Word: feins
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Tony Blair becomes the first British prime minister to meet with Sinn Fein in more than seventy years (TIME Daily...
...surprise when, one day after the explosion, the talks began anyway, bringing together for the first time the leaders of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, which has waged war to drive the British off the island of Ireland, and the main leaders of their bitter Protestant Unionist opponents. That the talks began at all was a triumph of patience, persistence and cleverness by the governments of Ireland, Britain and the U.S., which are shepherding the broader peace process...
...years Trimble, like many other Unionists, refused to sit down in the same room with Sinn Fein representatives. Once Trimble stormed out of a TV interview in the midst of a live broadcast because he was about to be electronically linked with a Sinn Fein member in another studio. But in August the British government declared that a new I.R.A. cease-fire was genuine and that Sinn Fein was thus qualified to join the political talks jointly sponsored by London and Dublin under the chairmanship of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell. Suddenly, Sept. 15, the date set for the start...
Trimble also received a powerful shove through the negotiating gates from Blair. First, Blair warned Sinn Fein that if it wanted to have a say in the future of Northern Ireland, it would have to secure a cease-fire from the I.R.A. and agree to respect democratic principles. When it did just that, Blair turned his attention to Trimble's Unionists. "Some Unionists failed to understand that if we do not join the talks, London and Dublin could impose a political solution on us," says John Taylor, the deputy leader of Trimble's party. With that possibility staring...
...Unionists, who had already refused to sit down with Sinn Fein while the IRA still held weapons, now look even less likely to return to the bargaining table. Which is hardly suprising, considering the historical emnity involved. As Hillenbrand says, "No one expected that after 30 years there'd be peace by Christmas...