
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 6, 1994                   TAG: 9409080012
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CEASE-FIRE

THE IRISH Republican Army's declaration of a cease-fire last week was excellent news that raises high hopes. It doesn't necessarily imply, however, that Northern Ireland's "troubles" have come to an end.

First, the IRA's terrorist record is not the kind that inspires confidence in any pledge of peace from that organization.

Second, no similar declaration has come from the Protestant militants who can be as lethal as the IRA - and, with more to lose from their viewpoint, even more intransigent. A surge in Unionist terrorism, as part of an effort to derail talks and get the IRA to end its cease-fire, seems likely.

Not that the violent tactics of either side reflect the views of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland. Most Catholics vote not for Sinn Fein, the IRA's political arm, but for the peaceful Social Democratic and Labor Party. Most Protestants vote not for Ian Paisley's hard-line Democratic Unionists, but for the peaceful Ulster Unionist Party.

The extremists for decades have commanded enough support, though, to render virtually impossible a resolution to what would be a vexatious puzzle in any event. Even the peaceful parties support goals that are, on the surface, mutually exclusive. Catholics, outnumbered by Protestants in Northern Ireland, want to become part of the Catholic-majority Republic of Ireland. Protestants want to remain part of Great Britain.

If the fight were about only religion, an Americanish church-state separation would be an obvious solution. But religion is in some ways secondary, a marker identifying two tribes whose centuries-old antagonisms run deep into matters of class, culture, economics and nationalism.

As traditionally understood, sovereignty is indivisible; under this concept, Northern Ireland cannot at the same time be part of both the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic. But London and Dublin, sick of the strife from Belfast, are willing to experiment with split-sovereignty schemes that could free Northern Ireland from its obsessions and perhaps eventually lead to Irish unification.

The IRA cease-fire allows Sinn Fein to join that conversation. But until the Protestant die-hards either follow suit or are marginalized into insignificance, the troubles won't be settled. Innovation and compromise don't come from the barrels of guns. Peace, as always, will require courage and patience.

by CNB