Question 3- Northern Ireland
A Decision has now been reached what positive developments have occurred in Northern Ireland? Do any obstacles remain?
For decades in Northern Ireland there has been bombings, shootings and horrifying scenes of violence. However since the Downing Street Declaration in 1993, there has been various signs of stability and lasting peace in Northern Ireland but lasting peace will not be achieved unless obstacles are overcome.
The Downing Street Declaration 1993 was the start of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The Downing Street Declaration was an agreement which deliberately set up talks between all political sides on forming a new government in Northern Ireland. The idea of the Downing Street Declaration was to create respect, trust and unity between Unionists and Nationalists. A vote was held to see whether the people of Northern Ireland wanted to become part of a united Ireland; only the sides who rejected the use of violence would be allowed a say in the running of Northern Ireland. The Irish government set up a Forum which was a series of meetings designed to promote trust between the two sides. Most of the political parties reacted positively to John Major and Albert Reynolds proposal, however Ian Paisley of the DUP and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein were unwilling to compromise and put their trust in rival parties. In my opinion, the breakthrough or the turning point was that there was no tolerance of violence; this is such a huge step as now political parties are finally resisting violence and saying that if you use violence then you will not be allowed a say in the running of Northern Ireland or the peace process. The Downing Street Declaration was failing and groups such as Sinn Fein and the DUP were not compromising so more was needed to bring the parties together and to get them to respect and trust each other, so the Good Friday Agreement was set up in early 1998. The Good Friday Agreement set up a new Northern Ireland assembly with 108 members
For decades in Northern Ireland there has been bombings, shootings and horrifying scenes of violence. However since the Downing Street Declaration in 1993, there has been various signs of stability and lasting peace in Northern Ireland but lasting peace will not be achieved unless obstacles are overcome.
The Downing Street Declaration 1993 was the start of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The Downing Street Declaration was an agreement which deliberately set up talks between all political sides on forming a new government in Northern Ireland. The idea of the Downing Street Declaration was to create respect, trust and unity between Unionists and Nationalists. A vote was held to see whether the people of Northern Ireland wanted to become part of a united Ireland; only the sides who rejected the use of violence would be allowed a say in the running of Northern Ireland. The Irish government set up a Forum which was a series of meetings designed to promote trust between the two sides. Most of the political parties reacted positively to John Major and Albert Reynolds proposal, however Ian Paisley of the DUP and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein were unwilling to compromise and put their trust in rival parties. In my opinion, the breakthrough or the turning point was that there was no tolerance of violence; this is such a huge step as now political parties are finally resisting violence and saying that if you use violence then you will not be allowed a say in the running of Northern Ireland or the peace process. The Downing Street Declaration was failing and groups such as Sinn Fein and the DUP were not compromising so more was needed to bring the parties together and to get them to respect and trust each other, so the Good Friday Agreement was set up in early 1998. The Good Friday Agreement set up a new Northern Ireland assembly with 108 members