DATE=2/3/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=ANOTHER CRISIS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
NUMBER=6-11664
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: The fragile peace agreement between the Irish
Republicans and pro-British Unionists in Northern
Ireland appears to be coming apart.
This latest crisis involves the refusal by the
outlawed Irish Republican Army to begin turning over
its weapons and explosives in what the agreement terms
- decommissioning. In the original Good Friday
agreement, both sides, the I-R-A and the Unionist
Ulster militia, agreed to begin disarming by the end
of January, a process to be overseen by a Canadian
Army General.
Without this act of good faith, Unionists in the newly
created Northern Ireland Assembly are threatening to
resign, presumably plunging Ulster back into direct
British rule, and renewed terrorism. The U-S press,
which has closely monitored the fragile process
overseen by former U-S Senate Majority Leader George
Mitchell of Maine, is again wringing its hands in the
editorial columns. Here with a sampling, is
____________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: We begin in our nation's capitol with "The
Washington Post":
VOICE: The peace deal in Northern Ireland,
rescued last year by former senator ...
Mitchell, is in danger of dissolving. The fault
lies squarely with the Irish Republican Army,
which has taken no steps toward handing in its
arms. But neither the administration nor the
leadership in congress is willing to denounce
the I-R-A for its intransigence. The silence
harms the prospects for a settlement that was
once a fine testament to America's peace-making
prowess.
TEXT: On New York's Long Island, "Newsday'" headline
calls the impasse the - I-R-A's Dangerous One-
Upmanship in Northern Ireland.
VOICE: An impartial commission yesterday [2/1]
rendered a report showing little, if any,
evidence that the Irish Republican Army had
begun to give up its weapons, despite the target
of total disarmament by May. So the pique of
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is
understandable. [Mr.] Trimble, the Protestant
leader who is also first minister of the newly
formed Northern Ireland Assembly, is justified
in warning that the new power-sharing government
will be suspended indefinitely unless the I-R-A
proves its willingness to disarm. The I-R-A is
indulging in dangerous one-upmanship.
TEXT: From Boston, the national daily "Christian
Science Monitor", is also clearly upset at the latest
turn of events, asking:
VOICE: What is going on here? Unwillingness by
the I-R-A to punch through a psychological
barrier and leave behind a way of life built on
the threat of violence. No one doubts that most
Northern Irish, Catholic (Republican) and
Protestant (Unionist), want the peace to move
forward and the gunmen to disarm. All that is
needed is a concrete show of good faith,
beginning a task, disarmament, that has to come.
The pleas from Sinn Fein, the I-R-A's political
arm, that the guns' silence is enough -- is
itself not enough.
TEXT: In neighboring Maine, the crisis in Northern
Ireland's peace process brings forth this lament from
"The Portland Press Herald":
VOICE: Unless something approaching a miracle
happens, the Good Friday agreement providing a
"home rule" framework for peace in Northern
Ireland could fall apart this week. Many
leaders are working to see that does not happen,
for it potentially could lead to a resumption of
terrorism there after a two-and-one-half-year
halt.
TEXT: California's largest daily, "The Los Angeles
Times" insists:
VOICE: The decommissioning should begin at
once, and all parties should, with good sense
and a willingness to capture a historic moment,
renew their commitment to work in the political
realm. ... To fail would mean stumbling back to
uncertainty and violence. This is a time for
political courage.
TEXT: Northern New Jersey's [Bergen County] "Record"
adds its perspective to the impasse.
VOICE: If the Irish Republican Army does not do
something to show its good faith in the next few
days, it may be remembered as the destroyer of
Northern Ireland's best hope for peace. The
fragile shared government, only two-months old,
is in danger of collapsing or being suspended if
the I-R-A does not actually begin disarming --
or at least indicate strongly that it will
cooperate and start giving up its weapons very
soon.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: Ditto, "The Chicago Tribune":
VOICE: The I-R-A must begin giving up some of
that vast arsenal as a show of good faith, or it
will have to shoulder the responsibility for a
return to British rule in Northern Ireland. And
if Gerry Adams cannot persuade them to do so, he
must admit to having misled not just his
political opponents, but also the ... people of
Northern Ireland, whom he has claimed to
represent.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: While in Pennsylvania, "The Philadelphia
Inquirer" is urging both British Prime Minister Tony
Blair and U-S President Bill Clinton to get involved
quickly.
VOICE: What can Tony Blair do? Get Parliament
to suspend the [Northern Ireland] council before
Mr. Trimble resigns. That would return Northern
Ireland to provisional United Kingdom
governance. Even suspended animation is better
than being torn apart and scattered to the
winds. ... Bill Clinton, seen by so many as the
great patron of Irish peace, may have an
especially important role to play ... He is good
at politics in a small room. There is probably
going to be great need of that.
TEXT: The nation's largest tabloid, "The [New York]
Daily News", exclaims in frustration - What is
transpiring in Northern Ireland is inexcusable. While
back in Boston, that city's largest tabloid, "The
Boston Herald", suggests:
VOICE: Unionist leader David Trimble, first
minister of the two-months-old provincial
government, said he would walk out unless the I-
R-A started disarming by the end of January.
That is a threat he cannot fail to carry out if
he wants to continue as party leader, but for
the moment he has confined himself to urging the
British to act. ... [Mr.] Trimble is correct
that everybody understood in November that I-R-A
weapons had to start leaving the stage in
January. [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair
backs him up. Seamus Mallon, deputy head of the
Social Democratic and Labor party, backs him up.
"The Irish News", which often reflects the views
of Sinn Fein supporters, says that retention of
the I-R-A arsenal "cannot be justified". If
[Mr.] Adams and his associates in the I-R-A did
not understand what [Mr.] Trimble was doing in
November, it was their duty to speak up.
TEXT: That concludes this sampling of comment on the
latest crisis to befall the Northern Ireland peace
process.
NEB/ANG/RAE
03-Feb-2000 14:20 PM EDT (03-Feb-2000 1920 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
