The ice that locked the political system into immobility in Northern Ireland for 17 months is finally breaking up and the thaw is bringing hope to those people on both sides of the Border who voted overwhelmingly for the Belfast Agreement. Ten weeks of painstaking negotiations by the pro-Agreement parties, under the chairmanship of Senator George Mitchell, have encouraged Mr David Trimble of the UUP and Mr Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein to a point where the impasse over the establishment of a Northern Ireland executive and the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons may be properly addressed. There is still a distance to go and nobody is overconfident of success. But yesterday's responses by the political parties to the overtures of Senator Mitchell and General John de Chastelain of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning were positive and encouraging. In particular, the parties yesterday committed themselves to the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement in all its aspects. After the harsh disagreements and divisions of the past year, the language of accommodation, compromise and consent was in the ascendant. Mr Adams expressed the view that we are entering the final stages of the resolution of the conflict. IRA guns were silent, he said, and the Sinn Fein leadership was confident the IRA remained committed to the objective of a permanent peace. He declared that decommissioning was an essential part of the peace process and believed it would be settled by General de Chastelain, as set out in the Agreement.
The Sinn Fein president went further in totally opposing the use of force or threat of force by others for any political purpose. Punishment attacks drew the same odium. Expressing "deep regret" for the suffering experienced by all sections of the community during the last 30 years, Mr Adams spoke of working with, not against, unionists in the future, of maintaining the peace process and removing the gun forever from politics.
In the same vein, Mr Trimble spoke of a new beginning. He recognised the legitimate aspiration of nationalists to pursue a united Ireland, by consent, through peaceful and democratic means. And he embraced the principles of inclusivity, equality and mutual respect. Disagreements over language issues, parades and other events must be resolved, he said, in order to promote mutual respect and tolerance. Looking to the future and the establishment of a new government that would rebuild the economy and eliminate the causes of disadvantage, Mr Trimble pledged the establishment of political institutions would follow "a genuine and meaningful response" to General de Chastelain's statement.
In recognising the contributions made by Senator Mitchell, General de Chastelain, the UUP and Sinn Fein to the proposed settlement arrangements, one should not lose sight of the consistent contributions from the SDLP, the Alliance Party, the PUP and Women's Alliance in encouraging compromise and realism. The same holds true for the work of officials and politicians from both Governments.
Responsibility for the success or failure of this initiative now lies with the IRA. General de Chastelain called on all paramilitary organisations to respond positively to the current initiatives by appointing authorised representatives to liaise with the Independent Commission and to discuss the modalities of decommissioning. Any meaningful statement from the IRA would, of necessity, involve the nomination of a representative to discuss voluntary decommissioning within the terms of the Agreement and support the initiative of Sinn Fein. The sooner that communication is issued the better.