 |
N. Irish arch-enemies meet at last
Ulster Unionists, Sinn Fein
September 23, 1997
attend peace talks
Web posted at: 10:01 a.m. EDT (1001 GMT)BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Northern Ireland's main pro-British party, the Ulster Unionists, on Tuesday sat down with its political arch rival, the republican Sinn Fein party, for their first face-to-face meeting.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said ahead of the peace talks that he would enter the same room with Gerry Adams only to get the IRA-allied Sinn Fein thrown out of the negotiations on the future of the British province.
Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble announces his intentions for the talks: 
96 K/5 sec. AIFF or WAV sound However, few observers expected that Sinn Fein would be expelled from the talks, which began last week at Belfast's Stormont castle under the chairmanship of former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell.
A similar move several months ago to throw out the political wings of pro-British Loyalist guerrillas also failed. The Loyalists, like the IRA, are honoring a cease-fire.
What's at Stake At stake in the peace talks is the success or failure of years of Anglo-Irish diplomacy, which has been aimed at getting pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists to forge a lasting settlement for Northern Ireland. About 3,200 people have been killed in the decades-long conflict in the British province. Trimble indicated that his party would stick to the talks even if its bid failed. "We will be there again and again and again -- until they (Sinn Fein) are sick of the sight of us -- to confront the evil of the IRA," he said.
Sinn Fein President Adams said Monday he hoped that Trimble would "come into the talks and move into substantive negotiations."
Paul Murphy, the British official responsible for the political development of Northern Ireland, was hopeful about the talks.
"We are at the point now, for the first time in this peace process, where almost all of the parties are at the table," Murphy said Tuesday.
Two smaller pro-British parties are boycotting the talks.
The Ulster Unionists have boycotted previous talks involving Sinn Fein, saying they did not trust Sinn Fein to abide by the principles underlying the talks. In particular, the party doesn't trust Sinn Fein's military wing to hand in at least some of its weapons, as required under the so-called Mitchell Principles.
The Unionists also accused Sinn Fein of being partly responsible for last week's bombing near Belfast. A renegade republican group claimed responsibility for the attack, which damaged a police station in Markethill.
Correspondent Margaret Lowrie and Reuters contributed to this report.
- Newsmaker Profile: Gerry Adams - Sinn Fein President
- Newsmaker Profile: Tony Blair - British Prime Minister
- Message Board: The conflict in Northern Ireland
Related stories:
- Main pro-British party to join N. Ireland talks - September 17, 1997
- IRA denies blame for police station bombing - September 16, 1997
- Key Protestant party coy on eve of N. Ireland talks - September 14, 1997
- Unionists reject proposals for Irish peace talks - July 23, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Sinn Fein - official party page; includes documents, press releases, and party objectives
- The Irish News and Belfast Morning News - Northern Ireland's largest morning newspaper
- The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
- Ulster Democratic Unionist Party Home Page
- The Irish Times Home Page
- Royal Ulster Constabulary
- Northern Ireland Information Centre
- Northern Ireland Government Home Page
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
|
Sound off on our message boards
You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.