How do you end a 30-year war?
Summary
TLDRL'Accord du Vendredi Saint, signé en avril 1998, a marqué la fin d'un conflit de 30 ans qui a coûté plus de 3 500 vies en Irlande du Nord. Après de nombreuses tentatives infructueuses, la croyance en la paix a été renforcée par l'élection de nouveaux dirigeants et la mise en place d'un double processus de désarmement et de discussions politiques. Malgré des revers et des actes de violence, l'accord a été ratifié par référendum, instaurant un nouveau gouvernement partagé et des institutions pour promouvoir l'égalité et la coexistence. Cependant, les défis subsistent, notamment la ségrégation, le sectarisme et les activités criminelles des anciens groupes paramilitaires, et le Brexit a soulevé de nouvelles inquiétudes pour la stabilité future.
Takeaways
- 📜 L'accord du Vendredi Saint est l'un des accords de paix les plus célébrés, signé en avril 1998 pour mettre fin à 30 ans de conflit ayant causé plus de 3 500 morts.
- 🕊 Le chemin vers cet accord fut difficile, marqué par des tentatives de pourparlers et des échecs répétés à cause des extrémistes des deux côtés.
- 🔫 En 1994, l'IRA provisoire a déclaré un cessez-le-feu, suivi par les paramilitaires loyalistes, mais les pourparlers politiques ont eu du mal à avancer.
- 🔧 En 1995, le rapport de George Mitchell a proposé une approche en deux étapes pour le désarmement en parallèle avec les discussions, mais cela a été rejeté par le Parti unioniste d'Ulster.
- 💣 Après plusieurs attaques de l'IRA en 1996, les pourparlers ont repris en 1997 grâce à l'élection de nouveaux leaders, Tony Blair et Bertie Ahern, qui ont ravivé le processus de paix.
- 👥 En 1998, malgré des tensions, les principaux partis unionistes et loyalistes sont entrés dans les négociations, marquant un moment crucial pour la paix.
- ✍ Le 10 avril 1998, l'accord de Belfast est signé, prévoyant un partage du pouvoir en Irlande du Nord, la décommission des armes paramilitaires et la libération anticipée des prisonniers.
- 📊 Lors d'un référendum en mai 1998, 71% des Nord-Irlandais ont approuvé l'accord, bien que le soutien des unionistes ait été plus faible que celui des nationalistes.
- ⚖ Bien que l'accord ait mis fin aux violences, des tensions subsistent encore aujourd'hui, et les groupes paramilitaires sont toujours actifs sous différentes formes.
- 🇬🇧 Le Brexit a ravivé les tensions, provoquant la suspension du parlement nord-irlandais et suscitant des inquiétudes quant à la fragilité de la paix en Irlande du Nord.
Q & A
Quel accord a été signé en avril 1998 qui a marqué la fin d'un conflit de 30 ans au Nord de l'Irlande?
-L'accord du Vendredi Saint a été signé en avril 1998, mettant fin à un conflit de 30 ans qui a coûté la vie à plus de 3 500 personnes.
Quelle a été la principale difficulté dans la mise en place de l'accord du Vendredi Saint?
-La principale difficulté a été de maintenir un cessez-le-feu paramilitaire suffisamment long pour que les discussions politiques aboutissent à des résultats concrets.
Quel rôle a joué le gouvernement britannique dans les négociations menées avant l'accord du Vendredi Saint?
-Le gouvernement britannique, sous la direction du Premier ministre John Major, a organisé de nouvelles 'toutes les parties' discussions à Stormont pour mettre fin une fois pour toutes aux troubles.
Pourquoi le Sinn Féin, l'aile politique de l'IRA provisoire, n'a-t-elle pas été invitée initialement aux discussions?
-Le gouvernement britannique souhaitait que l'IRA désarme avant de permettre au Sinn Féin de participer à des discussions, ce qui a été un point d'achoppement majeur.
Quel était l'approche proposée par le sénateur américain George Mitchell pour les discussions de paix?
-George Mitchell a proposé une approche à double voie où le désarmement des armes serait effectué en même temps que les discussions.
Quel événement a marqué la fin du cessez-le-feu de l'IRA provisoire en 1996?
-Le 9 février, l'IRA provisoire a détruit une camionnette bombe sur l'Île des Chiens à Londres, tuant deux personnes et blessant plus de 100, mettant fin à leur cessez-le-feu de deux ans.
Quels étaient les principes fondamentaux de l'accord du Vendredi Saint?
-Les principes fondamentaux de l'accord étaient que le statut du Nord de l'Irlande ne changerait pas sans le consentement de ses habitants, les droits égaux pour les communautés républicaines et loyalistes, et la liberté pour les personnes du Nord de l'Irlande d'identifier comme irlandaises, britanniques ou les deux.
Quelles étaient les conséquences de l'accord du Vendredi Saint pour les institutions politiques du Nord de l'Irlande?
-L'accord a conduit à la création d'une nouvelle assemblée du Nord de l'Irlande avec un partage du pouvoir obligatoire entre les partis loyalistes et républicains.
Comment l'accord du Vendredi Saint a-t-il été accueilli par le public lors des référendums?
-L'accord a été largement soutenu par le public lors des référendums, avec 71% des votes pour en Irlande du Nord et 91% en République d'Irlande.
Quels défis subsistent encore aujourd'hui en Irlande du Nord malgré l'accord du Vendredi Saint?
-Bien que le conflit connu sous le nom de Troubles soit terminé, les groupes qui l'ont combattu ne sont pas disparus et continuent d'exercer une influence dans certaines communautés, et le séparatisme et le sectarisme persistent encore.
Outlines
📜 L'Accord du Vendredi Saint
L'Accord du Vendredi Saint, signé en avril 1998, a marqué la fin d'un conflit de 30 ans qui a coûté la vie à plus de 3 500 personnes. L'épisode aborde la chronologie des événements qui ont conduit à cet accord, comment il a fonctionné et pourquoi la paix en Irlande du Nord reste fragile. Les années 70, 80 et 90 ont été marquées par de nombreuses tentatives de négociations de paix, mais elles ont échoué en raison des extrémistes des deux côtés. L'un des principaux défis était de maintenir un cessez-le-feu paramilitaire suffisamment long pour que les discussions politiques portent fruit. En 1994, le cessez-le-feu annoncé par l'IRA provisoire et les paramilitaires loyalistes a suscité de l'espoir, mais les négociations informelles ont été compliquées par des questions telles que la désarmement préalable. En 1995, John Major a tenté de lancer de nouvelles discussions, mais sans succès. Les élections de 1996 ont permis de déterminer les participants aux discussions de Stormont, qui ont commencé en juin sans l'IRA provisoire ni Sinn Féin. Malgré la reprise de la violence, le processus de paix a été revitalisé avec l'élection en 1997 de nouveaux dirigeants en Irlande du Nord et au Royaume-Uni.
🕊️ La Poursuite du Processus de Paix
En 1997, les gouvernements du Royaume-Uni et de l'Irlande ont élu de nouveaux dirigeants, Tony Blair et Bertie Ahern, qui ont aidé à relancer le processus de paix. Le gouvernement travailliste de Blair, avec une majorité massive, a permis de mettre de côté le désarmement préalable et d'inclure Sinn Féin dans les discussions. En juillet 1997, l'IRA a rétabli son cessez-le-feu et en août, Sinn Féin a été invitée aux discussions, malgré les réticences de certains partis loyalistes. Les discussions ont été laborieuses, avec l'expulsion d'un parti loyaliste en janvier 1998 et l'exclusion de Sinn Féin en février pour des liens avec des meurtres. Cependant, les partis ont réussi à se rassembler pour signer l'Accord du Vendredi Saint le 10 avril 1998. L'accord était basé sur trois principes clés : le consentement du peuple pour tout changement statutaire, l'égalité des droits pour les communautés républicaines et loyalistes, et la liberté d'identité pour les Irlandais du Nord. De nouvelles institutions ont été créées, y compris une nouvelle assemblée avec un partage du pouvoir obligatoire. L'accord a également traité de la fin des revendications de la République d'Irlande sur le Nord, le désarmement des paramilitaires, la libération anticipée des prisonniers et la réforme de la police et de l'armée britannique.
🏛️ L'Avenir Incertain de la Paix
L'Accord du Vendredi Saint a été ratifié par référendum en Irlande du Nord et en République d'Irlande, malgré l'opposition du DUP. L'accord n'était pas parfait et a laissé certaines questions en suspens, mais il a permis de mettre fin à une violence qui a coûté des vies. En 1998, un attentat à Omagh a été un test majeur pour la paix, mais les efforts pour la paix ont été renforcés. Malgré des problèmes subséquents, comme le désarmement de l'IRA et la suspension de l'assemblée, l'accord a été maintenu. En 2005, l'IRA a déclaré la fin de sa lutte armée et en 2006, l'Accord de St Andrews a permis la formation d'un exécutif avec le DUP et Sinn Féin. Cependant, les groupes paramilitaires et les divisions communautaires persistent encore en Irlande du Nord. Le Brexit a représenté un défi supplémentaire pour le processus de paix, avec le retrait du DUP de Stormont et l'absence d'un parlement en Irlande du Nord. L'avenir de la paix reste incertain, mais l'Accord de Belfast reste un exemple de compromis et de courage pour la recherche de la paix.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Accord du Vendredi Saint
💡Les Troubles
💡Républicains
💡Unionistes
💡Cessez-le-feu
💡Désarmement
💡Sinn Féin
💡Tony Blair
💡Omagh
💡Partage du pouvoir
Highlights
The Good Friday Agreement, signed in April 1998, helped end a 30-year conflict that resulted in over 3,500 deaths.
The agreement was the result of an arduous process, with multiple peace talks in the 70s, 80s, and 90s being derailed by extremists on both sides.
In 1994, the Provisional IRA and three Loyalist paramilitary groups announced ceasefires, sparking hope for peace.
Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Provisional IRA, was initially excluded from talks due to the government's demand for IRA decommissioning.
US Senator George Mitchell proposed a twin-track approach, allowing arms decommissioning and talks to occur simultaneously.
Despite setbacks like the 1996 IRA bombing in Manchester, peace talks continued under Tony Blair’s government.
The Provisional IRA resumed its ceasefire in 1997, allowing Sinn Féin to join talks, although some Loyalist parties temporarily walked out.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) eventually participated in the talks, marking a major moment in the peace process.
The Belfast Agreement was based on three principles: Northern Ireland's status would only change with its people’s consent, equal rights for both communities, and freedom to identify as Irish, British, or both.
Key outcomes of the agreement included the creation of a new Northern Irish Assembly, paramilitary decommissioning, and prisoner releases for those on ceasefire.
Although the agreement faced challenges, such as the 1998 Omagh bombing, it provided a foundation for peace and power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
While paramilitary groups continued to exist, the majority of people supported peace, preventing a return to the violence of the 1970s.
The Provisional IRA completed its decommissioning in 2005, a key step that led to the St Andrews Agreement and renewed power-sharing between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
The agreement’s success is demonstrated by the unlikely partnership between Ian Paisley of the DUP and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, who formed a government in 2007.
Despite the challenges posed by Brexit, which has strained Northern Ireland’s political situation, many younger people are moving away from the sectarian divisions of the past.
Transcripts
This is the Good Friday agreement – one the most celebrated peace deals ever signed. In
April of 1998, these 34 pages helped put an end to a 30-year conflict that killed over 3,500 people.
The deal was a major achievement, but the road to its signing was an arduous one.
In the last episode we examined how all sides of the conflict had become exhausted by the violence.
Now, in this final episode of our Troubles series we’ll explain the timeline of events that lead to
Good Friday, how the deal worked and why Northern Ireland’s peace remains fragile to this day.
The 70s, 80s and 90s had seen a number of peace talks and negotiations , but thanks
to extremists on both sides these had always broken down. The challenge was
maintaining a Paramilitary ceasefire long enough for political talks to bear fruit.
Ending a conflict as bitter as this one, would not be easy.
As we covered in our last episode, 1994 was time of genuine hope for peace. In April,
the Provisional IRA – the largest Republican paramilitary – announced
a ceasefire. And in October, the three leading Loyalist paramilitaries did the same.
Meanwhile, informal talks were taking place with a changing roster of political groups from
all sides. However, Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Provisional IRA was not invited.
There have been ongoing negotiations with the British government and one of the
main sticking points was a thing called prior decommissioning. Whereby the government wished
for the IRA to decommission its arms before they would allow Sinn Féin to enter into any
talks. However this was the main bargaining chip the IRA had. They hadn't been beaten
and they hadn't surrendered and they felt no compunction to actually down their weapons.
In November 1995, British Prime Minister John Major planned to
launch new ‘all party’ talks at Stormont to end the Troubles once and for all.
This was followed in January by a new report authored US Senator George Mitchell. In it
he set out a series of rules for entry to the talks. He also proposed a twin-track approach,
whereby arms decommissioning would take place at same time as the talks. It seemed like the
perfect solution, but there was a problem. The British Prime Minister John Major had lost his
majority in Westminster and relied on votes from the Ulster Unionist Party or UUP. Reservations
within the UUP led to a rejection of the two-track approach, Sinn Féin remained on the outside.
In Protest, on February 9th, the Provisional IRA detonated a truck bomb on the Isle of Dogs
in London, killing two and wounding over 100. Their two-year ceasefire was over.
Nonetheless in May elections were held to determine who would take part in the
Stormont Talks And in June they finally began, with Senator Mitchell at the helm. However, with
Provisional IRA still actively on campaign, Sinn Féin were once again excluded. That same month,
the Provisional IRA set off another truck bomb, this time in Manchester which injured over 200
and destroyed much of the city centre. That was followed up by a further descent into violence
around the town of Drumcree. As violence continued over the following months and it seemed that
Northern Ireland might return to the dark days of the 1970s. But everything was about to change.
1997 the Republic of Ireland and the UK elected new leaders in Bertie Ahern
and Tony Blair . Their efforts would help reinvigorate the peace process.
Tony Blair's Labour government has a massive majority in its victory which means it no longer
needs to rely on the Ulster Unionist Party to get things through. Blair, along with his new Northern
Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam who is the first woman to do the job, move in earnest to get peace talks
going. The pre-decommission of IRA weapons is put aside and this twin-track stream is the
one they go for. Decommissioning will come back, but for the moment Sinn Féin are in the talks.
In July the Provisional IRA restarted their ceasefire and in August Sinn Féin
were invited to the talks. However, this prompted a walkout from some hard-line
Loyalist parties. With the talks set to restart on September 15th,
no-one was sure whether the more moderate loyalist parties would even turn up. But on September 17th,
the UUP, PUP and UDP entered the talks together. This was a massive moment in the peace process
to have so many of the parties in one room. However, the hard work was only just beginning.
In January of the following year the Loyalist Ulster Democratic Party was
expelled from the talks over killings by its paramilitary wing. And in February,
after the Provisional IRA were linked with two killings in Belfast,
Sinn Féin were excluded too. Many within different paramilitary movements did not
want to give up the armed struggle which was so important to them. As splinter groups began
to emerge it was on the leaders of each faction to keep their movements together.
Martin McGuinness and Jerry Adams were vital for this deal to go through. Both of them
ran a very fine line. Martin McGuinness in particular given his standing within
the Provisional IRA as the commander had to bring the bulk of the IRA organisation
with them and marginalize the dissidents who didn't want peace. This in itself was a huge
undertaking and a huge achievement and was so vital to the Belfast Agreement's signing.
Likewise, there were problems in the Loyalist camp. Though their ceasefire from 1994 had held,
it took a prison visit from Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam to convince UDA members to
back the peace talks. After both parties returned to the table,
Senator Mitchell set out a deadline for the parties to reach an agreement. It fell on the
9th of April 1998. But with just a few weeks to go, the talks would come down to the wire.
The Ulster Unionists will speak to the SDLP, the more moderate National party,
but they have no real talks with Sinn Féin at this point. Northern Ireland is holding its breath,
Britain is holding this breath, in a sense because nobody's really sure if anybody's going to agree
with this. However on the day of the 10th of April, by about five in the evening the
momentous signatures are actually endorsed on the document and the Good Friday agreement is passed.
The Belfast Agreement was based three important principles: That the status of Northern Ireland
would not change without the consent of its people. Equal rights for republican and loyalist
communities. That Northern Irish people would be free to identify is Irish, British or both.
Alongside this, new institutions were founded, including a new Northern Irish assembly with
compulsory power sharing between Loyalist and Republican parties. The agreement also
addressed the end of the Republic’s claim to Northern Ireland, the decommissioning of all
paramilitaries by May 2000, the early release of prisoners for all paramilitary on ceasefire,
a new commission on reforming the RUC and gradual withdrawal of British Army.
The agreement was essentially a fudge - It passed over many areas which would cause problems down
the line. However, it had to be this way to get parties from all viewpoints to sign it.
Having done so, the people of Northern Ireland finally had the chance of a peaceful tomorrow.
In May the agreement went out to referendums in both NI and the Republic of Ireland,
with the DUP the only party to campaign against it. By an emphatic margin, yes carried the day.
In the north 71% of people vote yes for this. If we're looking at the compositions here over
90% of those votes were nationalists and only around 50% were unionists so there's
an issue there with unionism and still a strong suspicion of Sinn Féin and of the Provisional IRA.
However in the south it's even more overwhelming the yes vote,
around 91% of people vote yes. But although peace had been signed there were a number of issues that
were still to be dealt with after this point. The conflict in Northern Ireland was far from over.
Three months later, Northern Ireland would see the deadliest single incident
of the Troubles. On a busy Saturday, an IRA splinter group set off a bomb in middle of
Omagh, County Tyrone – killing 29, including a pregnant mother.
The bombing in Omagh was a huge test for peace in Northern Ireland. However after going through
so much to get to this point it galvanised people. People still wanted peace and they
didn't want to slip back into the carnage of the 1970s. Nevertheless the dissident Republicans who
carried this out and other groups are still at large. A report carried out by both the Police
Service of Northern Ireland and the security service MI5 just a few years ago concluded that
all the paramilitary groups that existed during the Troubles still exist in some form today.
On December 2nd 1998, the new Northern Ireland executive finally took power. But
the government would fall apart several times over the following years. Slow progress in Provisional
IRA decommissioning caused three short suspensions of Stormont during 2000 and 2001. Before, in 2002,
power sharing fell apart for far longer, this time over an alleged IRA spy ring inside Stormont.
By 2003, the Northern Irish electorate had polarised around the two most hard-line groups,
with the DUP and Sinn Féin becoming the largest representatives of each
side. The DUP did not accept the Belfast agreement and refused to share power,
meanwhile Sinn Fein chose not to recognise the newly reformed Police
Service of Northern Ireland. As such, the assembly at Stormont remain closed.
But in 2005, the Provisional IRA was adjudged to have fully decommissioned its arsenal and,
though it did not disband, announced that its armed struggle was at an end.
It would take up to 5 more years for some Loyalist paramilitaries to do the same.
This was a crucial step, which eventually led to the St Andrews Agreement in 2006. In it
Sinn Fein recognised PSNI and the DUP agreed to power sharing. After a new election in 2007 the
Northern Ireland executive finally reformed. The DUP’s Ian Paisley became First Minister,
with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness his Deputy. They would become the most unlikely of friends.
In July that year, the British Army announced the end of Operation Banner after 38 years,
its longest ever continuous military operation.Today,
the conflict known as the Troubles is at an end, but the groups who fought it have not disappeared.
The presence of these groups is still there in Northern Ireland, often controlling communities,
often policing these communities and carrying out punishments against drug dealers and also
engaging in criminal activities such as drugs dealing itself. In addition,
the segregation and the sectarianism still remains in Northern Ireland and
the walls that separate many communities particularly in Belfast remain to this day.
More recently Brexit has proven to be a major challenge to the peace process in
Northern Ireland. The Brexit deal led to the DUP’s withdrawal from Stormont, and as of the making
this video, Northern Ireland has no parliament – leading to fears the violence could return.
One issue is young people who either weren't born during the Troubles or were incredibly
young when they ended have no real concept of what it was like and some have been
moved towards violence by groups within their communities. Similar on a more positive note.
Many younger people see no identity issues with having friends on either side of the
community and don't associate themselves with the sectarianism of the Troubles. So there is a
balance here and it's difficult to know exactly what direction things will go in in the future.
The Troubles was a bitter conflict, fought between two sides with little in common other
than the loss they suffered. The deal signed in April of 1998 is not perfect. But it helped put
an end to violence that had cost over 3,500 lives. The Belfast Agreement is a testament to compromise
in the most difficult of circumstances. That peace is possible for those with the courage to seek it.
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