There was a feeling of frustration in the public eye, who generally felt that the institutions had been working. This came to a head when, on 10 March, Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff (of Titanic fame) lost a vital contract from US firm Cunard, meaning that the yard may have to close with the loss of nearly 2,000 jobs – a devastating blow to the city. There was a feeling that this may have been avoided if Northern Ireland had been managing its own affairs.

As time went on, the 22 May 2000 deadline for decommissioning that had been agreed in the Good Friday Agreement seemed less likely to be met. Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson hinted in mid-March that he could be flexible on the timeframe of decommissioning; the Irish government hinting at the same thing. Sinn Fein, on March 14th, declared that the May 22nd deadline had "fallen by the wayside" and "no longer exists". In fact, on 28 March, the Irish government was to declare that there was "no hope" of meeting the May deadline. Sinn Fein continued their protests against the suspension of the Assembly throughout the month, actively organising rallies in Nationalist areas and making regular, if somewhat repetitive, comments about how the process was in deep crisis

The second attempt at resolution occurred over the St Patrick's Day break (15 to 20 March 2000) when all the pro-Agreement parties were invited to Washington, USA. During the meetings there, David Trimble agreed to make a concession, announcing that he would settle for a committment to decommissioning from the IRA, rather than actual decommissioning, before re-entering the Executive. This announcement, which came as much as a suprise for the media as for UUP party members, caused uproar back in Belfast. Rebel UUP MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, said his leader's remarks could "deal a very damaging blow to the unity of [the UUP]" and the (anti-Agreement) DUP led cries of "sell-out". Sinn Fein said that it would reserve judgement on Mr Trimble's announcement until it saw how much support the UUP grass-roots would give their leader.

All eyes then focused on the next Ulster Unionist Council meeting which was to take place on 25th March. David Trimble's concession in Washington had prompted so much anger that he had come home to a leadership challenge, in the name of rebel UUP MP Martin Smith. To make matters worse, another member of the UUP had (against advice) tabled a resolution that would link any return to the Executive to the retention of the RUC name, which the British government had, in January, announced would be abolished. At the meeting, David Trimble won the leadership challenge with a dangerously low 56.7% of the votes: it was vital for the peace process that Trimble won the vote, since Martin Smith was anti-Agreement. However, although Mr Trimble urged his members to reject the motion on the RUC name change, the party council passed it. This means that the UUP is now committed to ensuring the retention of the RUC name before it will re-enter the Executive. The SDLP saw how weak Trimble's position had become and, recognising his importance to the process, urged the two governments to support him. The British government urged Republicans to meet Unionists halfway by giving a committment to decommissioning, and Trimble even said that he was prepared to meet the IRA to discuss the issue. However no such committment was forthcoming.

March was a bad month for so-called paramilitary beatings, in both Republican and Loyalist areas. Paramilitary beatings occur when the terrorist group that is in control of a particular estate decides that a resident is being 'anti-social' (to use IRA parlance) which can mean anything from being a joyrider or petty thief to being a drug dealer or an informer. The person is usually kidnapped by night and shot in the ankles, knees, hands or feet. Of the ones that were reported some examples include the following list: 1st March (north Belfast), 4th (north Belfast), 9th (Armagh), 11th (east Belfast), 12th (north Belfast and Strabane), 13th (west Belfast), 18th (west Belfast), 22nd (Derry city), 30th (west Belfast), 31st (Newtownabbey).

On March 27th the Saville inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday (on 30 January 1972, in which British troops shot dead 13 civilians after a demonstration) which was set up under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement finally opened in the Guildhall in Derry city. The inquiry, which is of an unprecedented scale, is set to last two years and is aimed at uncovering the truth surrounding the event. Sinn Fein says that the British army opened fire, killing the 13 civilian protesters, as part of a deliberate shoot-to-kill policy. The British army insists that they came under attack from IRA gunmen and that the civilians became caught in the middle of the ensuing gun battle. Sinn Fein insists that nobody fired any shots prior to the British Army opening fire. The Saville inquiry is expected to give its verdict on this unbelievably complex case sometime in 2002. Sinn Fein says it will wait to see the verdict before it decides whether it supports Saville.

With another so-called 'marching season' approaching, the parades issue began entering the news. The independent Parades Commission is the body which decides whether or not to let marches that become contentious take place. On 16 February, the British government appointed the 2000 committee, which consisted of a solicitor from England (Tony Holland, the Chairman), a farmer, a former Gaelic Athletic Association President, the chairman of the Alliance party, a High Court judge and the Student's Union secretary from Queen's University, Belfast. The Garvaghy Road Residents' Association (representing Catholics in Portadown's Garvaghy Road area) said that the commission's makeup was unrepresentative and launched legal action against the makeup (although on the grounds that there were no women, rather than no Nationalists, because political affililiation cannot be proven in court). The only real confrontation occurred on 17th March when the Ancient Order of Hibernia was given permission to undertake a St Patrick's Day march through the mainly Protestant town of Kilkeel, county Down. There were scuffles between the RUC and loyalists who tried to prevent the parade taking place. There was some rioting in Portadown on the next day when the Orange Order held an event in Corcrain Orange Hall, near the Garvaghy Road area of Portadown, which was 'clearly provocative' according to the Garvaghy Road Resident's Association.

The concern that was foremost in politician's minds at the end of March was that with the upcoming marching season, and a general election likely next year, politicans may put the entire process on hold so as to concentrate on canvassing voters - a situation which could conceivably see the suspension of the Assembly drag on for several years. This is appealing to nobody (except perhaps the anti-Agreement DUP and UKUP) so there is an increasing sense of urgency to solve the decommissioning/ Executive crisis once and for all, and ideally before the summer 'marching season'.

>> April 2000 >>