ARCHIVE 2006 No. 6
News, references and links on the history of Ireland
by Paul-Frederik Bach
Extracted with the permission of Irish American Information Service
References   Links   Home


The Irish American Information Service
News from IAIS
- extracted with the permission of IAIS

01/08/07 08:21 EST
PAISLEY DENIES BLAIR STATEMENT ON POLICING TRANSFER DATE
DUP leader Ian Paisley has denied he ever agreed that policing and justice powers would be transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly by 2008. He was responding to an article written by the British prime minister in which he said the DUP promised to share power in March if republicans backed the police. Mr Paisley accused Tony Blair of misrepresenting his party's policy in the Belfast Telegraph and Irish Times. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams cautiously welcomed the article. Mr Blair's assessment was that, if Sinn Fein delivered on policing, the DUP would accept devolution of justice powers by May 2008. But Mr Paisley said he had never agreed there would be a transfer of justice powers within this time limit. He said he was "amazed" by the prime minister's statement.

01/05/07 18:26 EST
DUP REFUSES TO MOVE ON POLICING DEVOLUTION COMMITMENT
The DUP has insisted it has no more to do or say on the policing deadlock after Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness today warned that there was now a "huge question mark" over whether the scheduled ardfheis (party convention) on policing would take place. Mr McGuinness said that the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, must provide further commitments on his party's willingness to share power in March and accept the devolution of policing powers to a Northern Executive by May next year.

01/04/07 10:18 EST
BLAIR IN CRISIS TALKS AS POLICING DEAL IN JEOPARDY
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has threatened to pull plans for an Assembly Election in Northern Ireland if Sinn Fein and the DUP do not resolve their row over policing. After he cut short his holiday in Miami to resolve the latest crisis in the north`s peace process, the Prime Minister insisted it was possible to transfer policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont by May next year if Sinn Fein signs up to supporting the police in Northern Ireland and the DUP delivers on power sharing. But he warned: "It is only on this basis and with this clarity that we can proceed to an election. I am confident that both parties want to see progress and will honor their commitments. But there is no point in proceeding unless there is such clarity."

Mr Blair confirmed he had been involved in intense discussions with Mr Adams and Mr Paisley in recent days.

12/30/06 06:30 EST
REACTION TO SINN FEIN MOVE ON POLICING
Moves by the Sinn Fein Executive to urge their members to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland have been hailed as potentially historic on both sides of the Irish Sea. Downing Street, Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other political leaders, including the Democratic Unionists` deputy leaeder, Peter Robinson, welcomed a decision by the Sinn Fein national executive to hold a special party conference next month to consider supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

12/29/06 13:26 EST
SINN FEIN EXECUTIVE VOTE FOR ARD FHEIS ON POLICING
The Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle (national executive) has voted for a special Ard Fheis (party conference) in January on the issue of republican support for policing in Northern Ireland. Speaking after talks in Dublin this evening, party president Gerry Adams said the meeting would be held if the two governments and the DUP gave a positive response. More than two-thirds of the executive voted in favor of the meeting.

12/23/06 16:42 EST
HR COMMISSION WANTS POWERS TO INVESTIGATE MI-5
The Human Rights Commission should be able to question MI5 about alleged human rights abuses in Northern Ireland, the Chief Commissioner said today. Monica McWilliams wants the power to examine possible wrongdoing by the British intelligence services. Relatives of the 29 who died in the 1998 Omagh bomb have claimed MI5 failed to pass on information even though they had advance knowledge of the plan. The Justice and Security Bill, being considered in Westminster, would exempt intelligence services MI5 and MI6 and national security matters from scrutiny. Ms McWilliams said: "It is a very wideranging exemption and it would put a lot of limitations on what we would be able to investigate and we are hoping it could be amended. It is in the public interest to investigate, whether it is agencies doing something incompatible with human rights."

12/18/06 11:49 EST
TRIMBLE WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION TO ASSEMBLY
Former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Lord Trimble, will not be standing in the forthcoming elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The move, confirmed by the party, was expected following his elevation to the House of Lords earlier this year. Mr Trimble was Northern Ireland's only first minister. He was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party for 10 years from 1995. The next assembly elections are due to take place on 7 March.

12/18/06 05:43 EST
PORTADOWN ORANGEMEN TO ENTER TALKS WITH GARVAGHY RESIDENTS
The loyalist Orange Order in Portadown has confirmed it is prepared to enter face-to-face talks with nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road. The move marks a significant change in policy for the lodge which previously refused to talk to residents. Residents objected to Portadown Orangemen using the overwhelmingly nationalist Garvaghy Road on their return journey from Drumcree church each July. A spokesman for the order said it was prepared to "enter a mediation process with an independent chairman".

12/13/06 09:57 EST
ADAMS AND ORDE MEET IN BELFAST
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said today that it was still possible that the deadlock over policing in Northern Ireland could be resolved within the timeframe envisaged by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish premier Bertie Ahern. However, after what he described as a good meeting with Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, the West Belfast MP said he was still not yet in a position to call a special party conference to change its policy on supporting the PSNI. "My position is very, very clear," Mr Adams said. "I would have long ago called an ard chomhairle (governing Executive) meeting, had I the basis to do so. The ard chomhairle requires a two-thirds majority to call for an ard fheis (party conference)." I am not in a position to call such an ard chomhairle meeting at this time. I`m sorry that this is the case because others are playing politics with the issue of policing. "We need to resolve the whole matter of the transfer of powers on policing and justice in a doable, definitive timeframe to achieve that. We need to get the MI5 security service out of policing. We need to deal with all these other issues which we dealt with at this morning`s meeting."

12/12/06 13:41 EST
IMC FACES CONTINUED ACCUSATIONS OF BIAS
Sinn Fein has accused the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) of "apparent bias" in its reports and recommendations. Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein MP for Newry & Armagh, also accused Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain of unlawfully relying on the "flawed and unfair" reports. Several contained allegations about the paramilitary activities of the IRA and its connection to Sinn Fein which were "strongly rejected" by the party, two senior judges were told. They included accusations that senior Sinn Fein members were involved in sanctioning robberies, including the GBP£26 million (UD$47 million) Northern Bank raid in Belfast. Rabinder Singh QC, appearing for Sinn Fein, told the High Court in London that public funding to which the party was entitled was blocked as a result. This was both unfair and unjust as Sinn Fein had never been given a proper opportunity by the IMC to deal with the accusations made against it.

12/12/06 12:50 EST
HAIN PROMISES FULL COOPERATION ON COLLUSION INVESTIGATION
Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain today promised "full co-operation" with investigations into British security forces collusion with loyalist terrorists in the 1970s. Mr Hain said the Irish Government was "entitled to feel extremely strongly" about the issue, which is being investigated by the Dail (Irish Lower House). "These were appalling atrocities and shameful in every respect, and we pledge our full cooperation in seeking to do what we have to do," he said. "We are taking this matter forward and we will obviously want to co-operate." Mr Hain was speaking after the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference (BIIGC) in central London, during which the collusion allegations were raised by Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern. Last month a Dail committee found there was widespread collusion between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries in three 1970s atrocities that claimed 18 lives.

12/10/06 23:11 EST
AHERN URGES SINN FEIN TO HOLD POLICING CONVENTION
Irish premier Bertie Ahern has called on Sinn Féin to hold a national conference "as soon as possible" to deal with the policing issue in Northern Ireland. Speaking at the annual Liam Mellows Commemoration in Castletown, Co Wexford, yesterday, Mr Ahern said he believed next year "can be a year as historic as any in our past". "I welcome the Sinn Féin commitment to address the policing issue," he said. "I know how sensitive this is for them. But they now know that the path to shared government in Northern Ireland passes through a Sinn Féin ardfheis at which the policing issue is definitively and successfully addressed." He also indicated that his Government was committed to getting the issue resolved before March. "Given the St Andrews timeline it is clearly important that this ardfheis is held as soon as possible, thereby creating a new environment where policing in Northern Ireland, which since the Patten report has been reformed comprehensively, is endorsed and supported by all." He said that for the first time in 400 years, since the Flight of the Earls and the Ulster plantation, there could be agreement "between all of the representatives of all the people of this island".

12/08/06 13:44 EST
DUP WARNS OF REPUBLICAN CONTROL OVER POLICING
Sinn Fein could contaminate policing and justice if the party gets control over it in a devolved government, a hardline Democratic Unionist has said. As Assembly members discussed policing and justice powers being transferred from Westminster to a future power-sharing government, Northern Ireland MEP Jim Allister said the first anniversary of the dropping of spying charges against three people including republican turned British agent Denis Donaldson "served as a reminder of why unionists should be concerned about Sinn Fein having any say".

12/08/06 10:14 EST
SUB-GROUP FORMED TO CRACK POLICING AND DEVOLUTION ISSUES
A new six-member sub group will meet at Stormont to try and break the deadlock over policing in Northern Ireland by the new year. The sub group is expected to spend the next four weeks trying to agree when justice and policing powers can be transferred to a future Stormont power-sharing executive. The Democratic Unionists, Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP - the four parties who will make up a devolved government if power sharing is restored next March - will take part in the meeting. British and Irish Government officials realise that resolving policing will be the key to reviving devolved government in the North. Ian Paisley`s DUP wants Sinn Fein to publicly declare support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has, however, told the DUP and other parties that before he can hold a special party conference to consider changing its policing policy, he will need a date for the transfer of justice and policing powers from Westminster to Stormont, agreement on the type of department that will handle it and the exclusion of MI5 from any role in civic policing.

12/04/06 15:11 EST
AHERN RAISES COLLUSION ISSUE WITH BLAIR
Irish premier Bertie Ahern has met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London this evening to discuss efforts to see the full implementation of the St Andrews Agreement. Mr Ahern is also believed to have raised concerns about British security force collusion in loyalist terror attacks in Ireland. Last week an Irish parliamentary committee published a report with evidence that British army and RUC police officers in the north aided a paramilitary gang as it carried out a string of brutal murders in the border region in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the attacks saw terrorists shoot dead three members of the popular Miami Showband in 1975. The meeting is the first time the two leaders have met since the Transitional Assembly was established at Stormont under the St Andrews Agreement. Discussions focused mainly on the current situation in the north. With legislation now passed in Britain and a commitment to power-sharing by the relevant party leaders, it is understood the focus will be on ensuring the St Andrews timescale is maintained. Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has written to the parties on the Program for Government Committee offering the DUP and Sinn Fein three extra advisers on the equivalent of a salary of GBP £45,000 (US$81,000), plus offices and IT equipment.

12/01/06 13:30 EST
DUP HOLD STRATEGY MEETING
The Church of Ireland primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, has told the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) there should be no 'quick fix' to policing in Northern Ireland if it threatens political stability. The DUP was holding a strategy meeting in Templepatrick, County Antrim, today. The DUP was holding a private strategy meeting in a bid to allay concerns about the party`s involvement in efforts to revive power sharing at Stormont. A party statement said it was "determined" that the British government and republicans met all their obligations. It added that a DUP delegation would "take forward the resolution of outstanding issues" with the British prime minister in Downing Street on Tuesday. The delegation, comprising of Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson, Nigel Dodds and Lord Morrow, "will press for an open and clear announcement and demonstration from Sinn Fein giving support for the PSNI, the courts and meeting all other obligations," the statement said.

11/30/06 10:04 EST
BRITISH MUST COME CLEAN ON TERRORISM IN IRELAND - AHERN
Irish premier Bertie Ahern said last night that it was now "absolutely essential" the British government co-operate fully with investigations into allegations of British collusion in loyalist attacks during the mid-1970s. He was speaking following publication of an Oireachtas (Irish parliament) subcommittee report yesterday into a number of atrocities, including the Miami Showband massacre. The subcommittee's inquiry, which examined the findings of an earlier investigation by Mr Justice Henry Barron, concluded that "widespread collusion" between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries lay behind a number of atrocities on both sides of the Border that claimed 18 lives. The subcommittee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice said it was "horrified" that people employed by the British authorities to preserve peace and protect people were "engaged in the creation of violence and the butchering of innocent victims". Seeking co-operation from the British authorities, the Taoiseach said the finding that they co-operated with loyalist paramilitaries in the mid-1970s was "deeply troubling". Saying that he had been "in touch" with the British government on the issue yesterday, Mr Ahern said: "It is absolutely essential that the British government examine the findings of all of these reports, as well as the forthcoming MacEntee report [into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974] and that it fully co-operates with all investigations into the serious issues that have arisen."

11/27/06 13:09 EST
PAISLEY'S POSITION ENOUGH TO PROCEED
Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Eileen Bell today reiterated that she was under instruction from Secretary of State Peter Hain to accept the DUP leader Ian Paisley's position outlined last Friday as meeting the terms of the St Andrews Agreement. She told Assembly members (MLAs) in Belfast this morning that she did not have the level of powers that she would have under full devolution and that she had been unable to explain Mr Hain's direction before Friday's sitting broke up. The Northern Secretary's position is supported by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Sinn Fein confirmed they would designate Martin McGuinness as deputy first minister and party leader Gerry Adams said at the end of today's 22-minute session that he accepted the Speaker's ruling.

Today, the DUP leader scheduled a series of media briefings where he indicted he would accept the first minister position but only if was satisfied with Sinn Fein's position on policing. "If there's now going to be a good way where we can get to a good place where we can agree; and we can agree without selling the kernel of democracy, which is obedience to the law, then let's do it," Rev Paisely Irish television. He acknowledged that some MLAs had "second thoughts" about the party's position but added "I think that's all cleared up now, I think we're all singing form the same hymn sheet at the moment .. Today I think was a display of loyalty and unity".

11/26/06 10:50 EST
HAIN PRESSURES SINN FEIN TO HOLD POLICING CONFERENCE
Sinn Fein must call a party conference on the issue of policing, the Northern Ireland secretary has said. Peter Hain also insisted the DUP "should stop saying they will never accept devolution in their political lifetime". "If they keep saying that, some of their leading figures - not Ian Paisley or Peter Robinson... there is no prospect of moving forward," he said. The assembly is expected to meet again tomorrow to resume proceedings. Friday's meeting was disrupted by a security alert. It will hear a report on the security implications of Friday's incident at the entrance to Parliament Buildings.

11/24/06 12:26 EST
ENOUGH TO PROCEED WITH PLAN SAY GOVERNMENTS
Before the suspension of the Assembly, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey told MLAs: "We need to clarify whether we have been witnessing a marriage or an engagement today." Mrs Bell told the Assembly that it was now a matter for Northern Secretary Peter Hain to decide.

The DUP leader released a statement later in the afternoon to make his position clear after a group of DUP Assembly Members issued a statement insisting the party had not participated in a process of designating a Shadow First Minister and Deputy First Minister. "I have always said, as I said today in the Assembly, what my intention will be if policing and all of the other outstanding issues that are before us are settled. Everyone already knows that in those circumstances after they are delivered I would accept the First Minister's nomination provided the election results are favorable."

Both Irish and British governments indicated that the DUP and Sinn Féin had done enough to proceed with the St Andrews power sharing plan. Speaking this afternoon, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the DUP leader had "made his position clear."

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern had said the Irish and British governments would have liked more clarity from the DUP but there was enough encouragement to proceed with the St Andrews Agreement. He said: "We would have liked more clarity from Mr Paisley but we got a little more clarification in a statement in the afternoon. We always expected today to be a conditional day for the DUP and also for Sinn Féin. But there is enough in what happened today, even though it wasn't as we would have liked it to be. There is enough in it to proceed."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said "Provided the St Andrews agreement is implemented in full, including on the police and the rule of law, as well as power-sharing and, provided that in the forthcoming election, the Democratic Unionists and the Sinn Fein are the two biggest parties, then next March there will be a power-sharing executive with Dr Ian Paisley as First Minister and Martin McGuiness as Deputy First Minister. It's never been easy, but who would've thought it would have been possible 10 years ago."

ARCHIVE

Read the full stories at The Irish American Information Service

16 Oct 2006
Documents released after talks at St Andrews
29 June 2006
BRITISH AND IRISH GOVERNMENTS' JOINT STATEMENT
Statement by the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach

Stormont 29 June 2006

1. We met today with the parties to review progress towards the restoration of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland by November and to discuss the way ahead. While the Assembly has reconvened in recent weeks we note the disappointment and frustration across Northern Ireland at the inability to move more quickly beyond procedural issues.

2. It is absolutely clear that if devolution is to be restored by the 24 November deadline then the parties will need to engage with greater urgency and determination to reach agreement. If the political will exists then we believe the very few issues which remain to be resolved can be satisfactorily addressed in that timescale.

3. In order to facilitate resolution of these issues, and as envisaged in our statement of 6 April, the Assembly will continue its work in the autumn. Given the urgent need to make rapid progress, we urged the parties to make full use of the summer period to continue work at Committee level so that the Assembly can get down to preparing for Government when it reconvenes in September. In order to assist work in the autumn, we have published today a work plan (below) and an indicative timetable for full restoration. Above all, we hope that parties will use the summer to consult their members and their communities on the way forward. The parties need to weigh in the balance any outstanding issues and any lingering mistrust against the prospect of losing devolution for another generation.

4. We were clear when we met in Armagh that people in Northern Ireland are impatient for progress and will not tolerate a political process which stretches out indefinitely. We are convinced that November is the outer limit of an acceptable timeframe. Failure to meet that deadline would be a failure which will put the Assembly in cold storage from 24 November. That would be very regrettable, but everyone accepts that an Assembly subsidised by the public which is not serving its community through active government is simply not sustainable. In this context, we also took the opportunity today to review progress on new partnership arrangements that would need to be put in place to ensure our effective joint stewardship of the Good Friday Agreement in the event that devolution does not take place by 24 November. This work continues.

5. The key to real political progress is genuine and frank political engagement from all sides on the outstanding issues. That conviction is as strong following our discussions today as it has ever been. We look forward to all concerned intensifying their efforts in the period ahead so that fully-restored institutions can become a reality. The issues that really matter to the people of Northern Ireland can best be addressed by the elected politicians working.


Northern Ireland Political Process: WORK PLAN

July/August
During the summer parties continue to address necessary issues in preparation for government and to consult their members and communities.
- Preparation for Government Committee continues its work (i) identifying the issues that need to be addressed and (ii) preparing a programme of work to enable the Assembly to address these (to be agreed and announced by end August).
- MLAs and parties discharge responsibilities towards employees, landlords etc in respect of ending of salaries and allowances from 24 November.

September
During the autumn efforts to elect FM/DFM continue. Parties hold discussions with each other and the Governments on changes to the institutions. Discussions with parties continue on support for and devolution of policing.
- W/B 4 September: Assembly returns.
- W/B 11 September: Peter Hain and Dermot Ahern take stock of progress on all outstanding issues with the parties.
- Timetabled subjects in plenary on preparation for Government; Preparation for Government Committee continues its work.

October
Parties conclude discussions on all outstanding issues. Taoiseach and Prime Minister continue to monitor progress closely.
- W/B 2 October: Governments receive and publish IMC report.
- Assembly sessions to prepare for Government continue.
- Final consultations within parties if necessary, and confirmation of readiness to finalise preparations for government.
- Parties conclude discussions and finalise draft Programme for Government and draft Ministerial Code.

Either

November
Parties and Governments make final preparations for restoration of the institutions.
- W/B 20 November: last opportunity to amend Standing Orders and introduce Emergency Bill (on changes to the institutions) at Westminster following all-party agreement to restore devolution.
- 24 November: last opportunity for selecting FM/DFM and Executive and affirming pledge of office. By midnight Secretary of State notifies Presiding Officer of intention to make a Restoration Order [effective on Monday 27 November].
- W/B 27 November: Ministers arrive at Departments. Executive meets.

Or

November
- 24 November: Salaries and allowances for MLAs and financial assistance to parties stop.

December
- BIIGC at Prime Ministerial Summit level to launch new British Irish partnership arrangements.


IAIS 03/22/06 03:44 EST
BLAIR COMMENT PROVOKES UNIONIST OUTRAGE
British prime minister Tony Blair has provoked unionist fury by comparing Islamist extremists with Protestant killers in Northern Ireland. Mr Blair was accused of character assassination after making the reference during a speech on global terrorism and religious intolerance.

In an impassioned defence of his foreign policy, he insisted Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan was a clash about civilisation rather than between civilisations. Mr Blair also said ministers have been advised against using the phrase Islamist extremist.

He told the Foreign Policy Centre in London last night: "There are those - perfectly decent-minded people - who say the extremists who commit these acts of terrorism are not true Muslims. And of course, they are right. They are no more proper Muslims than the Protestant bigot who murders a Catholic in Northern Ireland is a proper Christian. But unfortunately he is still a Protestant bigot. To say his religion is irrelevant is both completely to misunderstand his motive and to refuse to face up to the strain of extremism within his religion that has given rise to it."

The comparison outraged Ian Paisley Jr, a Democratic Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He said today: "This is a studied insult of the Protestant community." Mr Paisley claimed Mr Blair had ignored decades of republican violence as he focused on one side of Northern Ireland's religious divide.

"The Prime Minister's comments singling out Protestantism as a root cause of terrorism is so unbalanced that it not only reveals the true nature of the Prime Minister but also identifies a weakness in his judgments, his character and his understanding," he said. "He has singularly failed to point the finger at the IRA, and the Roman Catholic Church that refused to condemn years of IRA terrorism. Why is the Prime Minister so biased when it comes to understanding Northern Ireland? Why does he feel it necessary to attack the character and identity of the majority of citizens who are loyal and indeed victims of IRA terrorists? This deliberate character assassination of the Protestant community is a disgraceful, ill-thought-out and indeed provocative attack on a community that does not deserve to be labelled in the false and unacceptable manner that he has done. The PM has revealed that he is nothing more than a charlatan and liar and cannot be regarded as a person who can even begin to understand the situation in Northern Ireland."


IAIS 03/08/06 06:44 EST
9TH IMC REPORT ON SECURITY NORMALISATION
The ninth IMC report, which deals with the program of security normalisation published by the British government last year, restates the commission's belief that the IRA "has taken a strategic decision to follow a political path".

The commission said that the organisation had instructed its members not to engage in public disorder and added that any illegal activity engaged in by the organisation or its members could now be effectively handled by the PSNI without any need for military assistance.

But the report warned that dissident republicans continued to represent a significant threat to the security forces and the public. It said that dissidents' capacity to mount "a sustained campaign" was limited but that they were "prepared to resort to extreme violence".

It pointed out that none of the loyalist groups have taken political decisions similar to that of the IRA but said that it did not consider these groups a significant threat to the security forces.

Loyalist paramilitary groups were, however, heavily involved in the drugs trade and other forms of organised crime, it added.

The report claimed that the British government had fulfilled its commitments under the security normalisation programme but noted that the authorities continued to take account of the security threat.

Measures undertaken as part of the normalisation process have so far included a reduction in the number of British troops by nearly 900 to just over 9,200; the withdrawal of the army from five of the 10 joint PSNI/army bases; the closure of Forkhill Army Base, and the removal or demolition of a number of towers and observation posts.

Ireland's Minister for Justice Michael McDowell welcomed the British government's progress on normalisation and said that it demonstrated both governments' commitment to advancing the peace process in "unequivocal fashion". The IRA movement should respond by fully engaging with policing structures in the North, he added.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain also welcomed the progress on normalisation but said he would not hesitate to act if the security situation changed for the worse.

Full test of Ninth IMC Report
Links to all IMC Reports


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:
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

Two versions of Irish history

Abortion Referendum March 7, 2002

IRA Statement on Decommissioning April 8, 2002

IAIS Election Analysis 2002

Speech by Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, at the Harbour Commisssioners' Offices in Belfast, 17 October 2002.

The murder of Patrick Finucane, 19 February 1989:
Sir John Stevens: Stevens Enquiry, 17 April 2003
Justice Peter Cory: Cory Collusion Inquiry Report, 1 April 2004

Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Report, October 23, 2001
Report, April 8, 2002
Report, October 21, 2003
Report, September 26, 2005 - Confirming complete decommissioning
Joint statement by the British and Irish governments

Programme for reaching a normal security end-state by April 2005
Joint declaration by the British and the Irish governments, May 2003
Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC):
First report - May 2004
Second report - July 2004
Third report - November 2004
Fourth report - February 2005
Fifth report - May 2005
Sixth report - September 2005
Seventh report - October 2005
Eighth report - February 2006
Ninth report - March 2006
Tenth report - April 2006
Eleventh report - September 2006

Work Programme of the Irish Presidency, 2004.

Alledged Collusion in Sectarian Killings, Oct. 2006.


An Irish bookshop: Read Ireland

Danish Irish Society

Wesley Johnston's History of Ireland
Ireland History in Maps
North West Ireland - Gaoth Dobhair

The CAIN Project (The Northern Ireland Conflict)
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
BLOODY SUNDAY 26 Years On ...
BBC News Bloody Sunday Inquiry
CAIN Web Service 'Bloody Sunday', Derry 30 January 1972

Independenr Monitoring Commission

Sinn Féin Homepage
Ulster Unionist Party
The Irish Republican Socialist Party
Fine Gael
Ulster Democratic Unionist Party, DUP
Fianna Fáil
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Progressive Unionist Party
Ulster Nation
The Social Democratic and Labour Party

The Irish Times
The Wild Geese (USA) Irish soldiers in exile



December 16, 2001  Top

About my homepage

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?

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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