Violence in Northern Ireland 1996-1997

The cease-fire was broken in February 1996 with a bomb set off in London by the IRA, which objected to certain procedural steps in negotiations then being held as a prelude to formal talks. The worst street fighting since 1968 followed in July 1996 in the town of Portadown, when Protestant Orangemen insisted on conducting a provocative theme march through a Catholic neighborhood. Determined to be part of the peace talks, the IRA reinstated the ceasefire in July 1997, and Sinn Fein (the IRA's political wing), under the leadership of Gerry Adams (1948-), was admitted to the talks in 1997. Despite revenge killings by splinter groups on both sides in early 1998, the legitimate opposition parties, including Sinn Fein, continued to attend the peace talks. On April 10, 1998, representatives of eight political parties agreed to a landmark document, under which Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland would govern jointly in a 108-seat National Assembly, which would work with the Irish Republic in a newly formed North-South legislative council. This power-sharing peace accord was endorsed by the majority of voters in referendums in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland on May 22, 1998.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 335-6.

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