Word: fein
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Under the Good Friday agreement, power over Northern Ireland was given to a local cabinet including both unionists and nationalists. The establishment of this government was a major accomplishment, as few expected ever to see Gerry Adams, the leader of IRA-allied Sinn Fein, sitting at the same table with David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionists...
...Sinn Fein translates from Gaelic as "Ourselves, Alone," and the IRA-aligned party finds itself living up to its name as Northern Ireland's peace process verges on collapse. Britain on Thursday gave the IRA a week in which to disarm or face the suspension of the power-sharing government and the return of direct rule from London. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has warned that the IRA's refusal thus far to begin turning in weapons makes his party's presence in a coalition government with Sinn Fein untenable, and vowed to quit unless London suspended the institution...
...rules of the new governing body would make it a lot more difficult to put things back together if Trimble walked out, which is why London believes suspending the institutions is the best way of saving the deal," says TIME London bureau chief Jef McAllister. "But Sinn Fein, the government of the Republic of Ireland and the moderate party SDLP preferred by the majority of Northern Ireland's Catholic voters have warned that suspension could create a dangerous vacuum and deal a mortal blow to the peace process...
...reluctance to begin handing in weapons has been sharply criticized by the U.S. and Irish governments, as well as by the SDLP. "The IRA may have shot itself in the foot in terms of international support," says McAllister. "But there's clearly a split between the Sinn Fein leadership and the IRA hard men who've always been dubious about surrendering their weapons, even though those weapons are silent. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness may have thought they could deliver at least a token IRA commitment by the end of January, but they clearly can't - and Trimble's ultimatum...
...Despite pressure for a disarmament gesture from quarters as diverse as the White House and the majority Catholic party, the Social Democratic and Labor Party, Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams simply protested that his party has no control over IRA decisions, even though it's universally accepted that they're two wings of the same Republican movement - which is not to deny, of course, that the peace process has created serious divisions between moderates and hard-liners. The same division on the Unionist side may force Trimble's hand: "Trimble faced a mutiny in his own ranks over...