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Optimism in the air as N. Ireland talks near finish
April 6, 1998
Web posted at: 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT)BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Northern Ireland's peace talks entered their last lap on Monday with a historic deal tantalizingly close.
Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who chairs the multi-party negotiations and has set Thursday as a deadline, was preparing to present a blueprint for an agreement, following a weekend of intensive contacts that Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said had yielded "excellent progress."
The chairman of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, was equally optimistic that outstanding problems could be overcome to round off 21 months of tortuous negotiations.
"The question is whether they can be sorted out in time for the talks deadline itself, but yes, I believe they can be sorted out," Mitchel McLaughlin said.
"I think the elements of a deal have been available to us for some time and the concentrated effort and the involvement ... of both prime ministers has moved this situation along quite significantly in the past few days," he said.
In January, the British and Irish governments outlined the most likely compromise for the political future of the British province.
They called for Protestant and Catholic politicians to form a stable Northern Ireland administration -- a proposal supported by Protestants.
But the Anglo-Irish proposal also calls for the administration to cooperate with the Irish Republic in a new cross-border council -- a political arrangement seen as the key goal of the Catholic bloc.
Mitchell has worked with the two main parties -- the Ulster Unionists on the Protestant side and the Social Democratic and Labor Party on the Catholic side -- in hopes of striking a workable compromise.
If the proposed cross-border council is given substantial powers, as both the SDLP and Sinn Fein demand, there's a great risk that majority Protestant opinion would reject the whole accord. That happened in 1974, the only previous time such a compromise was attempted.
But if an agreement has a reformed Northern Ireland administration too firmly at its center, the fear is that the IRA -- or a section of it -- will resume bombing and shooting.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams says he will support a deal only if it can be sold as "transitional" to a united Ireland.
Speculation is mounting that IRA commanders will secretly meet this week to decide whether to extend their 8-month-old truce beyond Easter.
Easter -- which falls on April 12 this year -- is a key date on the IRA calendar. Today's leaders take inspiration from rebels who seized several buildings in Dublin, then the capital of an Ireland united under British rule, on Easter Monday in 1916. British forces routed the rebels and executed their leaders.
Newsmaker profile:
- Gerry Adams - Sinn Fein President
Message board:
Related stories:
- N. Ireland talks in crucial phase - April 5, 1998
- Leaders confident agreement within reach on Northern Ireland - April 3, 1998
- British, Irish premiers make progress in N. Ireland talks - April 2, 1998
- Sinn Fein returns to talks and bickering resumes - March 23, 1998
- Violence erupts before N. Ireland talks resume - March 22, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Northern Ireland Office
- Sinn Fein Home Page
- Ulster Democratic Unionist Party - Home Page
- The Irish Republican Army - and the armed struggle in Irish politics
- The Irish News and Belfast Morning News- Northern Ireland's largest morning newspaper
- Northern Ireland Public Service Web Home Page
- Britain in the USA: Northern Ireland: Frameworks for the Future
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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