Conference tallis::celt

    
    On Friday (in the midst of all the referendum turmoil) representatives
    of the NI parties (excluding Sinn Fein) plus representatives of the
    government of the Republic sat down with Sir Ninian Stephen to discuss 
    Strand 2 of the talks.
    
    All the parties send senior representatives except the DUP, who seem
    to have a major difficulty about the way things are going. The
    UUP on the other hand do not seem to have any problems proceeding
    with Strand 2 at this stage.
    
    The Republic's government was represented by senior civil servants.
    The meeting was a low-key affair, yet it also obviously means a
    minor breakthrough. This is the first time that shades of ALL
    Unionist opinion has officially sat across a table from the 
    government of the Republic to discuss matters pertaining to
    the constitution of both parts of Ireland. Even though it's 
    still to an extent "talks about talks".
    
    Sir Ninian is going ahead to meet the leaders of the political
    parties in Northern Ireland this week.
    
    The talks are still under an effective new black-out, which is
    probably a good thing. Conducting negotiations on sensitive
    issues in the full glare of national and international
    publicity is almost impossible. It seems that in principle
    an 85-member assembly has been agreed for the North, but
    how the executive is going to function, and how it will
    interlink with the Republic are still the major issues for
    decision.
    
    The encouraging thing is that all parties seem to be fully
    committed to the talks process. Obviously some of hard
    messages from the doorsteps during the last election got
    through.
    
    Offline, Sinn Fein is continuing talks with Church representatives
    - both the Presbyterian church and now the Catholic church (Bishop
    Edward Daly of Derry). These are encouraging, mainly in attempting
    to persuade Sinn Fein to use its influence on the IRA to declare
    a ceasefire.
    
    Toby

    Good news on the talks Toby.
    
    >The talks are still under an effective new black-out, which is
    >probably a good thing. Conducting negotiations on sensitive
    >issues in the full glare of national and international
    >publicity is almost impossible.
    
    Hmmm.  I really have to disagree on this.  Why must everything be
    carried on in secrecy?  I think that this information blackout is big
    part of the problem in NI.  These news blackouts and Section 31 articles
    are very Orwellian.  If there is to be a trust among all peoples of
    Northern Ireland, then all negiotiations must be in the open.  What are
    they hiding?
    
    /George

    
    I said "probably a good thing" because I do have doubts if it is
    in fact a good thing.
    
    Ideally, the talks should be public, with daily press conferences
    from the parties to update people ....
    
    However, in the charged atmosphere of NI, media hype can be 
    woefully counterproductive, and can put extra pressure on the
    participants. This is why the politicians themselves have
    decreed the news blackout. The experience last year is that
    certain politicians were just posturing for the media and
    using the process to score political points outside the
    forum. Each side accused the other of doing this. 
    
    This in fact happened with the leaking of the SDLP document.
    The suspicion is that elements of the Unionist side were
    hoping for an outcry that would let them break off the
    talks. After all, it is not as if the parties on all sides
    have not had clear positions on the issues for a number of
    years. 
    
    BTW, at this stage all the submissions to Strand 1 have been
    published, though the discussions that have taken place are
    still private.
    
    On balance, I would have to grudgingly admit it is probably
    correct to have a "vow of silence" from the parties.
    Section 31 is a different issue entirely.
    
    Toby

    
    It was announced last night that the Strand 2 talks between all
    parties in NI together with the two governments will commence
    next week chaired by Sir Ninian Stephen.
    
    This is the first major breakthrough in the talks, and even
    to get this exercise going will justify the preceding weeks
    of bickering and uncertainty.
    
    It may be at last that Nationalists and Unionists are getting
    around that mythical table to decide how the island of Ireland
    is going to be shared between them. There is a long, LONG road
    ahead, but every journey has a first step, and this may be it.
    
    Toby

    
    The Strand 2 talks have now temporarily ended, to begin next week
    in Stormont.
    
    Political comments on the talks have ranged from "cool", "businesslike"
    "good" to "splendid" (from IG Tanaiste John Wilson). Some rumours
    tell of "robust exchanges" between the IG and the Unionists.
    
    Meanwhile, one can enjoy the media people at their guessing game.
    There are no bets on success, but there is feeling of palable
    relief that some REAL political dialogue is taking place at
    last.
    
    Toby

    Where's the middle ground in these talks ?
    
    The IG are (I hope) in there putting their case for a united Ireland and 
    the unionists are in there putting their case for continued union with 
    England. Where's the compromise ? Has anyone got any idea of what's on
    the agenda ?
    
    Tony
    

    
    Specific agendas have been agreed, but are under wraps.
    
    Commentators have difficulty identifying any middle ground.
    
    We know that both sides have broadly agreed to an 85 member NI
    assembly, with a committee system shadowing government
    dapartments. Chairmanships are to be allocated on the basis
    of seats in the assembly (guaranteeing the Nationalists some
    chairmanships). A Bill of Rights will be enacted to address
    discrimination.
    
    However, after that we run into snags. The SDLP propose a
    six-man executive with 3 members elected by the assembly,
    and 1 appointed by the British Government, Irish government
    and the EC Commission respectively. The Unionists want
    an executive composed of a 3-man "panel" only, and are
    very strongly against any direct appointment by Dublin and
    Brussels.
    
    It is thus that the "Irish dimension" is critical. The
    Unionists want to decrease Dublin's involvement, the
    SDLP and the IG want to maintain it or increase it.
    The Unionists want Articles 2 and 3 to go as a pre-requisite
    to progress to some sort of "Irish dimension". The IG
    want to bargain it against the Government of Ireland Act.
    
    Note that the principle of these talks is that "Nothing is
    agreed until everything is agreed so that the NI Assembly
    will not be put into place until an "Irish dimension"
    satisfactory to the SDLP and the IG is also agreed.
    
    It may be that this round of talks will end indecisively
    but the feeling is that now that the ice has broken between
    the Unionists talking to Dublin, future rounds of talks
    will be easier. Until the IRA killed those 3 unfortunate
    young men last weekend, Northern Ireland had gone through
    its longest period since 1970 with no deaths due to the
    "Troubles". This cannot be unconnected to the spectacle
    of old enemies sitting down to talk political realities.
    
    Toby
    

    
    Stormont talks are finishing up today for 5 weeks.
    
    There will be a meeting between the Irish and British governments
    next week to commence "Strand 3" of the talks.
    
    Hopefully, each side is going away with plenty of "food for
    thought" to mull over.
    
    I'm off for 2 weeks vac myself!
    
    Toby