TRYING TO MAKE THE AGREEMENT WORK
Trying to make the agreement work
JULY was the best of times and the worst of times as the new assembly met at the beginning of July, writes Paul McKillion.
Despite the frequently stalled peace process, the first half of the year had a narrative structure which conveniently brought events to a suitable climax.
It was hoped at the beginning of July, however, that things would progress just as smoothly once the Drumcree issue had been settled.
The people of Ireland north and south looked to David Trimble to fulfil the statesman role conferred upon him. It was also hoped that the structures and bodies outlined in the agreement would be speedily put in place.
The Alliance party belied its moderate image when leader John Alderdice and his deputy Seamus Close were embroiled in a bitter row over the position of speaker of the new assembly.
Despite the symbolism of David Trimble and Seamus Mallon shaking hands as first and deputy first ministers, the new relationship between unionism and nationalism reverted to a familiar guise as insults were traded between parties on the bilingual issue.
During all the fun and games, however, the looming crisis of Drumcree remained on many people's minds.
As protesters gather on Drumcree hill in the wake of the Parades Commission ban on the march, the government pledged to "hold the line".
Proximity talks in Armagh chaired by Downing Street chief of stall Jonathan Powell failed to find a resolution, Portadown and Northern Ireland prepared for the biggest show of strength by Orangemen yet witnessed.
However, the tragic deaths of the Quinn brothers in Ballymoney, killed in a petrol bomb attack on their home, extinguished the hopes of the Orangemen.
Bill Clinton pledged to Lee, the remaining Quinn brother, that he would fight to find peace in Northern Ireland.
As numbers in the field at Drumcree plummeted from 10,000 to just 15, the media turned its attention to the first steps of the Good Friday agreement.
Oglaigh na hEireann claimed a mortar bomb attack on Newry RUC base, shortly after a car bomb had been defused in the same town. A week later Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, a leading member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement said republican violence would never cease until British rule in Ireland had ended.
The family of murdered teenager Peter McBride said a demo campaigning for the release of the two Scots Guards convicted of killing him was "an insult".
Maureen Kearney, who blamed the IRA for murdering her son Andrew, appealed for Sinn Fein not to be excluded from seats on the executive, blaming her son's death on "renegade elements of the IRA".
Ronnie Flanagan, in a move to make the force perceived as more neutral, announced that the Union flag would not be flown from RUC stations on public holidays - only on the birthdays of immediate members of the Royal Family.
A source close to the LVF said the exclusion of its volunteers from the early release scheme would not mean a return to violence.
August began with the quote of the week from Belfast Telegraph sports editor John Laverty. "If I improved the Belfast Telegraph's GAA coverage, the paper would lose 100,000 readers."
It was Derry's turn to feel the pressure of the parades issue as talks between the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents faltered on finding a happy medium.
However, agreement was eventually found in time after three days if intense negotiations.
The secretary of state said she believed the "war is over" for all paramilitaries, in response to David Ervine's calls for Sinn Fein to nice a permanent end to the war. A policeman had to be treated in hospital after being attacked by nationalist youths at the end of the Relief of Derry march. However, there was general satisfaction from police, politicians and residents that the trouble was confined to minor incidents.
The LVF announcement that its war was over was greeted with scepticism by many, including the mother of LVF victim Terry Enright.
In a letter to a Strabane man, the Queen praised the army and the RUC for upholding the decision of the Parades Commission. A link between
the Drumcree standoff and the Ballymoney deaths was also made.
This prompted David McNarry to suggest the chief adviser to the Queen may have distinctly anti-monarchist feelings "for all we know he may be a republican, they are everywhere".
As the horror of Jury gradually faded, many believed it was time for Northern Ireland to get on with its future as set down in the Good Friday agreement.
But the atrocity which ripped the heart of the quiet market town of Omagh on August 15 changed things utterly. A total of 29 people died in the blast.
In the wake of the bomb, the Real IRA announced that "all military operations had been suspended" while they embarked on a "process of consultation" on its future direction.
In what was seen as another response to the Omagh bomb, the INLA called a ceasefire, following the IRSP's statement that the "armed struggle" could no longer be justified.
Despite the IRA refusing to be drawn on the "war is over" challenge, Gem' Adams's statement on the eve of President Clinton's visit in September was seen as a positive development.
Adams announced that: "Sinn Fein believes the violence we have seen must be for all of us a thing of the past, over, done with and gone."
Clinton's second visit to Ireland combined noble dignity with humble apology. In Omagh, the President told the people "your destiny is peace", while in Dublin, reporters cornered him into apologising for the Monica Lewinsky affair.
During that weekend, the Omagh bomb claimed its 29th victim when Sean McGrath died in hospital from his injuries.
In Portadown, the ongoing loyalist protests became increasingly violent. RUC man Frankie O'Reilly was critically injured when a blast bomb
was thrown at police lines.
THE CIRA became the only republican grouping not on ceasefire when it was reported the R1RA had called a "complete cessation".
The decommissioning argument became heated as parties jockeyed for position in advance of the October 31 deadline for the setting up of the executive.
After a meeting with Trimble, Gerry Adams said he was "a man I can do business with", but added that he told the first Minister that decommissioning was a matter for the paramilitaries.
But another Trimble-Adams meeting brought the warning that any attempt to exclude SF from political process would be viewed as a very serious development.
Despite Mallon's concern that damage was being done to the agreement by the decommissioning debate, Trimble continued to insist on Sinn Fein's exclusion from the executive if guns were not destroyed.
Amid warnings from the government that there was no turning back from the October 31 deadline for the establishment of the executive and north-south bodies, Mallon said that republicans should make a "confidence building gesture" towards unionists at the Labour conference in Blackpool.
Despite his stance, Trimble was heckled by hardliners in Portadown as he visited Orangemen to discuss the Drumcree issue.
During the month the GAA finally rejected the request from Omagh Town football club to stage a fundraising soccer match at Healy Park.
October was dubbed "crisis month" by the key players in Irish politics as the deadlock over arms remained unbroken.
The IRA vowed not to hand in weapons until Britain "disengages" from Ireland. A meeting between Ahern and McGuinness on the arms issue failed to make any progress.
On the same day, Orange Order spokesman Davy Jones said the cost of upholding civil liberties "can be very high", only hours after RUC man Frankie O'Reilly died from injuries sustained in a blast bomb attack during a Drumcree rally.
The order was subjected to ridicule when County Grand Master Dennis Watson suspended Jones for "breaching orange protocol", and then reinstated him 24 hours later.
The news that the Pope was planning to visit Ireland gave a fillip to the peace process, as did the confirmation that Hume and Trimble were to be jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
November brought sectarian murder to the streets of north Belfast when Catholic man Brian Service was killed by the Red Hand Defenders, a newly formed dissident loyalist group which had also claimed the murder of Frankie O'Reilly in Portadown.
Ahern became the first taoiseach in more than 30 years to visit Stormont, where talks were held with Trimble and Mallon on north-south bodies.
The army review board, despite earlier reports which suggested that James Fisher and Mark Wright would not be allowed back into the army, decided the two could remain in service. Following a concerted effort by Sinn Fein and Relatives for Justice, west Belfast soccer team Donegal Celtic pulled out of a cup semi-final with an RUC team.
The SDLP guaranteed it would help kick Sinn Fein out of government if the IRA failed to decommission within the specified timescale, and also promised not to help unionists to rewrite the Good Friday agreement.
However, the planned LVF handover was withdrawn when Ken Maginnis described the paramilitaries a "ruthless" and "sectarian killers" in the House of Commons.
Speaking at the Fianna Fail ard fheis Bertie Ahern said he believed a unite Ireland was inevitable within 20 years.
Blair flew into Hillsborough Castle just as unionist anger was dying down over these remarks, to have talks wit the secretary of state and politic; parties. He travelled down to Dublin to become the first British PM in history to address both houses of the Oireachtas, where he called on everyone to "crack on" with the peace process.
In December, despite Blair Intervention, the UUP pulled out of deal on the cross-border bodies.
The Garda warned that disgruntle members of the RIRA and INLA were joining forces with the CIRA for a renewed campaign.
John Hume and David Trimble received would recognition for their efforts in bringing peace when they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
However, the IRA stuck to its no decommissioning stance when the general army convention decided no arms or explosives would be handed in.
The UKUP fell apart when four assembly members took issue with leader Bob McCartney's strategy should Sinn Fein take seats on the executive and strong north-south bodies be put in place.
McCartney said he believed he had the support of the rest of the party in his decision to walk out if SF became part of the government.
Following agreement on the north south bodies, the UUP executive again reissued their demands for decommissioning.
The LVF became the first grouping to decommission weapons when it handed over a small number of shotguns, ammunition and pipe bombs to General John De Chastelain's decommissioning body.
JULY was the best of times and the worst of times as the new assembly met at the beginning of July, writes Paul McKillion.
Despite the frequently stalled peace process, the first half of the year had a narrative structure which conveniently brought events to a suitable climax.
It was hoped at the beginning of July, however, that things would progress just as smoothly once the Drumcree issue had been settled.
The people of Ireland north and south looked to David Trimble to fulfil the statesman role conferred upon him. It was also hoped that the structures and bodies outlined in the agreement would be speedily put in place.
The Alliance party belied its moderate image when leader John Alderdice and his deputy Seamus Close were embroiled in a bitter row over the position of speaker of the new assembly.
Despite the symbolism of David Trimble and Seamus Mallon shaking hands as first and deputy first ministers, the new relationship between unionism and nationalism reverted to a familiar guise as insults were traded between parties on the bilingual issue.
During all the fun and games, however, the looming crisis of Drumcree remained on many people's minds.
As protesters gather on Drumcree hill in the wake of the Parades Commission ban on the march, the government pledged to "hold the line".
Proximity talks in Armagh chaired by Downing Street chief of stall Jonathan Powell failed to find a resolution, Portadown and Northern Ireland prepared for the biggest show of strength by Orangemen yet witnessed.
However, the tragic deaths of the Quinn brothers in Ballymoney, killed in a petrol bomb attack on their home, extinguished the hopes of the Orangemen.
Bill Clinton pledged to Lee, the remaining Quinn brother, that he would fight to find peace in Northern Ireland.
As numbers in the field at Drumcree plummeted from 10,000 to just 15, the media turned its attention to the first steps of the Good Friday agreement.
Oglaigh na hEireann claimed a mortar bomb attack on Newry RUC base, shortly after a car bomb had been defused in the same town. A week later Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, a leading member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement said republican violence would never cease until British rule in Ireland had ended.
The family of murdered teenager Peter McBride said a demo campaigning for the release of the two Scots Guards convicted of killing him was "an insult".
Maureen Kearney, who blamed the IRA for murdering her son Andrew, appealed for Sinn Fein not to be excluded from seats on the executive, blaming her son's death on "renegade elements of the IRA".
Ronnie Flanagan, in a move to make the force perceived as more neutral, announced that the Union flag would not be flown from RUC stations on public holidays - only on the birthdays of immediate members of the Royal Family.
A source close to the LVF said the exclusion of its volunteers from the early release scheme would not mean a return to violence.
August began with the quote of the week from Belfast Telegraph sports editor John Laverty. "If I improved the Belfast Telegraph's GAA coverage, the paper would lose 100,000 readers."
It was Derry's turn to feel the pressure of the parades issue as talks between the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents faltered on finding a happy medium.
However, agreement was eventually found in time after three days if intense negotiations.
The secretary of state said she believed the "war is over" for all paramilitaries, in response to David Ervine's calls for Sinn Fein to nice a permanent end to the war. A policeman had to be treated in hospital after being attacked by nationalist youths at the end of the Relief of Derry march. However, there was general satisfaction from police, politicians and residents that the trouble was confined to minor incidents.
The LVF announcement that its war was over was greeted with scepticism by many, including the mother of LVF victim Terry Enright.
In a letter to a Strabane man, the Queen praised the army and the RUC for upholding the decision of the Parades Commission. A link between
the Drumcree standoff and the Ballymoney deaths was also made.
This prompted David McNarry to suggest the chief adviser to the Queen may have distinctly anti-monarchist feelings "for all we know he may be a republican, they are everywhere".
As the horror of Jury gradually faded, many believed it was time for Northern Ireland to get on with its future as set down in the Good Friday agreement.
But the atrocity which ripped the heart of the quiet market town of Omagh on August 15 changed things utterly. A total of 29 people died in the blast.
In the wake of the bomb, the Real IRA announced that "all military operations had been suspended" while they embarked on a "process of consultation" on its future direction.
In what was seen as another response to the Omagh bomb, the INLA called a ceasefire, following the IRSP's statement that the "armed struggle" could no longer be justified.
Despite the IRA refusing to be drawn on the "war is over" challenge, Gem' Adams's statement on the eve of President Clinton's visit in September was seen as a positive development.
Adams announced that: "Sinn Fein believes the violence we have seen must be for all of us a thing of the past, over, done with and gone."
Clinton's second visit to Ireland combined noble dignity with humble apology. In Omagh, the President told the people "your destiny is peace", while in Dublin, reporters cornered him into apologising for the Monica Lewinsky affair.
During that weekend, the Omagh bomb claimed its 29th victim when Sean McGrath died in hospital from his injuries.
In Portadown, the ongoing loyalist protests became increasingly violent. RUC man Frankie O'Reilly was critically injured when a blast bomb
was thrown at police lines.
THE CIRA became the only republican grouping not on ceasefire when it was reported the R1RA had called a "complete cessation".
The decommissioning argument became heated as parties jockeyed for position in advance of the October 31 deadline for the setting up of the executive.
After a meeting with Trimble, Gerry Adams said he was "a man I can do business with", but added that he told the first Minister that decommissioning was a matter for the paramilitaries.
But another Trimble-Adams meeting brought the warning that any attempt to exclude SF from political process would be viewed as a very serious development.
Despite Mallon's concern that damage was being done to the agreement by the decommissioning debate, Trimble continued to insist on Sinn Fein's exclusion from the executive if guns were not destroyed.
Amid warnings from the government that there was no turning back from the October 31 deadline for the establishment of the executive and north-south bodies, Mallon said that republicans should make a "confidence building gesture" towards unionists at the Labour conference in Blackpool.
Despite his stance, Trimble was heckled by hardliners in Portadown as he visited Orangemen to discuss the Drumcree issue.
During the month the GAA finally rejected the request from Omagh Town football club to stage a fundraising soccer match at Healy Park.
October was dubbed "crisis month" by the key players in Irish politics as the deadlock over arms remained unbroken.
The IRA vowed not to hand in weapons until Britain "disengages" from Ireland. A meeting between Ahern and McGuinness on the arms issue failed to make any progress.
On the same day, Orange Order spokesman Davy Jones said the cost of upholding civil liberties "can be very high", only hours after RUC man Frankie O'Reilly died from injuries sustained in a blast bomb attack during a Drumcree rally.
The order was subjected to ridicule when County Grand Master Dennis Watson suspended Jones for "breaching orange protocol", and then reinstated him 24 hours later.
The news that the Pope was planning to visit Ireland gave a fillip to the peace process, as did the confirmation that Hume and Trimble were to be jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
November brought sectarian murder to the streets of north Belfast when Catholic man Brian Service was killed by the Red Hand Defenders, a newly formed dissident loyalist group which had also claimed the murder of Frankie O'Reilly in Portadown.
Ahern became the first taoiseach in more than 30 years to visit Stormont, where talks were held with Trimble and Mallon on north-south bodies.
The army review board, despite earlier reports which suggested that James Fisher and Mark Wright would not be allowed back into the army, decided the two could remain in service. Following a concerted effort by Sinn Fein and Relatives for Justice, west Belfast soccer team Donegal Celtic pulled out of a cup semi-final with an RUC team.
The SDLP guaranteed it would help kick Sinn Fein out of government if the IRA failed to decommission within the specified timescale, and also promised not to help unionists to rewrite the Good Friday agreement.
However, the planned LVF handover was withdrawn when Ken Maginnis described the paramilitaries a "ruthless" and "sectarian killers" in the House of Commons.
Speaking at the Fianna Fail ard fheis Bertie Ahern said he believed a unite Ireland was inevitable within 20 years.
Blair flew into Hillsborough Castle just as unionist anger was dying down over these remarks, to have talks wit the secretary of state and politic; parties. He travelled down to Dublin to become the first British PM in history to address both houses of the Oireachtas, where he called on everyone to "crack on" with the peace process.
In December, despite Blair Intervention, the UUP pulled out of deal on the cross-border bodies.
The Garda warned that disgruntle members of the RIRA and INLA were joining forces with the CIRA for a renewed campaign.
John Hume and David Trimble received would recognition for their efforts in bringing peace when they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
However, the IRA stuck to its no decommissioning stance when the general army convention decided no arms or explosives would be handed in.
The UKUP fell apart when four assembly members took issue with leader Bob McCartney's strategy should Sinn Fein take seats on the executive and strong north-south bodies be put in place.
McCartney said he believed he had the support of the rest of the party in his decision to walk out if SF became part of the government.
Following agreement on the north south bodies, the UUP executive again reissued their demands for decommissioning.
The LVF became the first grouping to decommission weapons when it handed over a small number of shotguns, ammunition and pipe bombs to General John De Chastelain's decommissioning body.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0263
Published Date: 28-Dec-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.