The public Position of the various parties

Remarks: These pages were originally created in the '90's, so some of the links are long dead (and the group or organization may no longer exist), but I am leaving the page as was just to give an idea how it used to be.

*****************************************************


The policies and positions of the parties (click on the red text to access the document)

Parties in Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party About Alliance
Democratic Left A framework for agreement on Northern Ireland
Democratic Unionist party DUP Constitutional Manifesto
Progressive Unionist Party Reasonable Compromise
Manifesto & Vision of The Progressive Unionist Party
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition Program
Republican Sinn Fein Towards A Peaceful Ireland
Saol Nua - A New Way of Life
Eire Nua - A New Democracy
Sinn Fein Sinn Fein Homepage
(Because of the frames format of the Sinn Fein page I cannot provide links directly to sinn fein policy documents/statements of objectives.These are easily accessed from their homepage)
Social Democratic and Labour Party Address by party leader,John Hume,at the 1996 SDLP annual conference
Recent Statements Archive (These also provide good insight into SDLP policy on a wide range of topics)
Ulster Democratic party Council of the British Isles / A Proposal for meaningful co-operation
Common Sense
Ulster Unionist Party Policy & Aims

Parties in the Republic of Ireland
Fianna Fail The Aims of Fianna Fail
Fine Gael Fine Gael's Guiding Policy Principles
Green Party Manifesto Statement on N.Ireland
First Northern Ireland Position Paper
Second Paper: the first Stormont meetings
Third Paper: Headings of Agreement
Labour Party Policy
Progressive Democrats Policy Overview: Northern Ireland

Parties in Britain
Conservative Party*
Labour Party*
Liberal Democrats Northern Ireland
*If a site has a "*" symbol beside it ,it means that I have not been able to find a location where the aims/policies of the organisation has been officially spelled out or that the site is presently under construction.

Important Documents
The Anglo-Irish Agreement (15 November 1985)
The Framework Document (22 February 1995)
(Summary of the Framework Document)
Joint communique (28 November 1995)
Joint Declaration (15 December 1993)
Joint communique (28 February 1996)
Agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations (April 10th 1998).
IRA Cease-fire announcement (31 August 1994)
Statement by the Combined Loyalist Military Command(Cease-fire Statement) (13 October 1994).
Mitchell Report on Arms De-commissioning (24 January 1996)
"Paths to a Political Settlement: Realities,Principles and Requirements"(2 February 1996) .
Report of the Independent Review of Parades & Marches Summary:(from The Belfast Telegraph) .
Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution
The Irish Constitution (in full)
Irish News Cease-fire Documents

Some important public statements/speeches
David Irvine(PUP) : "Small men of Stormont put party politics before peace"
David Irvine(PUP) : PUP wants special relationship with South
Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein) "Any new cessation would be clear-cut"
President Bill Clinton "Clinton's Boost for Peace"

I would appreciate any pointers to sites I do not know about.I am particularly interested in finding an online copy of the Government of Ireland Act(1920) and any other important acts and pieces of legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Lastly,I would be glad of any pointers to any online speeches/ public statements by any of the various parties that indicate a willingness to seek an agreement that recognises both main traditions.

This page is still in the early stages of construction. Keep an eye out for further developments.

Reading the opposing positions of the various parties one might get the impression that there is no possibility whatever of the two main traditions in Ireland ever reaching agreement over N.Ireland and that because of this whatever tattered remnants of the IRA cessation that remain will inevitably be swept away , with the Loyalist cease-fires to inevitably follow. One might get the impression that , on the surface at least , it will be impossible to ever find any settlement which will satisfy the majority of the people in BOTH of these two main traditions.
These impressions ARE true impressions - if it really is the case that the publically stated positions of the parties are the hard reality of the situation and there is a general unwillingness on either side to step back from the extremes and look for a settlement somewhere "in the middle" that acknowledges both main traditions and gives them proper constitutional expression.

It is very difficult in N.Ireland to be certain whether a publically stated position is a "negotiation stance" or whether this statement does accurately reflect a parties true position. It would seem likely that there are people in both of the main camps who do not wish to compromise in the slightest their traditional views. Equally , there are encouraging signs that there an increasing number of people who, for various reasons, see the need for a settlement in N.Ireland that has the support of a majority in BOTH of the main traditions.

On this page there are links to online speeches /policy documents/etc of many of the main parties to the conflict. I hope these will provide some idea of the differing views of the parties to the conflict and of the difficulties to be overcome in resolving the conflict. I also hope to provide links to whatever online speeches /policy documents/etc there are that indicate a willingness to look for agreement and a negotiated settlement respecting both traditions and giving them proper recognition.

Other Cothrom Documents
Back to cothrom Homepage

Note: All pf these Cothrom pages that relate to Northern Ireland were originally created at the end of the '90's/early 00's.