Stalemate in Northern Ireland

The chief aim of the Agreement was a return to constitutional politics in the six counties of Ulster. It was thought that this could be achieved in two ways. First, by removing the alienation of the Catholic minority from the institutions of state. Second, by reassuring the Protestant majority that concessions to the Catholics wouid not jeopardise their right to remain within the United Kingdom. It was hoped that the resulting political atmosphere would facilitate the establishment of a devolved government in Belfast in which Catholics and Protestants could share the responsibility for government. The Agreement would, it was hoped, help to fashion some form of pressure to persuade Ulster's Protestants to accept power-sharing as a lesser evil eventually. In order to overcome Catholic alienation the Republic of Ireland was given an unprecedented advisory role in the affairs of the North (Articles 2 and 6). To facilitate this, an Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was established together with a permanent secretariat, housed in buildings at Maryfield near Belfast. Under the aegis of the new Conference the British government accepted that 'the Irish government will put forward views and proposals on matters relating to Northern Ireland [. . .] insofar as those matters are not the responsibility of a devolved administration in Northern Ireland.' To this is added the statement that 'determined efforts shall be made through the Conference to resolve any differences' (Article 2b). The immediate task facing the Conference in November 1985 was to remedy several of the more pressing minority grievances, especially those concerning the judiciary (Article 8) and relations between the security forces and the Catholic community (Article 7a). It was felt that these should include restrictions on the activities of the overwhelmingly Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the mainly Protestant Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), along with an examination of the non-jury Diplock court system and the use of 'supergrass' evidence in the trials of suspected terrorists. The Agreement also promised measures to foster the cultural heritage of both traditions (Article 5b), an implicit reference to plans to legalise the use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland. A specific mention was made of the need to deal with 'flags and emblems' (Article 5a), a reference to the Flags and Emblems Act 1954 which prohibits the display of the Irish flag north of the border.