GFA Concessions Made to Unionists
Unlike Irish nationalists and republicans in the north, the moment the GFA was signed, Unionist/Loyalist politicians received major, fully implemented concessions. For them, tactical politics now has deteriorated into a matter of reneging and stonewalling on following through on Nationalist human and civil rights promises yet to be implemented. They got what they wanted.
1. Irish Constitutional Changes
Perhaps the most important concession was dramatic changes in the 26-Counties constitution regarding Irish national sovereignty. Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution declared that all of Ireland was Irish territory and should be treated and governed as such. As a concession to unionism, Articles 2 and 3 were removed in light of the new Agreement. It was promised that the removal of the articles was contingent upon the GFA being fulfilled, but the GFA has not been implemented. The Irish Constitution is nonetheless depleted and changed.
2. Continued Connection to Britain
Unionists received a guaranteed connection to the UK for as long as the majority of the people of the north of Ireland wish. But even this is tilted towards unionism. What this really means is that a majority voting in any referendum would have to want the connection removed, which is something else again. A nationalist majority once achieved, would therefore still take 18 years at least to come to voting age, not to mention the usual unfair electoral interference, gerrymandering, etc.
Most critically, in terms of justice and the absolute right of people to govern themselves, the 6 Counties of the partitioned northeast of Ireland were artificially and illegally set up to begin with by the British government to have a built in unionist majority.
One of the most outrageous and destabilizing of the DUP demands to rewrite the GFA at the Leeds Talks (Sept 2004) was to require, not a majority of the people in the 6 Counties to decide sovereignty -- which is undemocratic to begin with in the context of the sovereignty of island of Ireland -- but to require a majority of the Unionist community AND the Nationalist community voting separately to decide sovereignty. That’s like saying that if the democrats were in power, they wouldn’t turn over the US presidency until a majority of democrats wanted to! That s just a slice of extreme Unionist democratic thinking.
3. A Devolved Assembly That They Would Dominate
Unionists wanted and got a devolved Assembly and Executive that Unionists/Loyalists, as the majority, control. But because they must share power with the Nationalist/Republican minority, something they seek to avoid, they engage in constant destabilizing tactics.
4. An Unbroken IRA Cessation of Military Operations
The IRA was not a participant in negotiations nor did they sign the GFA; nonetheless, in order to make the conditions for democratic progress possible, the IRA first declared a cessation of military operations in 1994, which has existed unbroken since 1997.
It also engaged in three major acts of putting arms beyond use, verified by a commission established by the GFA -- the International Independent International Commission on Decommissioning [IICD] under Canadian General deChastelain which was set up to supervise, facilitate if necessary, and certify the actual decommission of arms when it happened.
Only the IRA has done so to date -- this despite continued loyalist and state violence against nationalists. And, there still exist heavily armed unionist paramilitaries; more than 100,000 ‘legally’ held guns in unionist hands; 12,500 heavily armed police; 15,000 British soldiers and army installations throughout the north.
But what about satisfying Nationalist/Republican concerns agreed to in 1998, which Unionism often refer to as concessions?