Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993 TAG: 9312040034
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DUBLIN, IRELAND LENGTH: Medium
The meeting had been clouded by the leak of an Irish position paper and the disclosure of secret British contacts with the Irish Republican Army.
"We are not denying that there was a strong exchange of views," Prime Minister Albert Reynolds of Ireland said after more than six hours of talks.
By government policy and personal belief, Reynolds and British Prime Minister John Major are committed to clashing ideals: Reynolds, to the eventual union of his country with Northern Ireland; Major, to upholding the United Kingdom unless the people of Northern Ireland clearly decide they want out.
The same differences - between pro-British Protestants and Irish-nationalist Catholics - are at the root of a quarter-century of conflict in Northern Ireland and more than 3,100 deaths.
Reynolds and Major said they would continue working to develop a joint position, which they hope can be embraced by both sides in Northern Ireland. They will meet again Friday in Brussels.
"We want to get an agreement, if we can, as speedily as we can," Major said. "If we can't, then we'll continue and go on and on and on."
There was no indication that either side had conceded ground on key issues. A British official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that much of Friday's discussion was "about restating things that are important to both sides."
Irish officials said Reynolds pressed for a pledge that Major recognize the long-range goal of unifying Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Major and his team tried to get the Irish republic to commit itself to changing the claim to Northern Ireland in the Irish constitution.
Hopes of agreeing on a detailed joint communique in advance were abandoned this week following Britain's admission that it had concealed long-time contacts with the IRA and its allied political party, Sinn Fein.
Irish politicians were angered that they hadn't been told of this secret diplomacy, and suggested it had put other British assurances to them in doubt.
British officials were upset by the draft of an Irish proposal, leaked in a Dublin newspaper, that talked of seeking a British commitment to encourage northern Protestants to accept unification.
by CNB