petrol attacks, bombings, assaults and murders have occurred since the

Good Friday Agreement was approved by voters in May 1998. These attacks

by Protestant Loyalists against innocent Catholics and Nationalists

increase daily due to the political vacuum that's created by the stalling of

the British and Irish Government. They have yet to implement the

Agreement.

The only way to end the violence in Northern Ireland is to implement the

The British and Irish Governments have allowed Ulster Unionist Party

leader David Trimble to stall the implementation of the Good Friday

Agreement with the "red herring" issue of decommissioning which is covered clearly within the GFA itself. Meanwhile,

Protestant Loyalists murder innocent Catholics. The Good Friday Agreement

specifically addressed decommissioning; it is not a precondition for the new

government structures to begin. The IRA has been on ceasefire since July

1997; they have stated numerous times they are remaining on ceasefire and

that they support the Good Friday Agreement. The only way to bring about decommissioning of all the groups with guns is to remove the reasons for the conflict by implementing the agreement now! Guns are a symptom of the overall problem, take away the problem and the guns go with it. The people of Ireland deserve

to live in a democratic and civil society with equal rights for all. The

Good Friday Agreement provides the foundation for democratic government and

Sinn Fein is the third largest political party in Northern Ireland with

18 % of the vote. As a result of the referendum in May 1998, Sinn Fein is

entitled to two seats on the Executive of the new Assembly structured by the

Good Friday Agreement. The GFA and Joint Frameworks document provides

equality to all sections of the community and all political partys, by not

requiring any pre-conditions for those elected to office. There can be no

lasting peace unless and until the people see the political results and move

away from the many past attempts of requiring one side or another to do

more than simply being elected to government. No single community

should be allowed to keep another elected representative out of their

rightful place in government, this is covered in the GFA which makes

it clear the only way to remove a person or party (which can be up to

one year only) is to have a majority of the Assembly members of that

community agree that this person or party should be removed. Yet,

what we have for the last year is David Trimble and his UUP blocking

the government and attempting to remove fellow assembly men without

just and equitable foundation for democratic government in the 1995 Joint

Frameworks Document in order to end the historical and sectarian

hostilities. The documents are unique and recognized the problems of the

past and set forth to not only allow, but to spell out clearly, that in the event

of one side blocking all others, then it falls to the two governments to bring

forth the change recognized and voted for by the entire population of Ireland

with no regard to the actions of Mr. Trimble and his party. Only by moving

this forward will a situation be created which will force the party to ultimately

work together or face the prospect of no representation in Government

for that party or it's voters. Yet the Irish and British governments have

not fulfilled this guarantee they signed and promised both communities to date. They have

allowed David Trimble alone to stall an agreement negotiated and signed not only

hard choices. It is the only way forward for peace in all of Ireland. The

only way to end the violence is to end the causes of the violence. We call

on the British and Irish Governments to fulfill their guarantee for a

democratic and just society in Northern Ireland by implementing the Good

Friday Agreement as they signed up to do should any stalling or backing

out block the agreement and the future peace that the voters cried out