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Paisley launches campaign against N. Ireland accord

Ian Paisley

Hard-line leader terms it 'total sellout'

April 15, 1998
Web posted at: 9:42 p.m. EDT (0142 GMT)

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Hard-line pro-British Protestant leader Ian Paisley launched his 'no' campaign against the Northern Ireland peace accord Wednesday, trying to persuade other Protestants to reject the plan in a May 22 referendum.

"It is nothing short of deception and lies to portray this deal as strengthening the union (between Northern Ireland and Britain)," said the Rev. Paisley, who described the deal as a "complete and total sellout of our province."

CNN's Betsy Aaron reports from Belfast on the progress of the peace agreement
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"This is a struggle for the very life's blood of the union and the future of our province," he said.

The cleric-turned-politician, who heads the Democratic Unionist Party and is a member of the British parliament, is particularly upset at plans for the early release of prisoners being held for killings committed during three decades of political violence, including members of the Irish Republican Army.

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    • Police chiefs in the province have asked that no prisoners convicted for killing a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the province's police force, be released early.

    Orange Order won't endorse plan

    Paisley's party boycotted the U.S.-brokered peace talks that led to the historic peace accord. But leaders of more moderate Protestant parties, including the largest unionist party, the Ulster Unionists, have endorsed the plan, under which Catholics and Protestants would govern the province together through carefully crafted power-sharing arrangements.

    On Wednesday, the Orange Order, an influential Protestant fraternal organization, declined to endorse the peace plan. But it stopped short of rejecting it outright, saying it wanted more information about prisoner releases and proposed reforms of Northern Ireland's Protestant-dominated police force.

    The first opinion poll taken since the accord was reached on Good Friday, conducted by Harris Research Center, showed that 73 percent of the people in Northern Ireland are in favor of the peace plan. A majority of voters in both Northern Ireland and the Irish republic must vote yes on May 22 for the plan to be implemented.

    Polls conducted for London's Guardian newspaper and the Irish Times in Dublin also showed that support for the plan was running above 60 percent in the Irish Republic.

    Key votes for Ulster Unionists, Sinn Fein

    Eight parties signed on to the agreement. By the end of the upcoming weekend, rank-and-file members of the two most important, the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, will decide whether to endorse the agreement, as leaders of both parties have already done.

    Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, himself an Orangeman, may face the stiffest challenge. Despite his support, only five of the 10 Ulster Unionist members of the British parliament have so far declared their support. A defeat this weekend could split the party.

    Paisley's active opposition is considered to be one of the biggest obstacles to getting the peace deal approved.

    David Trimble
    David Trimble
     

    The 72-year-old leader came to prominence in 1963 by organizing a protest march when the British flag at Belfast City Hall was lowered to mark the death of Pope John XXIII. Ever since, he has been an intractable foe of giving more political power to the province's Catholic minority.

    He accused the province's British authorities of planning to "bribe and browbeat" the electorate into accepting the peace accord, which has been endorsed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    Blair condemns Paisley's crusade

    Speaking to reporters Wednesday while vacationing in Spain, Blair condemned Paisley's crusade.

    "I hope people in Northern Ireland turn away from those voices that are simply always going to say no," Blair said.

    Lord John Alderdice, leader of the multi-denominational Alliance Party, also denounced Paisley.

    "He's wrong. He's trying to mislead people," said Alderdice. "He walked away from the table and left the future of Northern Ireland to all the rest of us."

    Said political analyst Paul Bew: "It's actually unlikely that the Paisley campaign can win, in the sense that it can prevent this referendum (from) being passed."

    However, it could threaten the healthy approval margin that Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern believe is necessary for the pact to work in the long term.

    "Right now, the 'no' people have really got off the ground. They're really making a very strong emotional pitch to people, and they are having some effect," Bew said.

    Correspondent Betsy Aaron and Reuters contributed to this report.

     
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