Irish Peace Process Deadlocked

Two years ago Friday, the mood in Northern Ireland was euphoric with the reaching of a peace agreement paving the way for a power-sharing government for the British-ruled province.

But the second anniversary of the Good Friday accord finds the peace process on hold, still deadlocked by a dispute over the Irish Republican Army's refusal to disarm.

The accord laid the framework for an administration bringing together Protestant, pro-British unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, and Catholic, pro-Irish nationalists.

But the British government suspended the administration in February after only 11 weeks to avoid a walkout by Northern Ireland's first minister, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble.

The Ulster Unionists objected to serving with members of the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party after an independent commission said it was unlikely the IRA would get rid of its weaponry by the May 22 deadline specified in the accord.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said Friday that he considered the peace process "in serious difficulty."

"The hope and expectations of recent years, battered by a succession of unionist-inspired crises, is now at an all-time low," Adams said, calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to restore power to Northern Ireland's administration.

Stormont Parliament Buildings, where all-night talks produced the breakthrough accord in 1998, were virtually empty on the accord's anniversary, with most of the civil servants based there out for the four-day Easter break.

David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party, a staunch supporter of the accord and a representative in Northern Ireland's new 108-member assembly, said he comes to his Stormont office three or four times a week.

"There is plenty to do as regards lobbying for constituents but, of course, it is deeply frustrating that lobbying is all we can do at present rather than having Northern Irish people making decisions for Northern Irish people," he said.

Ervine said he remained optimistic, however, that progress will be made.

"We mustn't allow ourselves to be infected by the pall of gloom hanging over Stormont at present," he said. "I believe one day, sooner rather than later, this will be a working, thriving parliament."

In its annual Easter statement, released Wednesday, the IRA offered no hint that it would disarm and instead blamed Britain for derailing the peace process.

Trimble condemned the statement as unhelpful, adding that he found it "deeply depressing."