World

Irish Talks Might Go Past Deadline

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

April 9, 1998 / 9:06 AM EDT / CBS

The clock is ticking on the Northern Ireland peace talks, amid some hopeful talk.

President Clinton, who is in close touch with Irish talks chairman George Mitchell, has been told an agreement is near, but the talks will probably go past a midnight deadline, Mr. Clinton's spokesman said Thursday.

"They are very close, but they are not there," spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters traveling with Mr. Clinton on a visit to Kentucky. "They expect the talks to go into overtime," he added.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is the latest to comment, saying he believes an agreement is possible. But he also says Sinn Fein has difficulties with the plan taking shape.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern predict an accord can be struck by the deadline of midnight.

Some negotiators in the peace talks suggest they'll stay at the table, even if the deadline passes without a settlement.

CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton says it's a cliffhanger. It looks as if the chances are only 50-50 that they will reach this agreement, the first real chance of peace in some 30 years of violence and murder. It has taken two prime ministers - the prime minister of Britain and the prime minister of Ireland - plus Mitchell, to try to bring the two sides together.

"We're here to do a job of work, and we've got to get it done, and we've got complete determination to get it done," Blair told reporters.

Ahern, standing at Blair's side, conceded there were stumbling blocks, but said: "If people concentrate and are as determined as we are, then we can complete all of this work today."

Fenton reports that for the Protestant loyalists, much is at stake. They would prefer the status quo. "They want to remain part of Britain," Fenton explains, "and any compromise they reach will be some sort of diminution of their power. The two sides are trying to square a circle."

The Catholics want a united Ireland, and the Protestants want to remain part of Britain. Both sides are split on the powers of a proposed council involving ministers from the Irish parliament and from a new Northern Ireland assembly, who would make decisions on issues such as trade, tourism, and agriculture, affecting the whole island of Ireland.

"The problem for the Protestants," says Fenton, "is that this looks like a back door to united Ireland, and they are digging in. They don't want it."

Until the deadline was set, negotiations had produced little progress between pro-British and pro-Irish parties, whose constituents have endured years of violence in the name of politics and religion.