Compromises can be reached by building trust through dialogue
LAST Tuesday, to the astonishment of many observers of Northern Ireland, a fully representative, devolved government was formed in Belfast. How did two implacable enemies reach the stage where they could agree amicably to share power? How did part of Europe manage to find its way from violent sectarian division, in which 3,700 people were killed in the last 35 years, to the prospect of a peaceful and prosperous future?
When Northern Ireland was established in 1921, the Catholic Nationalist population found themselves within a border which they neither recognised nor wanted. It also put the Protestant Unionist majority on the defensive. Power remained exclusively in the hands of the Unionists, who quite openly stated that theirs was a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people. The Nationalist community had, in practice, no role in government and suffered discrimination in many areas including voting rights, housing and employment.
In 1969, civil rights demands by moderate Nationalists were met by violence and repression. This led to the re-emergence of the IRA and other paramilitary organisations representing elements in both communities. The Unionists were determined to maintain the Union with Britain and thereby their political domination of the province. The Nationalists were determined to undo the Settlement of 1921 and achieve a United Ireland.
The first step towards a settlement was a cease-fire in which the various paramilitary groups agreed to lay down their weapons and begin to talk. This paved the way for dialogue. It was through building trust, making compromises and taking risks that the essential steps were made to reach a solution.
The desire of the communities to put violence behind them had the strong political backing of the governments in London and Dublin. The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern played a major role in pushing forward the process, sitting down with the different parties, negotiating specific agreements.
The Good Friday Agreement of April 1998 laid out some of the main principles for the future, notably:
l that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the majority vote of its citizens;
l the commitment by all parties to “exclusively peaceful and democratic means”;
l power-sharing through the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved legislative powers, i.e. the return of power from the British Parliament in Westminster to Northern Ireland;
l the introduction of the cross-community principle for any major decision taken by the Assembly;
l the establishment of various north/south cross-border bodies at Ministerial and inter-governmental level to discuss issues of common concern.
This Agreement was endorsed by two separate referendums in the North and in the Republic. The majority support in the North was 71 per cent and in the Republic 94 per cent.
This Agreement placed a significant emphasis on the local ownership of the problem and of the solution. It was up to the communities to resolve the many difficult issues before power could be shared.
Two of the trickiest issues were the structure of the police and the decommissioning of arms. The solution in both cases required patience, compromise and political will.
Much of the cross-community activity has focussed on civil society and the economic benefits of working together. The fact that both the Republic of Ireland and the UK are part of the European Union has helped. Northern Ireland received 1.78 billion euros in structural fund money in the last six years and a further 1 billion is scheduled for the next six years. The implementation of the power-sharing agreement will also bring substantial funding from London and Dublin: a package worth £50 billion over 10 years.
For both communities, the process of forgiving, avoiding blame and putting history behind them has not been easy. There is now an air of optimism that is in stark contrast to the bleak outlook of the past. No doubt there will be difficulties in the power-sharing relationship. But these will be addressed through the commitment of politicians from diverse political backgrounds and ideologies working together for the benefit of all the people of Ireland.
The progress made has been truly amazing. We have seen people sitting down together who we could never have imagined would be able to co-operate ten years ago. It gives a message of hope to those involved in conflicts throughout the world: solutions can be found if there is the will to do it.
n Peter Millett is the British High Commissioner in Cyprus and Tom Brady is the Irish Ambassador in Cyprus
