U.K. Suspends N. Ireland Home-Rule Govt.

B E L F A S T, Northern Ireland, August 10, 2001 -- Britain stripped power from Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant government today, a maneuverthat will give political parties six more weeks to break theirimpasse over Irish Republican Army disarmament.

Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid announced Britain hadwithdrawn authority from the administration and legislatureeffective at midnight local time, but might hand power back afterconsulting the Irish government Saturday.

The suspension capped a tense week in which disarmament chiefsand the IRA agreed on a secret method for disposing of weapons, butnot a date to start.

Protestant leaders insisted that the IRA must start getting ridof its arms, otherwise they would scuttle a power-sharingarrangement that includes the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party.

It was the second time Britain took powers away from the20-month-old administration, both times in an attempt to resolvethe question of when the IRA would disarm in support of the GoodFriday peace accord of 1998.

Deadlines to Serve the People

Reid's action, exploiting a legal technicality, meant thefour-party administration could survive for at least another sixweeks without a Protestant leader. The deadline to elect a new"first minister" had been Saturday following the resignation sixweeks ago of David Trimble, who leads the major Protestant party,the Ulster Unionists.

"As so often in Northern Ireland, we have reached what appearsto be an immovable date. ... But I believe that dates and deadlinesare here to serve the people, not the other way round," Reid saidat his Hillsborough Castle residence near Belfast.

Reid said the law prohibited him from saying immediately howlong the suspension would last.

The Disarmament Issue

But British officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, saidthe joint strategy of the British and Irish governments was to handpower back to local hands after Saturday's meeting between Reid andIrish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen.

Britain and Ireland both hope that the coming six weeks willallow local parties to forge a new agreement involving cutbacks toBritish military forces, reforms to the mostly Protestant policeforce, and the disposal of hidden stockpiles of IRA weaponry. Allhave been goals of the 1998 pact and subsequent agreements.

The immediate effect may be to break the cycle of increasinglyangry exchanges among the party leaders, and give time for tempersto cool. Trimble departed with his wife and children for a two-weekvacation in Austria today.

Britain took charge for three months last year when the IRA'srefusal to disarm last fueled rebellion within Ulster Unionistranks. At that time, power-sharing was resuscitated after the IRApledged it would start disarming.

Looking for an Agreement

Martin McGuinness, the former IRA commander who is educationminister in the Northern Ireland administration, said Britainrisked alienating Catholics by pulling the plug on "the people'sinstitutions — even for a day."

McGuinness, comparing the North's Catholics with 1960s-era U.S.civil rights protesters, said angrily: "We are not going to theback of the bus for David Trimble, John Reid or anybody else. Thosedays are gone."

Britain two weeks ago published its plans for cutting forces,closing bases and reducing helicopter use along the border with theRepublic of Ireland. But it held back many details on its plans forreshaping the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the 88 percent Protestantforce that the IRA long sought to destroy.

For its part, the IRA this week announced it had agreed with adisarmament commission on a confidential means for getting rid ofits weapons. But the refusal to specify a starting date meantTrimble stood little chance of winning re-election as firstminister in the legislature, where Protestants are split nearly50-50 for or against him.

The short-term suspension received immediate support from themajor Catholic-supported party in the Northern Ireland coalition,the moderate Social Democratic and Labor Party. Its spokesman AlbanMaginness called it "the lesser of two evils."