NEWS: Northern Ireland peace talks begin today, page 1

posted on Sep, 16 2004 @ 10:20 AM

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Cross party talks on the political future of Northern Ireland have begun today. Representatives from Northern Ireland, Eire and the US have joined Tony Blair at Leeds castle to try and put an end to the political deadlock, and reinstate the devolved government.

www.timesonline.co.uk
Tony Blair will lead all-party talks today aimed at breaking the political deadlock in Northern Ireland.

Mr Blair hopes that the three-day meeting at Leeds Castle in Kent, which also involves Bertie Ahern, the Irish Taoiseach, and the US envoy for Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, will lead to the reinstatement of devolved government for the province.

But progress could be difficult with Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) entering the negotiations at loggerheads.The DUP, the largest party in Northern Ireland, is demanding full IRA disbandment and proof that the terrorist organisation is destroying its arsenal of weapons, before they consider going back into a power-sharing executive with Sinn Fein.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Hopefully these talks will enable the NI Assembly to get back to work. It really is about time these political and ideological differences were put aside, in much the same way as the tit-for-tat killings have ceased over the last few years.

For the most part, the youth in Northern Ireland are fully integrated, and its about time the politicians saw things in the same way as everyone else.

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[edit on 9-16-2004 by Valhall]

KhieuSamphan

posted on Sep, 16 2004 @ 10:36 AM

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It will be interesting to see the outcome of this. Its a very delicate situation in Northern Ireland with a lot of attitudes tainted by the past, but it has been widely acknowledged that the Province will have to be divoced from the rule of Westminster at some stage in the forceable future, so all Sinn Fein have to do is play their cards right and they will emerge as 'victors' ( if that is the correct word to use - not sure it is myself). However, good old Dr.Paisley will fight them tooth and nail all the way.

By the way, Martin McGuiness is in charge of education in the 6 counties at the moment, so I am not sure 'the youth in Northern Ireland are fully integrated', but I would be very interested to hear from some people on the ground.

Smokersroom

posted on Sep, 16 2004 @ 10:42 AM

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Yeah, an ex-terrorist (if there is such a thing) is a strange choice as minister for education, but things seem to be ok at the grass roots. One of my closest friends is a Catholic, who went to a protestant school in Derry. Twenty years ago this would have been an impossible situation.

KhieuSamphan

posted on Sep, 16 2004 @ 10:46 AM

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There don't seem to have been many 'major' incidents in recent times but news occasionally filters through into the English press of punishment beatings etc., but that is about it. I often wonder if any of the goings on now that are attributed to 'terrorists' are actually plain old criminal acts.

The Unionists seem to be in a bit of a muddle now don't they. The Republicans/Sinn Fein seem to have been using their time a lot better than the 'enemy'.

Smokersroom

posted on Sep, 16 2004 @ 10:53 AM

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The heightened global awareness of terrorism has really taken the sting out of the Northern Ireland problem. Anything more substantial than kneecappings could be deemed as a terrorist act, and that ain't good PR.

The book needs to close on this soon, but even minus the violence there is a real polarisation of opinions. Hopefully the next generation of politicians will be more easy going...