Constitutional Issues
- Recognise that the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland must both
agree, by separate referrenda, to a United Ireland by majority consent before it can take
place, and that no other people have a right to vote in any such decision.
- Recognise that, for the forseeable future, the majority of people of Northern Ireland
wish to remain within the UK and that must be respected.
- The UK government must agree to a United Ireland if the majority of citizens in Northern
Ireland vote for it.
- Both governments must accept the right of Northern Ireland citizens to declare
themselves as either British or Irish and that dual citizenship must be provided for those
who desire it.
- A vote on Northern Ireland's status can be initiated by the Secretary of State if (s)he
feels that a majority of people there are likely to vote for unification with the Republic
of Ireland. A vote must not occur more frequently than once every 7 years.
- Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution are to be re-worded so that there is no
longer a territorial claim over Northern Ireland. Instead, the constitution is to support
the right to electoral consent. It will also declare that Irish laws only apply to the 26
counties and not to all 32 as previously asserted.
Rights
- Northern Ireland will be governed based on mutual respect and recognition of the
European Convention on Human Rights, particularly freedom of political thought, religion,
place of residence and the rights of democratic government, peaceful constitutional
change, absence of sectarianism and equal opportunity regardless of religion, politics,
gender, race, disability, age, marital status, dependents or sexual orientation.
- Public bodies must demonstrate cross-community and other equal opportunities.
- A Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is to be established to protect minorities in
Northern Ireland and to ensure that business is conducted without discrimination.
- The Republic of Ireland will consider incorporating the European Convention on Human
Rights into its constitution.
- Recognition of the suffering caused by the violence in Northern Ireland's recent past
and establishment of the Northern Ireland Victims Commission to both promote
reconcilitation and preserve the memory of the 3,600 people who were killed since 1969.
- The British government will sign the Council of Europe Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages and help to preserve the Irish language for those who wish to use it. This may
mean installation of Irish language translations of public writings and notices.
Decommissioning of Terrorist Arms
- All paramilitary organisations, in particular the IRA, UVF and UDA who were represented
at the talks, must hand all their arms to an independent body within 2 years of the
implementation of the agreement (by May 2000).
- The progress will be monitored by an independent Commission.
Security
- A return as soon as possible to normal peace-time security arrangements for Northern
Ireland and removal of the Emergency Power acts.
- Removal of security installations which are deemed unnecessary, plus a reduction in the
British Army presence in the province.
- Enforcement of the UK-wide ban on handguns introduced on 2 April 1998, but not enforced
in Northern Ireland.
Policing
- The RUC police force is to be made more cross-community to reflect the makeup of the
people of Northern Ireland.
- An independent Commission will be set up to recommend future arrangements for the RUC to
ensure that it operates within the bounds of human rights and equal opportunity and has
the confidence of the public.
- An independent Commission will be set up to recommend reforms of Northern Ireland's
Criminal Justice system.
- The justice system in Northern Ireland will be reviewed by the UK government.
Prisoners
- The release of prisoners convicted of terrorist offences is to be accelerated.
- Prisoners belonging to groups who are not on complete ceasefire will not be released.
- While account will be taken of the seriousness of offences, prisoners should all be
released within 2 years of the enactment of the agreement (by May 2000).
- Facilities will be provided for re-integration of prisoners into society.
- [The UK Government has clarified that prisoners who re-offend or whose organisations
return to violence will lose the release right and will be re-interred for their
sentences.]
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