20th anniversary of Downing Street Declaration‏ – declaration significant but just one step

‘Albert Reynolds was by far the best of the Taoisigh to deal with the North. He brought a directness in how he addressed the potential for progress’

SUNDAY marks the 20th anniversary of the Downing Street Declaration and while it was a significant development it was but one step on a journey to conflict resolution, Gerry Adams said.

The Sinn Féin President said that, like several previous agreements – including Sunningdale and the Anglo-Irish Agreement – the Downing Street Declaration was intended by the British Government and some in the Irish Government to be the end of the matter when clearly it wasn’t.

“Had Sinn Féin accepted the Downing Street Declaration,” Gerry Adams said, “it is arguable that there would never have been a Good Friday Agreement.”

Speaking on Thursday from South Africa, where he is attending events to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams said:

“When Albert Reynolds became Taoiseach in 1993 he introduced a new dynamic into the negotiations process. Notwithstanding the shortcomings of this process, Mr Reynolds was by far the best of the Taoisigh to deal with the North. He brought a directness in how he addressed the potential for progress.

“The Downing Street Declaration was published on Wednesday 15 December 1993 with a great deal of spin. But, within hours of its launch, public statements by Albert Reynolds and British Prime Minister John Major indicated that real differences existed between both governments, not only on the actual meaning of significant and substantial parts of the declaration but on its stated objectives.

“There was an obvious need for clarification from the governments but John Major rejected my request for clarification, declaring that the declaration was non-negotiable.

“Mr Reynolds then suggested that he would seek clarification on our behalf. When clarification eventually came, it supported Sinn Féin’s view that the Downing Street Declaration was in many ways an ad hoc and not-so-well drafted response to Hume/Adams.

“While the Downing Street Declaration was a significant development that was all it was.

“Like the Sunningdale Agreement in 1973, and the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, the Downing Street Declaration was intended by the British Government and some in the Irish Government to be the end of the matter: the line in the sand. And like those agreements before it, it was neither.

“Had Sinn Féin accepted the Downing Street Declaration, it is arguable that there would never have been a Good Friday Agreement.

“A process of change is exactly that – a process which needs attended to and nurtured.

“That is as true today with lots of work to be done by both governments and the rest of us if current difficulties are to be overcome and our full potential as an island people realised.”