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Northern Ireland: Turning the Corner?
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18288 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1990 |
2,303 Words |
| Author
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Stephen Haseler
Stephen Haseler is professor of government at City of London
College and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington, D.C. |
When Nelson Mandela, on the eve of his visit to London, suggested that the British government abandon its traditional policy and talk directly to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a political storm broke around him. Mandela, who later argued that his words had been misinterpreted, chose a difficult time to reignite the Ulster issue. His intervention took place in the wake of a series of IRA attacks against targets in mainland Britain. This new campaign of violence, which began in the summer of 1988, is no longer restricted to military personnel or installations. A Tory member of Parliament, Ian Gow, was assassinated outside his Sussex home in late July, and bombs have been planted in London's Carlton Club and Stock Exchange.
This latest IRA campaign, however, is taking place during one of the rare moments of flux in the Northern Ireland situation, a period in which the Conservative government in London seems determined to engineer some movement in the static and seemingly intractable Irish political standoff.
Much of the credit for London's new sense of urgency rests with Britain's low-profile Northern Ireland minister, Peter Brooke. Brooke has long been considered a less than exciting politician. His time as Tory party chairman was uninspiring, and in 1989 Margaret Thatcher shunted him into the sidelines by handing him the Northern Ireland portfolio. Yet Brooke seems determined to make something of a comeback by leaving his mark upon the politics of Ulster.
His method of operation (which has involved him in a constant round of shuttle diplomacy between London, Belfast, and Dublin) is simply to keep talking to as many sides to the dispute (with the exception, of course, of the IRA) as will listen. This strategy may be about to pay off.
The short-term prize is the possibility of creating a new kind of government for Ulster. Ever since 1972, when Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath abolished Northern Ireland's Parliament (the Stormont), the province has been ruled directly from London; various attempts to resurrect devolved government have all foundered on the refusal of the Protestants and Catholics to agree to a new system. In fact, apart from an abortive get-together in 1988, it is now almost 10 years since the leaders of the two communities in Ulster have even talked to each other.
The ice is melting
Now, though, the
...
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