Can someone please provide me with specific ways/examples which led to
the bringing of peace in Northern Ireland.  I would like a minimum of
3 examples and a brief explanation of each example.  The
examples which led to the bringing of peace should be contemporary,
i.e., within the last 40 years at most. Links to websites supporting
the information would also be appreciated.

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Clarification of Question by quik4life-ga on 09 Apr 2005 12:49 PDT

Answer is needed ASAP.

If question is not answered by Sunday nite (9:00pm EST) it will be cancelled.

---

Clarification of Question by quik4life-ga on 10 Apr 2005 14:32 PDT

Mongolia's comments have been very close to what I am looking for.  Thank you!

His points were:

1. One of the major potential contributions toward peace in Northern Ireland
   was Pope John Paul 2's unequivocal condemnation of violence when he visited 
   Ireland. 

2. Statements from the Head of the Roman Catholic church in Britain and also 
   from the Archbishop of Canterbury have been measured and helpful.

3. In Ireland , atrocities have generally been condemned by all the 
   main leaders of churches in Ireland (Roma Catholic, presbyterian, 
   Methodist and Church of Ireland.)

4. When the British gouverment and Sinn Fein made contact during the 
   early 1990's, this was often through intermediaries who were Roman Catholic 
   priests.

If Mongolia (or anyone) can explain each of these 4 points in greater
detail (50-100 words) and provide a few website links, I would
consider my question to have been answered.

As previously stated, answer is needed ASAP.  Answer deadline is going
to be extended until Monday night; if no answer is posted, question
will be cancelled.

Change of government in the UK

9/11 was the real clincher

Mo Mowlem had a lot to do with breaking the stand off.

Fundamental to the peace in Northern Ireland has been the brokerage of the 
permanent ceasefire with the Provisional IRA (otherwise known as the provos)

A number of events took place which brought about the ceasefire and
(just as important maintained the ceasefire)

I will list some events whih I believe were crucial in bringing about
and maintaining the ceasefire.

1. Observations by the UK administration (and the British Army) in the
   early nineties revealed the Provisional IRA were "running out of 
   Steam". There was emerging evidence of a real desire for peace on
   behalf of the provisionals. As a result of this, intermedaries were set up 
   between the British Army and representatives of Sinn Fein/IRA. Despite 
   John Major's protestations at the time that we "will never talk to 
   terrorists", this is exactly what his administration was doing. His 
   comments were presumbably for public consumption and to placate the 
   Unionists (whose votes he needed in parliament)

2. In the mid nineties contact meetings were set up between John Hume (of the 
   SDLP)and Gerry Adams (representing IRA/Sinn Fein). John  Hume as leader of 
   the moderate Catholic party the SDLP was always vehemently opposed to the 
   violent methods of the Provisional IRA and had rejected violence as a means 
   to achieve political aims. The meetings with Gerry Adams were instrumental 
   in  bringing Sinn Fein/IRA out of the cold and leading to further contacts 
   between Sinn Fein with both the administrations of the Republic of Ireland 
   and the USA  (both of which were core to achieving peace)

3. The election of Tony Blair in 1997 (As noted by Kemlo) 
   This brought about new thinking to accelerate the peace process and left 
   behind much of the baggage of Tory administrations which was impeding the 
   process.

4. Giving the Post of Northern Ireland Secretary to Mo Mowlem. (Noted   
   by capitainformidable)  
   As Tony Blair's first Northern Ireland Secretary , Mo Mowlem was key
   to seeing through the peace process at a very sensitive time in its 
   history. Her bias toward the Nationalist/ Republican cause probably 
   helped Sinn  Fein to become more involved in the process.

 5. The Good Friday Agreement.
    Although history has shown the agreement was not perfect, it did allow
    the framework for the ceasefire to be maintained and set up political 
    structures which made violence less relevant as  a means of achieving 
    political goals.

 6. The Omagh Bombing
    While it is very unfortunate that it took this atrocity to move the 
    process along, it did allow Gerry Adams  to say that the "War was 
    over" in effect saying that the Provisional IRA would never be a 
    military organisation again.
 
 While 9/11 had indeed some effect in maintaining the process, I do not think 
 it was fundamental. The next steps are the full retirement of all paramiliary 
 groups and the reestablishment of the Northern Ireland assembly.
            
 Thanks

 Mongolia

We need to look back.

The so called 'recent troubles' started up in the late 1960's
- IMO it was journalism that created them - the Sunday glossies

Later on there was an attempt to 'fight fire with fire'
- early 1980's IIRC - the Cortina gangs - assasination.

Apart from overt force, there has been a policy of infiltration and subversion.
Not unlike Russia in 1916 when every second 'revolutionary' worked for the Cheka
- obviously I cannot cite definitive sources

GA and MG are almost certainly long time UK operatives 
- sondern wurden die lang seit toet

Throughout the 1980s it was almost interesting watching them catching
on to the idea of bombing the London Underground - perhaps they had a
senior moment when they started it. I'm amazed that a bunch of nuns
were not perfused.

Mostly the English (or British) do not give a toss about Ireland.
We regarded the odd bomb as similar to a train delay.

Also one can be sure that the Government and established institutions
of Eire loathe the 'I.Rx.A'.

My take is that they are an infiltrated organization that survives
/only/ because it is in the personal interest of the infiltrators to
keep it intact.

Since 9/11 a load of well meaning, but half witted residents of Canada
and the USA have readjusted their charity lists.

The simplest solution is to round up a few known miscreants and ship
them to that holiday camp in Cuba.

Was the Church (i.e., Vatican, specific Christian individuals) anyway
involved in fostering or mediating any of the actions in the peace
process?

Dear quik4life

I noticed that this question is a repeat of your RE-stated question 506308.
Your final comment would appear to be restating your original question in
506308. I would therefore like to add  to comments that I hope may address
at least part of your original question in 506308. (It would appear
that you were somewhat disappointed in not receiving a direct answer
to your question)

1. One of the major potential contributions toward peace in Northern Ireland
   was Pope John Paul 2's unequivocal condemnation of violence when he visited 
   Ireland. 

2. Statements from the Head of the Roman Catholic church in Britain and also 
   from the Archbishop of Canterbury have been measured and helpful.

3. In Ireland , atrocities have generally been condemned by all the 
   main leaders of churches in Ireland (Roma Catholic, presbyterian, 
   Methodist and Church of Ireland.)

4. When the British gouverment and Sinn Fein made contact during the 
   early 1990's, this was often through intermediaries who were Roman Catholic 
   priests.         
    
Mongolia

Dear quik4life
AS a further comment to your last comment, the question you pose while 
interesting is also highly subjective. Please accept my prior comments as
those of the opinion of a neutral observer. Further I could also cite
examples where clergymen have said and did things that were anything
but helpful (with and without the pemission of their churches).
However this is not what you asked for.

Going back to your original question 507033 (and re-stated question 506308) 
I would make a general comment that the resolution of the conflict in
Northern Ireland was achieved throught the actions of politicians and
that the role of the churches was marginal.
Mongolia

Researchers
Please regard my comments to quik4life questions as just that comments.
They are certainly not to be regarded as a formal anser to this
person's questions and if you can add (or correct!) in any to my
comments , I am sure your questioner will be delighted
As I am not a researcher I have not made any references to websites.
Many Thanks
Mongolia

Dear Frde 

I was intrigued by some of your comments so I was hoping you 
could clarify some of them!

"Later on there was an attempt to 'fight fire with fire'
- early 1980's IIRC - the Cortina gangs - assasination."

Who are/were the IIRC and what do you mean by the Cortina Gangs?

"Apart from overt force, there has been a policy of infiltration and subversion.
Not unlike Russia in 1916 when every second 'revolutionary' worked for the Cheka
- obviously I cannot cite definitive sources"

Infiltration of what? legal political parties? Paramilitry groups?
and infiltration by whom? Foreign forces? perhaps you could elaborate
on this one. 

"My take is that they are an infiltrated organization that survives
/only/ because it is in the personal interest of the infiltrators to
keep it intact."

I assume you  are talking about the Provisional IRA. Again infiltrated by who ?
and perhaps you can elaborate on the personal interest of the infiltrtators 

"The simplest solution is to round up a few known miscreants and ship
them to that holiday camp in Cuba."

When you talk about a few known miscreants who might you be refering to? 
 
Regards
Mongolia

@Mongolia

IIRC stands for 'If I Remember Correctly'

>what do you mean by the Cortina Gangs?

IIRC they were 'hit squads' of sort of UK Service personnel.

>Infiltration of what? legal political parties? Paramilitry groups?
>and infiltration by whom? Foreign forces? perhaps you could elaborate
>on this one

Paramilitary groups - 'Foreign' is difficult to define in this context.

>I assume you  are talking about the Provisional IRA. 

And its offshoots. Also the 'natural counter force'.

Again infiltrated by who ?

That you can guess

>and perhaps you can elaborate on the personal interest of the infiltrtators 

Also guess - but a multiple choice would be fairly brief.
Tick the following:
  Cash
  Status
  Immunity
  Elimination of opposition
  Astute handlers

>When you talk about a few known miscreants who might you be refering to? 

Do you want names ?

@Quick4life

One 'conduit' was Father Alec Reid

http://www.irelandsown.net/adamsreid.html

The Reverend Ian Paisley has certainly poured more oil on the fire
than he has on the water. 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/1678/ian.html

Anymore single individuals (religious) that helped foster peace besides Alec Reid?

Dear quik4life

AS well as frde website dealing with Father Reid (which pertains to my
number 4 point) you may be interested  in the following two web sites:

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=16293
Deals with the pope's visit to Ireland in 1979.
(point 1)

http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/briefing/9907a/9907a001.htm
Deals with the legacy of Cardinal Hume 
(point 3) Please note sections 7.6 and 7.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.6 Northern Ireland 

The Cardinal spoke out on many occasions about the problems in
Northern Ireland. In March 1978, he inaugurated, in Westminster
Cathedral, the practice of Thirty Days of Prayer for Northern Ireland.
This idea was adopted by all the dioceses in England and Wales in that
year, each of which took up the practice in turn. The Cardinal's
pastoral letter on the H-Block hunger strike in 1980 was widely
regarded as a constructive contribution to the handling of the crisis.
In June 1981, he had a ninety-minute interview with the Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland, Humphrey Atkins, in which he expressed the
concern of Catholics in England and Wales for the suffering of the
people in Northern Ireland, and his support for the stand taken by the
Irish bishops against all forms of violence.

In April 1985, the Cardinal authorised the establishment of a liaison
committee bringing together for regular meetings representatives of
the Bishops' Conferences of Ireland, Scotland, and England and Wales.
This group became an important focus for discussions on Northern
Ireland.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.4 Miscarriages of justice - the Guildford Four and the Maguires 

The Cardinal first became concerned that there might have been a
miscarriage of justice in these cases when he met Guiseppe Conlon, the
father of Gerard Conlon, one of the Guildford Four, on a pastoral
visit to Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1978. He then became convinced that
there had been a possible miscarriage of justice in the Maguire case,
and committed himself to finding out more about the case. Between 1978
and 1985, he wrote nineteen letters to three successive Home
Secretaries. He also discussed his concerns with the Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher, as well as with the Home Secretaries. By 1985,
concern amongst many people had also extended to the closely connected
case of the Guildford Four.

By that time, Lord Devlin and Lord Scarman, and two former Home
Secretaries, Roy Jenkins and Merlyn Rees, had also individually
expressed their concerns about the two cases. By late 1986, each of
the four, of their own volition and for their own reasons, came
together with the Cardinal to form what came to be known as the
Deputation. They all shared the conviction that there had been a
miscarriage of justice in both cases. They met frequently between
October 1986 and October 1989, prepared many papers, and made a
presentation to the then Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, in July 1987,
to seek a referral of the Guildford Four and Maguire cases to the
Court of Appeal.

In September 1988, the Home Secretary visited the Cardinal to inform
him of his decision not to refer the case of the Guildford Four to the
Court of Appeal. Cardinal Hume refuted his reasons, and, on behalf of
the Deputation, subsequently wrote a powerful letter, an early
paragraph of which reflected their determination to pusure the issue:
"Unless a reference is made now to the Court of Appeal ... the country
will have to face up to the fact that, not only will the Deputation
continue with what it regards as the pursuit of justice, but your
successor, and probably mine, will be left to continue grappling with
the problem".

The Guildford Four case was finally heard by the Court of Appeal on 19
October 1989. Owing to the nature of some of the evidence, and the way
in which it had been handled, the Director of Public Prosecutions
concluded, "It would be wrong for the Crown to sustain the
convictions". After two hours, the Court gave judgement and the
convictions were quashed.

This action by the Court of Appeal had an immense impact on the
criminal justice system, and throughout the country. The Government
consequently set up the May Inquiry to investigate the circumstances
leading to the arrest, trials and convictions of the Maguire Seven and
the Guildford Four. As a result of this, the convictions of the
Maguire family were found to be unsafe, and were subsequently quashed
by the Court of Appeal in June 1991.

It was not long before the Birmingham Six convictions were also
referred back to the Court of Appeal for the second time. They were
quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, and the Government set up a
Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. The Deputation gave substantial
evidence to the Commission as it had done to the May Inquiry. The
Commission led, amongst other things, to the establishment of the
Criminal Cases Review Commission which was to take over the handling
of possible miscarriages of justice from the Home Office. The setting
up of such a body had been advocated by the Deputation from its early
days in 1987. The work of the Deputation made an important
contribution towards the implementation of major reforms in the
British criminal justice system
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 I hope you find these three websites (including the one from FRDE )
useful to your research. I understand you are under a tight deadline.
If you can give me some more time I should be able to come up with
more Websites which are relevant to your request.
Let me know if you require more help on this subject.

Kind Regards
Mongolia

quik4life
Another web site which you may be interested in looking at is
http://www.zenit.org/english/archive/9909/ZE990913.html
This is relevant to my point 3 and quotes some interesting comments
by Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUBILEE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY OCCASION FOR DIALOGUE" 
Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh on Irish Situation 

ROME, SEP 13 (ZENIT).- "We must take advantage of the opportunity
offered by the Holy Year. We all hope to take a 'leap into the
unknown' together, beyond fears and hatreds." This is the wish
Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, Primate of Ireland, expressed during
his visit to Italy to attend a seminar organized by the Paul VI
Ambrosian Foundation on the topic "Ecumenism, Northern Ireland and the
Churches from Vatican II to Today."

Sixty year-old Brady is Archbishop of Armagh, which includes 200,000
faithful in 62 parishes; it is on the border between the Republic of
Ireland and Northern Ireland. Consequently, Archbishop Brady lives all
the tensions that characterize life in this "hot" spot. He struggles
daily for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.

"Northern Ireland is not a religious war but a political and economic
conflict with religious overtones." The Agreements, have only been
signed by political parties to the cause, "but all the Churches have
been in the front line of dialogue and the condemnation of violence;
they prepared the ground over a long time through intense efforts to
sensitize public opinion." The first initiatives in the ecumenical
dialogue between Catholics and Protestants go back to the 60s.
Immediately after the Council, the climate was more relaxed and both
sides expressed a readiness to begin to dialogue at various levels,
both among leaders and at the grass-roots in the parishes. "Sadly,
however, that period coincided with the exacerbation of the situation
in Northern Ireland and the explosion of violence. Because of this,
the initiatives ran into many difficulties and even today ecumenism
has not made the progress expected, but the dialogue has never
stopped."

Archbishop Brady, a Presbyterian moderator, the Primate of the
(Anglican) Church of Ireland and the president of the Methodist
Conference meet regularly to discuss pastoral problems of common
concern. "On the occasion of the Omagh massacre, which happened in
August of last year, a group composed of ministers of a variety of
confessions was in charge of organizing inter-denominational prayer
meetings so that united they could say enough of violence." Even if
some extremist groups, both Catholic and Protestant, continue to put
strong obstacles to these intentions, interpreting them as 'treason to
the cause,' Archbishop Brady is convinced that "reconciliation is the
only way possible: it presents a great challenge which we must face
with courage and much patience.

The Jubilee is a very important occasion to make the necessary change,
to 'jump together,' beyond suspicions and obsolete hatreds.
Undoubtedly there are still many unresolved questions that heavily
condition people's life: one of the thorniest is the Unionists'
marches, the majority of whom are Protestants, on the cities' streets.
There are over 3,000 annual parades. Although the majority are
peaceful, in some 'hot' areas incidents are repeated every year,
caused by the confinement of marchers to Catholic territories, which
are interpreted by residents, as so many additional provocations. "In
order to resolve the problem, over the last several years the British
government has created mixed commissions whose task it is to agree to
the itinerary of every march and diffuse the disputes that arise. But
even then, agreement is not always achieved," the Archbishop said.

"You have to live there to fully understand the nuances and delicate
balance hidden in these manifestations. I certainly do not justify the
Unionists who try to march on certain streets, describing them proudly
as 'the Queen's royal roads,' but I understand that this position
reflects the strong fear of losing their identity and culture."

As regards the petition to the IRA to hand in its weapons, Archbishop
Brady affirmed : "Everyone knows that there are no victors and that no
one can win in this absurd war. The point is not just to hand in the
arms, but to change the mentality that justifies the use of arms." By
way of summary, what is needed is interior change, and the Jubilee
could be the occasion to ask for mutual forgiveness, by 'purifying the
memory,' as requested by John Paul II himself.

"No doubt this is a step that must be taken as soon as possible, but
there are still too many open-ended questions, many responsibilities
have yet to be clarified. I am referring to political prisoners, to
people who have disappeared and are yet to be found ... It is
necessary to ask for forgiveness, but it is also necessary to know for
what one is asking forgiveness," he added.

The Archbishop pointed out that "The Jubilee could also provide a
wonderful occasion to revitalize the faith. Also in my Ireland which,
although famous for its rich Catholic tradition, today is also
experiencing a strong process of secularization. The reasons are many.
I am thinking of consumerism, which has led to much superficiality:
people tend to abandon tradition, without being concerned to save the
fundamental values it contained. The new heroes are sports players
like Eddie Irvine."

"Some scandals (such as the abuse of minors) have left their mark. The
year 2000 must be an occasion not only for strong renewal of the
Church in parishes and dioceses, but for in depth growth of people's
faith." But the Archbishop was not apprehensive. "It is true; today
there are fewer vocations, but (candidates) are more 'aware' and,
therefore, are more valuable. And the Lord finds means for
evangelization: there are mothers who read Scripture with their
children and excellent catechists in parishes. And, although it is
true that missionaries have decreased, there are many lay people who
give a year to the missions. There are problems, but we must have
courage and hope," Archbishop Brady concluded.
ZE99091307 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kind Regards
Mongolia

kudos to Mongolia...the only one who actually attempted to not only
answer my question, but provided excellent and thorough examples

you deserve to be a researcher