At their Easter Commemoration ceremonies across the country, the Sinn Féin leadership has described the Good Friday Agreement as being in crisis. The party's leader has described demands for the decommissioning of IRA weapons as "a provocation". Gerry Adams was speaking at the annual Easter ceremony beside the Republican plot in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.
He said that the Ulster Unionist party's strategy of narrowing the Northern Ireland peace process to the decommissioning issue was supported by those opposed to its implementation. The text of his speech is being studied by the government for possible hints of any flexibility on the arms issue.
Mr. Adams, however, assured the UUP leader David Trimble that he would do his best to find a way out of the arms impasse. The Party Chairman said that the peace process was in considerable doubt. Mitchell McLoughlin was speaking at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast.
Church leaders have welcomed the Hillsborough declaration in their Easter Sunday messages. The Catholic Primate, Archbishop Sean Brady, said that it was vitally important that a new relationship between Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists was built on trust and respect.
The Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, and Methodist president, the Rev. David Kerr, said that politicians must persevere for peace. The Presbyterian Moderator said that the concept of reconciliation reminded people the issues were wider than merely political. John Dixon urged the politicians to keep talking.
