Home rule restored in Ulster

By Thomas Abraham

LONDON, MAY 30. Northern Ireland's power-sharing provincial government came back to life at midnight on Monday after a three- month suspension caused by a crisis over when the province's paramilitary forces would disarm.

The crisis was resolved after the Northern Ireland's largest Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists voted over the weekend to accept a plan by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to place its weapons in sealed dumps which would be inspected by international observers. With the restoration of the provincial Government, a major barrier to peace has been crossed though there is still no guarantee that a fresh crisis will not overturn the delicate balance on which the peace agreement rests. The First Minister of the province's executive or Assembly, Mr. David Trimble, said, ``I hope we've crossed the Rubicon this time but again, with other events, we'll wait and see how things unfold.''

The provincial Government includes Ministers from all the major Protestant and Catholic parties, including Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA. A senior Sinn Fein leader, Mr. Martin McGuinness, who is the Education Minister, said it was important for politicians now to meet the expectations that had built up among the people. ``We're living in a time when there is constant hope among people...the question is, are we up to the task?''

There are doubts over whether the fringe hardline Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party will take their two seats in the Government when it formally meets on Thursday. The party, a vocal opponent of the Good Friday peace agreement, had two Ministers in the suspended Assembly who refused to take part in cabinet meetings because they would not sit at the same table with Sinn Fein. If they do no take their seats this time around, their positions could go to the Ulster Unionists and the cross- community Alliance party.

Though the issue of arms has been temporarily set aside, there are other rocks on which the peace process can flounder. The most immediate one will be the future of Northern Ireland's police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British Government's plans to reduce the army's presence in the province. As part of the deal whereby the IRA would put its weapons out of action, the British Government had agreed to reduce its troop presence and make changes to the structure of the police force. The RUC is almost exclusively Protestant and is seen by many Catholics as a partisan force. Sinn Fein and the IRA have demanded that the police force should be restructured and its name changed. The British Government has agreed to it but the Protestant parties are opposed to the changes and are determined that they do not come about.

The IRA is also believed to want a total withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. Britain has agreed to reduce its troop presence as the security threat from the IRA reduces but will resist demands that it should no longer station troops in the province.

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Section  : International
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