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18 February 1999 Edition

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Tentative steps forward

This week saw more tentative steps forward in the peace process. The Assembly vote to pave the way for the formation of the Executive and the other institutions should be seen as a very positive move. It clearly marked out the battle lines between the pro- and anti-Agreement forces with a decisive three to one majority in favour.

But the vote hides a continuing reluctance among Unionists to fully implement the Agreement. Under David Trimble's leadership Unionists continue to seek to re-negotiate what was agreed on Good Friday. Instead of seeing the process as one of conflict resolution in which the root causes of the conflict must be tackled, they insist on working to a pre-Agreement agenda.

It is a simple truth that the reason the Agreement negotiations were so long drawn-out and hard fought is that the conflict itself was so intractable. By the same token, the result was not to anyone's complete satisfaction. But it represented a genuine attempt at conflict resolution which, to be successful, must be implemented. And that means implementing it to the letter - not according to what one side sees as the current ``political realities''.

The Unionists would do well by first acknowledging that there was a conflict, rather than continue to believe their own propaganda that they were the victims of a criminal conspiracy. By taking that step their political perspective may then better encompass the need to implement what was so painstakingly negotiated.

Implementing the Agreement at this stage means setting up the political institutions. There can be no faith in a political process which is unable to deliver even its basic building blocks. And those who argue for prior decommissioning are ignoring not only the terms of the Agreement, but also the lessons of successful conflict resolution. The important point at this stage is to build confidence by setting up the political structures.

Unionists have argued that they cannot trust Sinn Féin but it is clear that no party has done more to build progress at all crucial moments in the peace process than Sinn Féin. Hopefully, Wednesday's meeting between delegations from Sinn Féin and the UUP will begin to strip away any Unionist accusations that Sinn Féin is not genuinely seeking peace and help move the process on to the next stage.

An Phoblacht
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