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Writing Peace: George J. Mitchell Collection

Record of a strand 2 meeting on 7 October 1997 at 14.30

Monday, 13 October 1997

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After some comments on various procedural difficulties, the Chairman invited parties to give their opening statements on strand 2 issues. The British Government situated the current process within a process of reconciling differences begun by the Anglo-Irish Agreement and continued by the Downing Street Declaration and Framework Documents. The SDLP took a fairly similar line. The Irish Government urged participants to recognise the economic advantages of all-Ireland cooperation across a variety of issues and a potential single market. Alliance spoke on the necessity of recognising that a United Ireland was not possible but that greater North/South cooperation was necessary. They also considered that the problem was with people's hearts and could not be solved rationally. The NIWC emphasized the importance of moving away from chauvinist grandstanding. The PUP and the UDP highlighted their issues with articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution. Sinn Féin made a case for the necessity of a united Ireland. The UUP criticized the position of Sinn Féin and questioned the probity of the Irish Government. Multiple parties took issue with the language they used to refer to Sinn Féin, and the Chairman made an appeal for all sides to use appropriate terms in referring to each other.

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