Key points of the Northern Ireland peace accord:
- The peace agreement will be put to referendums in
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on May 22.
- Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom
unless majorities north and south of the border choose unity.
- Voters in the Irish Republic will be asked to amend their
constitution to drop the long-standing territorial claim to
the whole island. The new wording will say unity will only be
sought with the consent of a majority in both jurisdictions.
Northern Ireland assembly
- A 108-seat Northern Ireland assembly is to be set up and
will be elected every five years by proportional
representation. Its area of authority will include
agriculture, finance, health and economic development.
- A 12-member Cabinet will be set up. Ministers may
participate only if they pursue democratic, nonviolent,
policies. Mechanisms will ensure that both Protestants and
Catholics are represented in the Cabinet.
- A new north-south Irish ministerial council with lawmakers
from the Northern Ireland assembly and the Irish Republic
will consult and act on areas of mutual benefit, such as
agriculture, transportation links, policing and relations
with the European Union.
- The assembly and the council are to be interdependent; one
cannot function successfully without the other.
East - West cooperation
- A British-Irish intergovernmental conference will replace
bodies set up in 1985.
- Lawmakers from the Irish Republic will meet regularly with
members of the British Parliament from London, the Northern
Ireland assembly and with representatives of the new
parliament in Scotland and assembly in Wales.
- The conference will have no administrative or legislative
- The sides promise to try to use their influence to bring
about disarmament of paramilitary groups within two years,
starting in June at the latest.
- Britain promises to make progress toward demilitarization
of Northern Ireland to normal peacetime levels, and remove
all emergency powers.
- An independent commission will make recommendations on
- The governments will speed up the release of prisoners
for crimes tied to their affiliation to paramilitary groups
that are maintaining an unequivocal cease-fire. Depending on
the severity of their crimes, they will qualify for early
release within two years from the start of the plan, probably
- Hard-line Protestants favoring the continuation of
undiluted British rule in Northern Ireland are campaigning
against the new peace proposal. They say the accord is a
sellout to predominantly Roman Catholic republicans who want
a reunited all-Ireland state.
- Observers say there is a possibility that Protestants in
Northern Ireland may not want to accept the idea that members
of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican
Army, could end up on the executive board of the new Northern
- Many Catholics in Northern Ireland favor political union
with the Irish Republic and therefore favor a strong north-
south council with executive powers.
- It is expected that Sinn Fein will criticize the peace
accord, arguing that it contains too many elements of British
government involvement in Northern Ireland and unionist
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