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Northern Ireland peace talks resume
September 6, 1996
Web posted at: 11:00 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT)BELFAST (CNN) -- Peace talks for Northern Ireland resume Monday amid new tensions in the streets of Belfast.
Gerry Adams, president of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein, threw his weight Friday behind a growing Catholic boycott of stores owned by Protestant Orange Order activists.
"If any Catholics, in a very democratic and peaceful way, decide not to do business with Orange businesses until that person is prepared to come to an accommodation with them, that is entirely legitimate," Adams said.
Adams, whose party shares the IRA goal of an end to British rule and reunification with Ireland, said he was against the indiscriminate boycotting of Protestant businesses but backed sanctions against the Orange Order and its members.
The boycott is fallout from a summer of violence caused by the reversal of a police ban that allowed an Orange Order parade through the Catholic Garvaghy Road area of Portadown. The move angered Catholics.
Protestants held the summer marches to celebrate a 17th century victory over Catholic forces, and Catholics see the marches as an affront.
Then there is feuding among Protestant "Loyalist" militias, including a death issued by a paramilitary group against wayward militant Billy Wright.
These problems could make the achievement of another cease-fire or other objective more difficult -- or it could spur the parties to more seriously pursue a solution.
"These talks present all the parties with a stark choice," political analyst Conor Gearty said. "They can either compound the problems of August with powerful, extremist rhetoric and, as it were, jettison the whole prospects ... Or they can say, look, things were pretty close to the abyss in August and we need to do something."
"It feeds into that ancient suspicion that it's a Protestant state for a Protestant people ... and if they don't have their way, nobody will."
The British and Irish governments say they're determined to instill momentum into the talks, which will be mediated by President Clinton's envoy, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell.
The IRA is excluded from the meetings because the group broke a 17-month truce earlier this year.
Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring said Thursday he also expected the main Protestant Unionist parties, who want the province to remain British, to demand the exclusion from the Belfast talks of smaller unionist parties allied with the loyalist paramilitaries.
"We have always said we wanted inclusive negotiating, but I understand formal complaints will be issued on Monday morning, and these will have to be discussed and dealt with," Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew said.
Prior talks have been bogged down over bureaucratic wrangling. The question is whether this summer's violence will crystallize the desire for peace or is merely a sign of what's to come.
From CNN Correspondent Siobhan Darrow in London and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Some skirmishes in Northern Ireland, but marches pass mostly peaceful - August 11, 1996
- Tense weekend of rival marches begins in Northern Ireland - August 9, 1996
- British troops block Protestant march in Northern Ireland - August 7, 1996
- Northern Irish talks adjourn, deadlocked on arms - July 29, 1996
- Rioting in Northern Ireland breaks fragile calm - Jul 20, 1996
- British, Irish officials discussing Northern Ireland - July 18, 1996
- Talks in three cities on ending crisis in Northern Ireland - July 17, 1996
- Northern Ireland talks resume despite protests - July 17, 1996
Related sites:
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- The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: Frameworks for the Future
- Northern Ireland Information Centre
- Northern Ireland Government Home Page
- Northern Ireland Tourist Board - Northern Ireland information
- Sinn Fein - Home Page
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