reiss, confirmed tonight last night that he would meet Mr Adams at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday. ARCHIVE
Read the full stories at The Irish American Information Service |
10 May 2005 Final Results from Local Elections in North The DUP have emerged as the biggest party in Northern Ireland's local government election. Sinn Fein came second, the Ulster Unionsts were third and the SDLP were in fourth place in terms of seats.
On Belfast City Council the DUP became the biggest party beating Sinn Fein into second place with its 15 seats. In overall terms the Ulster Unionist Party's share of the vote dropped most sharply by just over 5%. 22 March 2005 IRA Releases Easter Message The IRA in its Easter statement said its members are not criminals, and it has done all in its power to assist the McCartney family to bring Robert's killers to justice. "The IRA moved quickly to deal with those involved. We have tried to assist in whatever way we can," it said. "Unfortunately, it would appear that no matter what we do it will never be enough for some. The IRA has spelt out its position in relation to the killing of Robert McCartney. It was wrong, it was murder, it was a crime. But it was not carried out by the IRA, nor was it carried out on behalf of the IRA. Those in the political and media establishments, who have been so quick to jump on the bandwagon, have again laid bare their own hypocrisy. This causes justifiable resentment among republicans. But it must not cloud the issue. Óglaigh na hÉireann expects the highest standards of conduct from our volunteers." The IRA made no reference to the Northern Bank robbery but said it was not criminal. "Our patriot dead are not criminals." There was no hint or threat of the IRA potentially ending its ceasefire. Not was there was any suggestion that the IRA was preparing for a radical initiative to help end the Northern political logjam. It said that from over 10 years ago "until now", it had "demonstrated our continuing support for this process". The IRA said for the past two years the process "has been locked in stalemate and has slipped backwards into deepening crisis", but blamed this situation on "rejectionist unionism, aided and abetted by the two governments". The statement, carried in today's edition of An Phoblacht, blamed unionists for rejecting IRA "initiatives" in October 2003 and December last year. "The DUP attempted to turn the initiative of December 2004 into a humiliation of the IRA," it said. "The concerted efforts of both governments since then to undermine the integrity of our cause, by seeking to criminalise the republican struggle, is clear evidence that our opponents remain fixated with the objective of defeating republicans, rather than developing the peace process." 2 February 2005 IRA withdraws offer to complete decommissioning process Complete Text of Today's IRA Statement "In August 1994, the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann announced a complete cessation of all military operations. We did so to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success. That cessation ended in February 1996 because the British Government acted in bad faith when the then British Prime Minister John Major and Unionist leaders squandered that unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict. However, we remained ready to engage positively and in July 1997 we reinstated the cessation on the same basis as before. Subsequently, we honoured the terms of our cessation with discipline and honesty, despite numerous attempts to misrepresent those terms by others. Since then - over a period of almost eight years - our leadership took a succession of significant and ambitious initiatives designed to develop or save the peace process. Those included:
"In 2004 our leadership was prepared to speedily resolve the issue of arms, by Christmas if possible, and to invite two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this. In the context of a comprehensive agreement we were also prepared to move into a new mode and to instruct our Volunteers that there could be no involvement whatsoever in activities which might endanger that agreement. These significant and substantive initiatives were our contributions to the peace process. Others, however, did not share that agenda. Instead, they demanded the humiliation of the IRA. Our initiatives have been attacked, devalued and dismissed by pro-unionist and anti-republican elements, including the British Government. The Irish Government have lent themselves to this. Commitments have been broken or withdrawn. The progress and change promised on political, social, economic and cultural matters, as well as on demilitarisation, prisoners, equality and policing and justice, has not materialised to the extent required, or promised. British forces, including the PSNI, remain actively engaged in both covert and overt operations, including raids on republicans' homes. We are also acutely aware of the dangerous instability within militant unionism, much of it fostered by British military intelligence agencies. The British/loyalist apparatus for collusion remains intact. The political institutions have been suspended for years now and there is an ongoing political impasse. "At this time it appears that the two governments are intent on changing the basis of the peace process. They claim that 'the obstacle now to a lasting and durable settlement... is the continuing paramilitary and criminal activity of the IRA'. We reject this. It also belies the fact that a possible agreement last December was squandered by both governments pandering to rejectionist unionism instead of upholding their own commitments and honouring their own obligations. "We do not intend to remain quiescent within this unacceptable and unstable situation. It has tried our patience to the limit. Consequently, on reassessment of our position and in response to the governments and others withdrawing their commitments;
"The IRA has demonstrated our commitment to the peace process again and again. We want it to succeed. We have played a key role in achieving the progress achieved so far. We are prepared, as part of a genuine and collective effort, to do so again, if and when the conditions are created for this. But peace cannot be built on ultimatums, false and malicious accusations or bad faith. Progress will not be sustained by the reinstatment of Thatcherite criminalisation strategies, which our ten comrades died defeating on hunger strike in 1981. We will not betray the courage of the hunger strikers either by tolerating criminality within our own ranks or false allegations of criminality against our organisation by petty politicians motivated by selfish interests, instead of the national need for a successful conclusion to the peace process. "Finally, we thank all those who have supported us through decades of struggle. We freely acknowledge our responsibility to enhance genuine efforts to build peace and justice. We reiterate our commitment to achieving Irish independence and our other republican objectives. We are determined that these objectives will be secured." P O'Neill
15 December 2004 Proposals by the British and Irish Governments for a Comprehensive Agreement Full text of agreement TIMETABLE
Tuesday 7 December
Wednesday 8 December
December
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March
Early Summer
References in English
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:
Full text of the Good Friday Agreement, April 10, 1998. Investigation into the human rights in Northern Ireland, September 29, 1998
Nobel Peace Price Award, December 11, 1998:
George Mitchell's Peace Principles, November 1999:
Suspension of Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. February 2000:
Peace process resumed. May 2000
Inspection of IRA weapons dumps, June 2000
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. Programme for reaching a normal security end-state by April 2005 Work Programme of the Irish Presidency, 2004.
An Irish bookshop: Read Ireland
Wesley Johnston's History of Ireland
The CAIN Project (The Northern Ireland Conflict)
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
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.
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Opdateret d. 1.1.2009 |