Downing St Declaration 1993

Question 1

who signed the Downing St Declaration

Answer 1

john major and Alfred Reynolds

Question 2

when was the Downing St Declaration signed?

Answer 2

15th December 1993

Question 3

what were the key terms of the Downing St Declaration

Answer 3

NI would remain partitioned from ROI until the majority of its people voted for UI
London agreed to uphold the democratic wish of NI whether to remain in UK or UI
Republic would have a say in any future settlement but accept the principle of consent
Dublin accepted that parts of the 1937 constitution where Ireland has claim to Ni were unacceptable to unionists and agreed to change the document

Question 4

what factors made the signing of the Downing St Declaration more possible?

Answer 4

failure of anloirish agreemen, continued violence and desire for peace in NI
Adam’s acceptance of the principle of consent
Mary Robinson becomes ROI president 1990 - said achieving peace and justice in NI bigger priority that UI
Hume/Adams Initiative - SDLP John Hume and Sinn Fein Gerry Adams secret talks
Secret british talks between british gov

Question 5

British gov reactions to downing st declaration

Answer 5

wouldn’t hold talks with sinn fein until they promised a permanent end to violence and would commit themselves to the democratic process
hoped to win unionist backing by telling them taoiseach fully accepts principle of consent

Question 6

UUP reactions to downing st declaration

Answer 6

wanted confirmation tat NI would be governed in accordance with wishes of 85% of population

Question 7

DUP reactions to downing st declaration

Answer 7

paisley criticised the declaration because he didn’t believe 3 months without IRA violence could make up for loss of lives - shouldn’t be allowed in parliament

Question 8

SDLP reactions to downing st declaration

Answer 8

hume hoped the declaration would end gun and bomb violence in NI

Question 9

paramilitary reactions to downing st declaration

Answer 9

PIRA announced ceasefire 31st August 1994

Loyalist paramilitary announced ceasefire on 13th October 1994

Question 10

when and what was the joint framework document

Answer 10

february 1995 - agreement drawn up by british and irish govs that set the agenda for talks. proposed new NI assembly and North/South council of ministers

Question 11

Unionist reaction to Joint Framework Document

Answer 11

too many similarities to sunningdale agreement, hated possibility of the development of NI/ROI links into some form of institutions with executive powers

Question 12

Nationalist reaction to Joint Framework Document

Answer 12

Sinn Fein argued the document provided mechanisms by which unionists could veto the process

Question 13

what was parallel decommissioning?

Answer 13

handover of weapons in parallel with talks taking place, but not before

Question 14

what was the mitchell commission?

Answer 14

put forward proposals on principles of nonviolence, to which all parties would have to sign up to in order to demonstrate their commitment to peace

Question 15

what was the PIRA reaction to parallel decommissioning and the mitchell principles?

Answer 15

saw it as surrender. in February 1996, they exploded a bomb in canary wharf

Question 16

when were the pace forum elections?

Answer 16

june 1996

Question 17

what were the peace forum elections?

Answer 17

held to show political parties had popular support for entering talks to end the troubles
SDLP and Sinn Fein were critical of the elections - thought they were stalling the peace process and din’t see the need for participants to prove their mandate further