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Student Workshop I:
Good Friday Agreement : Final Round
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Simulation focus: The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 1997
that formally brought an end to the Northern Ireland conflict.
Though the way for an agreement had been paved by ceasefires in 1994,
talks towards a political settlement had been delayed for the next
three years. The ceasefires were essential confidence-building measures,
because there were political parties with significant levels of popular
support that had close links with terrorist organizations.
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The Srinagar Student Workshop
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The expectation was that the ceasefires would be quickly followed
by talks among all significant political parties in Northern Ireland
on a new political dispensation to replace direct rule from London.
However, arguments over the terms of the ceasefires delayed talks
until September 1997. It was only after the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (IRA) abandoned its ceasefire in February 1996
that its political wing, Sinn Féin, received assurances from the
British and Irish governments that multi-party talks would be held
as soon as the IRA cease-fire was reinstated. The ceasefire was
reinstated in July 1997, and talks followed two months later. To
everyone’s astonishment, the talks yielded an agreement.
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This simulation is set in the week before the achievement of
the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement).
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The participants are representatives of the Sinn Fein; Social
Democratic and Labor Party; Ulster Unionist Party; the US,
British and the Irish Governments; and the Democratic Unionist Party.
The questions before them are:
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What kind of compromises would they be willing to make that would satisfy all the parties involved?
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Will a local power-sharing government be part of a possible solution?
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What kind of institutional links between the governments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland might help mitigate the Northern Ireland imbroglio?
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What kind of confidence-building measures could reduce the conflict between the opposing parties?
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This simulation and its backgrounders were jointly prepared for
the Delhi Policy Group by Professor John Doyle, Dublin City
University and Professor Radha Kumar (Director of the Program),
with inputs from Professor Adrian Guelke of Queen’s University Belfast.
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