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Decommissioning: What do YOU want?

Article published in Belfast Telegraph 15 December 1998

This time last year most people were as confident of an agreement as turkeys are of having a good Christmas. Yet the Agreement was signed on 10 April, and approved by over 70% on 28 May. Many people now seem very pessimistic about thepossibility of progress. To date the politicians have failed to agree on North-South structures and decommissioning looms on the horizon like a Beecher's Brook of an obstacle.

David Trimble says the IRA should start decommissioning before Sinn Fein can join the Executive. Gerry Adams says Unionists should first join the Executive and then see about decommissioning.

On the face of it, if each holds rigidly to their position there will be no Executive and the Agreement will collapse.

Community Dialogue is made up of people from across the divide, ranging from a former Loyalist to a member of Sinn Fein. We disagree on some things, but agree on many, especially that we can make progress on tough issues if we dialogue about them in the right way.

You know most of the arguments on either side: Sinn Fein say the Agreement is quite specific that first the Executive must be appointed and only then has decommissioning to be dealt with. They argue that the appointment of Martin McGuiness to the Decommissioning Body shows they are fulfilling their duties under the Agreement.

And many Republicans believe the only reason David Trimble is not agreeing to join an Executive is that he cannot stomach sitting in the same group as Sinn Fein.

For its part the UUP say that you can't be in Government if you are linked to a private army. Other clauses in the Agreement such as the release of prisoners have been fulfilled. These have all suited Republicans, but -- Unionists argue -- Republicans have given nothing in return. The only way to know the war is over is if decommissioning starts.

The real question that matters on this issue is: what do YOU think. The people of Northern Ireland decided on 28 Maythat they wanted the Agreement, although Yes' as well as No' voters had problems with it.

In fact the Agreement was costly to many people.Unionists were faced with the early release of prisoners, North-South bodies, the possibility of large-scale changes in policing, and the prospect of going into an Executive with Sinn Fein.

Sinn Fein also faced massive changes: altering their Constitution to allow them to take part in a Northern Ireland Parliament -- in their eyes a partitionist structure; accepting the changes in Articles Two and Three of the South's Constitution, and formally renouncing the use of violence to achieve political gains.

The process has been difficult for both sides. The key question now is: how much does decommissioning -- whatever your view on it -- matter? Is it more important than going ahead with the appointment of the Executive or not? If it is, and the Agreement falls as a result, what are some of the consequences?

Some will be unpleasant for Unionists: Direct Rule will be re-imposed. The Anglo-Irish Agreement will stay in place, as will the Maryfield Secretariat. Civil Servants will continue to have great influence. The British Government will work even more closely with the Dublin Government, because this suits it internationally. Articles Two and Three will remain in place. Decommissioning is unlikely.

Some of the consequences will also be unpleasant for Republicans: there will be no North-South structures. There will no new Executive in Northern Ireland so Republicans will have no role in running Northern Ireland. Nationalists will be dependent on the influence the South has with the British Government.

It seems to us that each side in this row may be making false assumptions. Many Republicans think Unionists want to marginalise Sinn Fein. Many Unionists are unconvinced that the IRA war is over. Yet our sense of the wider Unionist community is that -- while not being enthusiastic about it -- they will work with Sinn Fein, if they are convinced the war is over. At the same time our sense of the feeling on the ground in Republican areas is that the IRA war really is over, whatever about fringe breakaway groups.

Both sides, then, may be making false assumptions and the reason for this is that they have never sat down and talked to each other properly. This is a chicken and egg problem: Unionists won't dialogue properly with Sinn Fein until they feel the violence has ended. But how are they going to find out whether or not this is the case until they talk to them?

If we are not to get stuck on decommissioning three things need to happen:

a) Republicans need to convince Unionists the war is over;

b) Unionists need to convince Republicans they are serious about including them in the future, and

c) Both sides need to realise that the problems of the other side are their own. They are like two climbers on a mountain linked together by a rope: if one cuts it both will fall.

If we do not work together on all our problems we will end up as divided as we were in the past.