Northern Ireland

Date: November 6th, 2001 |

After months of uncertainty some good news has finally come out of Northern Ireland: the IRA finally complied with the terms of the Good Friday peace agreement and disposed of some of its weapons, allowing Protestant leader David Trimble to regain his post as first minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The move should get [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: August 14th, 2001 |

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The dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly Feb. 11 threw the entire peace process into uncertainty. Recriminations have flown back and forth, but thus far neither the IRA nor loyalist paramilitaries have threatened to resume violence. Efforts are being made to get the plan back on track, but until it is, the political climate in [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: August 1st, 2001 |

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The peace process is back on track. On May 27 the Ulster Unionist party voted to resume sharing power with Sinn Fein in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The provincial government, a product of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, was formed in December but suspended in February over disputes about IRA di [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: July 2nd, 2001 |

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David Trimble kept his vow to resign as first minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly July 1 if the IRA didn’t begin disarming, casting doubt on the future of the power sharing accord. A political crisis looms, and what effect it will have on current tensions between the Catholic and Protestant communities remains to be [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: June 12th, 2001 |

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The June 7 election in the UK gave Tony Blair’s Labor party a resounding victory but in Northern Ireland it has raised worries about the progress of peace plans in the troubled region. Protestant opponents of the Northern Ireland peace agreement gained two seats in Parliament and now have only one fewer seat than Protestant [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: September 25th, 2001 |

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Amid hopes that the IRA would comply with the terms of the Good Friday peace agreement and begin disarming, Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid used a legal loophole for the second time to extend the deadline for the election of a new Protestant leader of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The move gives the four-party [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: August 7th, 2001 |

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The deadline for saving the Good Friday Accord is Aug. 12, and in the face of a take-it-or-leave-it proposal from Britain and Ireland, the IRA announced a method to decommission its weapons. The issue of disarmament is the principal obstacle to preserving the power sharing arrangement in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Protestants have resisted IRA [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: July 30th, 2001 |

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Protestant marching season has brought with it significant unrest in Belfast and other cities. The parades peak in mid-July, but other observances continue through the summer. Follow local press reports for planned events and potential trouble areas; consider avoiding Derry Aug. 12 when the Apprentice Boys hold their annual march around the city, an event [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: June 26th, 2001 |

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Sectarian rioting rocked north Belfast last week as Protestant marching season raised tensions between hostile communities. The British government began sending in 1,600 additional troops to support local police, making the total British military presence in Northern Ireland more than 15,000 soldiers. Drumcree in Portadown has been a flash point the last few years and [read more]

Northern Ireland

Date: May 30th, 2001 |

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Protestant marching season begins in earnest in July, and First Minister David Trimble, the Protestant leader of the power sharing assembly, has tendered his resignation for July 1 unless the IRA makes good on its promise of a year ago to decommission weapons. June is the deadline imposed by the Good Friday Agreement to complete [read more]