DATE=3/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NORTHERN IRELAND/UNIONISTS (L)
NUMBER=2-260596
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Northern Ireland, the council of the Ulster
Unionist party -- which advocates continued union with
Britain -- has voted to keep David Trimble as its
leader, but only by a small margin. As V-O-A's Laurie
Kassman reports from London, the outcome is expected
to restrict Mr. Trimble's room for maneuver in
achieving peace with the Irish Republican Army and its
supporters who want independence from Britain.
TEXT: Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble won 56
percent of the vote and so remains as head of the
party. But his challenger, Reverend Martin Smyth
gained nearly 44 percent of the vote, exceeding most
expectations. Mr. Smyth has been an outspoken
opponent to the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement.
After the results were read out, some delegates
shouted for Mr. Trimble to resign.
The result of Saturday's poll shows the Unionist party
is split nearly in half over its approach to the peace
process.
Historian Michael Foy says Mr. Trimble lost prestige
in his own party when he agreed to share power with
the Irish Republican Army's political wing, Sinn Fein,
before the I-R-A disarmed. Mr. Trimble, he says, took
a leap of faith that Sinn Fein leaders would persuade
the paramilitaries to make a gesture toward
disarmament, but they did not.
/// FOY ACT ///
Trimble undoubtedly has been damaged by his
failure to establish on a permanent basis. He
thought he made a deal with Sinn Fein and it
fell through. No leader who does that kind of
thing emerges undamaged in the eyes of his
followers. That was a tremendous blow to his
prestige.
/// END ACT ///
Unionist party dissidents now are sending a clear
message to Mr. Trimble not to deviate from party
policy.
That policy says the Unionists should not
participate in a power-sharing assembly with the
Republicans until the Irish Republican Army starts to
disarm.
Mr. Trimble's room for maneuver in the peace process
will be further restricted by Unionists' demands that
participation in a power-sharing assembly also depends
on retaining the name of Northern Ireland's police
force. A special commission has recommended revamping
and renaming the Royal Ulster Constabulary to de-
politicize it. (Signed)
NEB/LMK/ALW/JP
25-Mar-2000 08:38 AM EDT (25-Mar-2000 1338 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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