Britain presents law to form N Ireland government

In a bid to win the support of Protestant Unionists, the draft law promises a “fail safe mechanism” to dissolve the government if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) does not fulfil its obligation to disarm by May 2000.

London’s minister responsible for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, appealed to Protestant leaders to accept a plan put forward by British Prime Minister Tony Blair 10 days ago for the formation of the new administration.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the people and politicians of Northern Ireland to take the reins of power back into their own hands against the backdrop of a permanentend to violence,” she said in a statement.

But the Unionists, who want to preserve British rule in Northern Ireland, made clear their continued unhappiness about Blair’s plan, which flies in the face of their “no guns, no government” stance.

The Ulster Unionists’ security spokesman, Ken Maginnis, said they wanted a firm promise from the Irish Republican Army that it will disarm.

He warned in an interview with Channel 4 television news that it would be “very difficult” to achieve devolution — that is, a Northern Ireland government with local powers — by Sunday.

Blair gave the parties in Northern Ireland until Thursday to accept or reject his plan for the new government, which is aimed at ending the 15-month deadlock in the peace process since the Good Friday accord was signed.

His plan is for a power-sharing executive to be formed on Thursday, including the IRA’s political wing Sinn Fein, with paramilitary groups pledging to start disarming within weeks and concluding that process by May2000.

If the IRA reneges on its commitment to disarm under a timetable to be laid out in September, the whole executive would collapse.

Within seven days, the members of the 108-member Belfast Assembly would be convened to discuss the state of the peace process, after which London and Dublin would propose a way ahead, to be endorsed by an Assembly vote.

Blair met Monday afternoon in London with Protestant Unionist leader David Trimble to discuss the legislation.

A sign of the present state of affairs was that the draft law was not even in written form when it was presented to parliament mid-afternoon.

But the Unionists have already said they will table amendments to the legislation. They want a legal “fail safe” mechanism that if the IRA reneges on its promise, Sinn Fein would be expelled from the planned executive.

The Unionists argue that a failure by the IRA to disarm should not lead to everyone being punished by the collapse of the executive.

But their demands are likely to be opposed bythe moderate Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which would not countenance any government which did not embrace all political strands in Northern Ireland.

As frantic efforts continued to secure the Northern Ireland peace process, the annual Protestant “marching season” reached a peaceful climax on Monday.

In Belfast, 20,000 Protestant Orangemen gathered under the tightest security blanket seen in recent years to celebrate the victory of William of Orange over the Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

In Belfast, the Orange Order’s biggest parade of the year was met with a huge security operation.

Police and troops erected steel barricades and razor wire to bar access to the mainly Catholic Lower Ormeau Road area, although one Protestant lodge was allowed up to the barrier to protest at having its traditional route blocked.

As a result of the ban, all of Belfast’s nine Orange districts decided to end their parades in a nearby park.