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Context
and Content: Sunningdale and Belfast Compared - Stefan Wolff
from Aspects of the Belfast Agreement - edited by Rick Wilford
Oxford University Press 2001
The Content of Sunningdale and Belfast Compared
Before analysing the breakdown of the Sunningdale Agreement and the relative,
if faltering, success of the Belfast Agreement, it is necessary to give
a brief overview of the content of each of the agreements. As Table 2.1
reveals, there are very few differences in relation to core issues addressed
by the agreements reached in 1973 and 1998.
Table 2.1 The content of the Sunningdale and Belfast Agreements compared
| |
Sunningdale
Agreement |
Belfast Agreement |
| Signatories |
UK,
RoI, UUP, SDLP, APNI |
UK,
RoI, UUP, UDP, PUP, NIWC, L, APNI, SF, SDLP |
| |
|
|
| Consent
principle |
X |
X |
| Self-determination |
O |
X |
| Reform
of the policing system |
X |
X |
| Prisoners
|
X |
X |
| Bill
of Rights |
X |
X |
| Abandonment
of violence |
X |
X |
| Security
co-operation |
X |
X |
| Cross-border
co-operation |
X |
X |
| Recognition
of both identities |
O |
X |
| Intergovernmental
co-operation |
X |
X |
| Institutional
role for the RoI |
X |
X |
| Power-sharing
|
(X) |
X |
| Inter-island
co-operation |
O |
X |
| Devolution
of powers |
X |
X |
Notes:
X-issue addressed; (X) -issue implicitly addressed; O-issue not addressed
UK-United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, RoI-Republic
of Ireland,
UUP-Ulster Unionist Party, UDP-Ulster Democratic Party; PUP-Progressive
Unionist Party,
NIWC-Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, L-Labour, APNI-Alliance Party
of Northern Ireland, SF-Sinn Fein, SDLP-Social Democratic and Labour Party
Despite their similarities there are also a number of significant differences,
primarily related to contextual factors and procedural regulations. The
latter relate to three main issues: d'Hondt -proportionality in the Executive,
reflecting the relative strengths of the parties in the Assembly; complex
voting procedures in the Assembly ensuring virtual veto rights for each
of the two -communities; and the fact that the implementation of decisions
taken by the North-South Ministerial Council has been made dependent upon
their approval by both the Irish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
This reflects the commitment, in particular by the British and Irish Governments,
to assure the unionist community that no decision can be made without
their consent. The Belfast Agreement is also distinct from the constitutional
arrangements put in place in 1973 in that it does not require a formal
grand coalition, although it "created strong incentives for executive power-sharing". 3 Moreover, the 1998 Agreement was the outcome of a more
inclusive process that involved representatives of paramilitary organisations
alongside the mainstream constitutional parties.
3. O'Leary, B. "The Nature of the British-Irish Agreement", New Left Review
233 (1999): 66-96, at 73.
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