CNN - Key points of the Northern Ireland peace accord

The peace agreement will be put to referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on May 22.
Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom unless majorities north and south of the border choose unity.
Voters in the Irish Republic will be asked to amend their constitution to drop the long-standing territorial claim to the whole island. The new wording will say unity will only be sought with the consent of a majority in both jurisdictions.

A 108-seat Northern Ireland assembly is to be set up and will be elected every five years by proportional representation. Its area of authority will include agriculture, finance, health and economic development.
A 12-member Cabinet will be set up. Ministers may participate only if they pursue democratic, nonviolent, policies. Mechanisms will ensure that both Protestants and Catholics are represented in the Cabinet.

A new north-south Irish ministerial council with lawmakers from the Northern Ireland assembly and the Irish Republic will consult and act on areas of mutual benefit, such as agriculture, transportation links, policing and relations with the European Union.
The assembly and the council are to be interdependent; one cannot function successfully without the other.

A British-Irish intergovernmental conference will replace bodies set up in 1985.
Lawmakers from the Irish Republic will meet regularly with members of the British Parliament from London, the Northern Ireland assembly and with representatives of the new parliament in Scotland and assembly in Wales.
The conference will have no administrative or legislative powers.

The sides promise to try to use their influence to bring about disarmament of paramilitary groups within two years, starting in June at the latest.
Britain promises to make progress toward demilitarization of Northern Ireland to normal peacetime levels, and remove all emergency powers.
An independent commission will make recommendations on policing.
The governments will speed up the release of prisoners for crimes tied to their affiliation to paramilitary groups that are maintaining an unequivocal cease-fire. Depending on the severity of their crimes, they will qualify for early release within two years from the start of the plan, probably in June.

Hard-line Protestants favoring the continuation of undiluted British rule in Northern Ireland are campaigning against the new peace proposal. They say the accord is a sellout to predominantly Roman Catholic republicans who want a reunited all-Ireland state.
Observers say there is a possibility that Protestants in Northern Ireland may not want to accept the idea that members of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, could end up on the executive board of the new Northern Ireland assembly.
Many Catholics in Northern Ireland favor political union with the Irish Republic and therefore favor a strong north- south council with executive powers.
It is expected that Sinn Fein will criticize the peace accord, arguing that it contains too many elements of British government involvement in Northern Ireland and unionist legislative power.

Key points of the Northern Ireland peace accord: