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From: owner-irl-news@rutvm1.rutgers.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list IRL-NEWS
Subject: News Uploaded 02/22 1136 CST
Date: 22 February 1995 12:44
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Sender: News and Articles From and About Ireland
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Poster: "Robert J. Dooling" (WildeRove@AOL.COM)
Subject: News Uploaded 02/22 1136 CST
News ....... Jay Dooling
PA 2/22/95 6:05 AM IMPORTANT EU ROLE FOR CROSS-BORDER BODY
PA 2/22/95 6:04 AM IT'S ULSTER'S EVICTION NOTICE, SAYS DUP CHIEF
PA 2/22/95 6:02 AM WIDE POWERS PLANNED FOR NEW ULSTER ASSEMBLY
PA 2/22/95 5:59 AM CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES ALLOW PEOPLE TO DECIDE ULSTER'S
PA 2/22/95 5:14 AM DOCUMENT PROPOSES CHARTER OF RIGHTS
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WIDE POWERS PLANNED FOR NEW ULSTER ASSEMBLY
PA 2/22/95 6:02 AM
By James Hardy, Political Editor, PA News
The Prime Minister today unveiled British plans for a new Northern
Ireland Assembly with wide powers and
responsibilities.
John Major put forward proposals for a Stormont-style chamber said to be
based largely on suggestions
from the constitutional parties.
The new body would be protected by a system of checks and balances to
ensure equal treatment of both
communities.
But it would have no tax-raising powers and no initial control over law
and order or the Royal Ulster
Constabulary.
The Government is proposing:
:: A single chamber 90-member assembly.
:: Fixed-term elections using proportional representation voting.
:: Wide legislative and executive powers.
:: A system of committees to oversee the work of Ulster departments.
:: A possible separate panel of three elected representatives to monitor
the assembly and ensure fair play.
The idea would be largely to recreate an assembly along the lines of
Stormont, which was disbanded in
1973.
But the system of checks and balances would be designed to prevent the
alleged abuses of the assembly
which caused division and bitterness in the early years of the Troubles.
The new assembly would also be responsible for conducting dialogue with
the South and sending
members to the proposed cross-border authority.
Its powers, which could in the distant future include some control over
law and order, would probably be
phased in rather than introduced all at once.
Launching his plan for a Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Major asked the
people of Ulster to "put aside old
fears" and to be open to the opportunity that lay before them.
For 25 years terrorism and sectarian violence had tested the people's
resilience and courage to the
utmost, and he hoped they would never have to face that challenge again.
He said today he was offering a different kind of challenge, "a
challenge of living in peace, of healing
divisions, and of sharing responsibilities".
For a community which had endured such strain it would be difficult. It
would pose acute questions and
demand hard decisions.
"But it is a challenge of hope and it offers the prize of greater peace
and stability than Northern Ireland
has ever known."
Mr Major said the proposals sought to restore democratic accountability
and responsiveness to local
needs in a way which met the unique traditions and circumstances of
Northern Ireland.
The Assembly would have a vital part to play, not only within Northern
Ireland but in managing and giving
authority to new North-South institutions.
He said he was setting no timetable for consultation about either the
proposals for an Assembly or the
Framework Document.
"Both sets of our proposals are now in the public domain and we shall now
allow a period for debate and
discussion. I hope the people of Northern Ireland will take the time to
look closely at our ideas, and will then
let us and their elected representatives have their views.
"I am not setting a timetable for public consultation. When there has
been time for opinions to crystalise,
to mature, we shall invite the political parties to consultations. We shall
decide with them the best way of
moving forward."
Mr Major made it clear the Assembly would only be set up as part of a
total package involving agreement
on new relationships between North and South, between London and Dublin and
between the parties
internally.
He said the process may be slow, "but I know of no other way of getting
this cart to the top of the hill".
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