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Article: Rays of hope: Northern Ireland. (Sinn Fein holds peace talks with U.K. officials)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 13, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ON MAY 10th leaders of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, at last met a British government minister, the first such public meeting in 75 years. They spoke for nearly four hours. Both sides reiterated their demands, and agreed on nothing except to meet again. Unionists labelled the meeting another government climbdown.
By Northern Ireland's standards, this is progress. Securing peace in the province will be laboured and difficult for months, if not years, to come. And it will continue to pose image problems for all of those involved. The government appears snail-like and pedantic, unionist politicians obstructive and Irish republicans belligerent.
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