An Phoblacht/Republican News  ·  Thursday November 30 1995

Twin-track troubleshooting

Christmas fudge
Bitter words preceded deal
An air of unreality
United demand for talks
Countrywide demos say 'save the peace process'

MEADBH GALLAGHER peeks between the seams and reams of the latest British-Irish communiqué.

IF YOU WANT to know what's in the London-Dublin communiqué issued on Tuesday night take a look at the Building Blocks paper released by the British government at the start of this month. Much of the text is the same. There are however, some changes in emphasis and wording which may require a closer look.

The ``twin-track process'' proposed by the two governments is to make parallel progress on the decommissioning issue and all-party negotiations. ``With cooperation from all the relevant parties'' the governments say they have the ``firm aim'' of achieving the launch of all-party negotiations by the end of February 1996. These negotiations they wish to be ``substantive'' and ``aimed at a political settlement based on consent'', an aim which does not appear in Building Blocks.

Through preparatory talks, the governments hope to reach ``widespread agreement'' on the basis, participation, structure, format and agenda of the substantive negotiations. Though the preparatory talks will have an open agenda, allowing any party to ``raise any relevant matters'', the communique states these could include the structure of the negotiations, how they can properly take account of democratic mandates and principles and ``whether and how an elected body would play a part''.

The talks may also extend to the steps required to accord with Paragraph 10 of the Downing Street Declaration. Paragraph 10 covers the ``permanent end to the use of, or support for, paramilitary violence'' and the involvement in talks of ``democratically mandated parties which establish a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods and which have shown that they abide by the democratic process''.

The issue of arms decommissioning, which the British government has continuously enforced as a precondition, features in nine out of 12 paragraphs of the communiqué.

In addition to the formats proposed in Building Blocks, the communique also allows for talks between the two governments together with one or more parties in the preparatory phase.

The two governments propose to meet in mid-February to review progress in the preparatory talks and to consider the recommendations of an international body on decommissioning which will report to the governments by mid-January.

INTERNATIONAL BODY

The communiqué states the international body is ``to provide an independent assessment of the decommissioning issue''. In a carefully-worded following paragraph, the governments recognise the ``widely expressed desire to see all arms removed from Irish politics'' and say the International Body will ``report on the arrangements necessary for the removal from the political equation of arms silenced by virtue of the welcome decisions taken last summer and autumn by those organisations that previously supported the use of arms for political purposes''.

``In particular,'' they will ask the body to: ``Identify and advise on a suitable and acceptable method for full and verifiable decommissioning and report whether there is a clear commitment on the part of those in possession of such arms to work constructively to achieve that.''

In the Building Blocks proposals, this was identified as the body's ``remit'' and ``such arms'' referred to ``unauthorised arms and other material''. The communiqué does not tag any of the above parameters for the body with the word `remit' but it goes on to say that, though the body could determine its own procedures and consult widely, its conclusions would be reached ``within its remit''.

The body would be chaired by Senator George Mitchell and have ``two other eminent persons'' as members. Significantly, its status would be advisory and neither the two governments nor any other party cooperating with it would be bound in advance to accept its recommendations.

ARMS DECOMMISSIONING

The issue of arms decommissioning, which the British government has continuously enforced as a precondition, features in nine out of 12 paragraphs of the communiqué. Sinn Féin regards decommissioning as a sidewind compared to the main purpose of the peace process which is to hold all-party negotiations to reach a political settlement in Ireland.

A brief and oblique paragraph in the communiqué ``reaffirms'' the Irish and British governments' ``willingness to continue to take responsive measures, advised by their respective security authorities as the threat reduces''.

The Hume/Adams proposals put to the British government on the 19 and 20 October to resolve the `decommissioning' obstacle set a firm date for substantive round-table political negotiations. They also proposed that the remit of the international body would be to report to the governments by a specified date on whether ``a clear commitment exists on the part of the respective political parties to an agreed political settlement, achieved through democratic negotiations, and to the satisfactory resolution of the question of arms''.

By contrast, the governments' communiqué of the 28 November sets a target date for the start of all-party talks and sets a role for an international body which on the one hand requires it to give an independent assessment on the decommissioning issue and on the other hand requires it to advise on a method of full decommissioning of arms silenced by virtue of the 1994 cease-fire.