DATE=3/24/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=NORTHERN IRELAND SHOWDOWN
NUMBER=5-46000
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Northern Ireland, the leader of the party
that favors continued ties with Britain faces a
challenge to his leadership, which could undermine
efforts to get the peace process back on track.
Correspondent Laurie Kassman looks at the latest test
for David Trimble -- and for the peace process.
TEXT: The man challenging David Trimble's leadership
of the Ulster Unionist party is a Presbyterian
minister known for his long-standing opposition to the
1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement. Martin Smyth argues
that David Trimble is deviating from party policy that
rejects sharing power with the political wing of the
Irish Republican Army before the I-R-A disarms.
/// SMYTH ACT ///
There's something basically inconsistent to try
to impose on a democratic community those in
government who come with the force of arms.
/// END ACT ///
The challenge to David Trimble's leadership again
highlights the party's deep divisions over the peace
process and issues like paramilitary disarmament and
revamping and renaming the Ulster police force.
A weary Mr. Trimble now expresses his regrets that
party dissidents could undermine peace efforts already
approved by more than two-thirds of Unionist party
members.
/// TRIMBLE ACT ///
I'm sorry to see that there are still some
people in the party who are more eager to fight
other Unionists than fight the enemies of
Unionism.
/// END ACT ///
Unionists insist Northern Ireland remain a part of the
United Kingdom while Republicans are fighting for
independence. The 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement
has managed to corral that battle into a political
framework, ending three decades of sectarian violence.
Protestant David Trimble and Catholic leader John Hume
shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for their peace
efforts. Historian Michael Foy warns that Mr.
Trimble's ouster would spell an end to the peace
process.
/// FOY ACT ///
If he goes there's no Unionist leader that has
the same commitment to the agreement. If he
goes the Unionist consent to the agreement goes
with him.
/// END ACT ///
But Mr. Foy suggests Mr. Trimble's position on peace
is not quite in step with his followers.
/// FOY ACT TWO ///
It's a question of whether David Trimble can
carry not just his party but the broad Unionist
community. Unionist leaders have fallen in the
past when they have become too detached or got
too far in advance of the followers.
/// END ACT //
Mr. Foy and other analysts say Mr. Trimble's prestige
has been damaged by his failure to win concessions
from the Republican movement on the issue of
disarmament.
Monica McWilliams, who heads the Women's Coalition, a
peace group that was involved in the Good Friday
Agreement, says part of Mr. Trimble's problem is the
way he sold the peace agreement to his followers.
/// McWILLIAMS ACT ///
Unfortunately, he (Trimble) sold the agreement (as
losses) for Unionism so it wasn't surprising that so
many people jumped onto the "no" bandwagon. There
were the losses about prisoners getting out, the loss
about policing and its name (change) and the loss of
having to share government in some ways with
Republicans, which I believe they think they'll never
do.
/// END ACT ///
On Saturday, the 800-member Ulster Unionist Council
will choose between David Trimble and his challenger
Martin Smyth.
Mr. Trimble is counting on support from enough of a
majority to renew his mandate and quiet the
dissidents. But depending on how close the vote is,
the future of Unionist Party unity remains uncertain
and so does its approach to the peace process.
(SIGNED)
NEB/LMK/GE/KL
24-Mar-2000 11:25 AM EDT (24-Mar-2000 1625 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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