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| SENATOR GEORGE MITCHELL | |
 November 19, 1999  |
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This week, the leaders of pro-British and Pro-Irish groups announced a willingness to form a new government after weeks of negotiation. After a background report, the chairman of those talks, former Sen. George Mitchell, discusses the deal that has given new life to the Good Friday Accord.
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RAY SUAREZ: After months of negotiation, another breakthrough was announced in the Northern Ireland peace process. This time the issue was disarming the militias of both Protestant and Catholic-aligned groups, a process known as decommissioning.
RAY SUAREZ: The issue was so tricky that it was put aside in the first Northern Ireland peace accord of 1998, the so-called Good Friday Agreement that was negotiated under the chairmanship of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. The accord set in motion a plan to share power between majority unionists, mainly Protestants who want to remain British, and nationalists, mostly Catholics, many of whom want to join the Irish republic. SPOKESMAN: There will be no questions.
He had been brought back to rescue the Northern Ireland peace process, which was on the verge of collapsing over the disarmament issue. Yesterday, Mitchell outlined the steps that would have to happen to make the deal come together:
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The British and Irish governments called on Mitchell to try to bring the two sides together. He started meeting with leaders of Protestant and Catholic political parties in September in what was formally called a review process. Today, meeting with Irish Prime Minister Ahern, President Clinton praised Mitchell's work.
RAY SUAREZ: And his views were seconded by the Irish leader. BERTIE AHERN, Irish Prime Minister: This is an opportunity which most people thought we'd never get. We have it now. It's for us to make it work and I believe that the partnership government working with the new institutions, the North-South bodies will allow us to go forward in peace and confidence and prosperity. |
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GEORGE
MITCHELL (1998): Have a happy Easter. God bless all the people of Northern
Ireland. 
RAY
SUAREZ: After months of stalemate, on Wednesday the leaders of Sinn
Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, said they would
participate right away in the decommissioning process if a new power-sharing
administration for Northern Ireland was formed first. The next day,
a negotiator for the unionists said it was time to accept the good faith
of Sinn Fein. With those two statements, Mitchell declared victory and
headed home. 
GEORGE
MITCHELL: I believe that a basis now exists for devolution to occur,
for the institutions to be established, and for decommissioning to take
place as soon as possible. Devolution should take effect, then the executives
should meet and then the paramilitary groups should appoint their authorized
representatives all on the same day, in that order. 
RAY
SUAREZ: As difficult as the issue has been, some hurdles still remain
-- primarily getting all the unionist factions to agree with unionist
leader David Trimble to break the logjam. It was in July that the decommissioning
issue reached crisis proportions. Trimble, who is both leader of the
unionists and first minister of the new power-sharing executive, refused
to take office saying that Sinn Fein and the IRA had not even started
giving up their arms. Sinn Fein said it was acting in accord with the
Good Friday Agreement, which had set a later deadline for decommissioning.
PRESIDENT
CLINTON: I want to congratulate Prime Minister Ahern, Prime Minister
Blair, and clearly Senator Mitchell and the parties for the progress
that has been made in the last few days. It's obvious that the parties
have really worked hard to reaffirm their common commitment to the Good
Friday Accord.