Leaders in Britain and Ireland have published detailed plans to revive the Catholic-Protestant administration in Northern Ireland. The peace-building initiative has been delayed constantly due to unresolved arguments occurring regarding IRA (Irish Republican Army) disarmament.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern have made unswerving efforts throughout the past year to forge an unlikely agreement between the province's two biggest and most polarised parties: the British Protestants of the Democratic Unionists, and the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party.
On Wednesday, the two leaders spoke of how a peace deal was extremely close to being a reality, but that the only thing now stopping the deal going through was the IRA's refusal to cooperate with Protestant demands for the full disarmament of the extreme group to be photographed.
The IRA have stated that they will never provide photographic evidence of disarmament as demanded by their Northern Ireland Protestant opponents. The outlawed terror group, which draws support from Northern Ireland's Catholic minority said, "We restate our commitment to the peace process, but we will not submit to a process of humiliation."
Unionists, who are led by Protestant preacher Ian Paisley, on the other hand, have renewed their efforts to ensure that photographs can be taken of the final acts of disarmament by the terrorist group.
The IRA, which called a cease-fire in its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland in 1997, has participated in three separate acts of partial disarmament since 2001, each of which have taken place in absolute secrecy with a retired Canadian general as witness.
Since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, London and Dublin have been attempting to strike a deal to revive these works, which look to end three decades of conflict by sharing power between divided pro-British Protestant and pro-Irish Catholic communities in the province.
The UK leaders have a proposal for the peace deal to result from, which currently includes the condition that the Canadian moderator would confirm that the IRA had allowed final disarmament photographs to be taken and for both Catholic and Protestant clergymen to act as independent witnesses to the final acts to bring the long-anticipated peace.
Tony Blair said, "Having come this far and having done this much, I may be weary as a traveller but I'm not downhearted. I can't see this process going backwards, but I do know it's going to require extra effort to complete the journey."