- Event type: CREATE
Northern Ireland Mini-Models
A selection of mini-models designed to provide an insight into the ongoing work of 'Writing Peace' and to demonstrate Quill's approach to visualising the archive material and tracking the process of negotiation. This collection is still under construction.
Evolution of the Human Rights Language in the Good Friday Agreement
This mini-model has been created to trace the history and evolution of the language that eventually became the Human Rights section of the Good Friday Agreement. We hope that visualizing the development of that language will help us understand its context and significance. A wide range of documents are included, beginning with early drafts of the Joint Declaration and culminating in the final Agreement, and a wide range of actors are identified as part of the process of producing them. The mini-model is still incomplete at the moment, and we aim to expand it as we source more drafts of the various documents involved and the papers that put them in context.
To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below.
Session 16452: 1998-04-10 12:00:00
We have created this mini-model for Professor Christopher McCrudden's presentation to the Agreement 25 Conference at Queen's University, Belfast. It tracks how documents produced by various parties over a number of years contributed to a small section of text. By clicking on the document icon at the bottom of the timeline, you can see the text of the documents in their entirety and compare them to their 'ancestors'; when you click on the amendment icons above, you can see how they each propose to alter the text that eventually became the Human Rights section of the Good Friday Agreement. Nb: Since in this mini-model, as opposed to in our main projects, we are presenting only these documents rather than everything tabled during the course of a negotiation, we have decided to model them all in one session, using the date of the Agreement, so that the model is easier to navigate.
Document View:
Propositions on Heads of Agreement – 12 January 1998
(12 January 1998)
PROPOSITIONS ON HEADS OF AGREEMENT
Balanced constitutional change, based on commitment to the principle of consent in all its aspects by both British and Irish Governments, to include both changes to the Irish Constitution and to British constitutional legislation.
Democratically elected institutions in Northern Ireland, to include a Northern Ireland Assembly, elected by a system of proportional representation, exercising devolved executive and legislative responsibility over at least the responsibilities of the six Northern Ireland Departments, and with provisions to ensure that all sections of the community can participate and work together successfully in the operation of these institutions and that all sections of the community are protected.
A new British-Irish Agreement to replace the existing Anglo-Irish Agreement and help establish close co-operation and enhance relationships, embracing:
– An intergovernmental Council to deal with the totality of relationships, to include representatives of the British and Irish Governments, the Northern Ireland Administration and the devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales, with meetings twice a year at Summit level.
– A North/South Ministerial Council to bring together those with executive responsibilities in Northern Ireland and the Irish Government in particular areas. Each side will consult, co-operate and take decisions on matters of mutual interest within the mandate of, and accountable to, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Oireachtas respectively. All decisions will be by agreement between the two sides, North and South.
– Suitable implementation bodies and mechanisms for policies agreed by the North/South Council in meaningful areas and at an all-island level.
– Standing intergovernmental machinery between the Irish and British Governments, covering issues of mutual interest, including non-devolved issues for Northern Ireland, when representatives of the Northern Ireland Administration would be involved.
Provision to safeguard the rights of both communities in Northern Ireland, through arrangements for the comprehensive protection of fundamental human, civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, including a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland supplementing the provisions of the European Convention and to achieve full respect for the principles of equity of treatment and freedom from discrimination, and the cultural identity and ethos of both communities. Appropriate steps to ensure an equivalent level of protection in the Republic.
Effective and practical measures to establish and consolidate an acceptable peaceful society, dealing with issues such as prisoners, security in all its aspects, policing and decommissioning of weapons.
Decisions yet to be taken
Document Timeline
- Propositions on Heads of Agreement – 12 January 1998 (introduced on 1998-04-10 12:00:00 - CREATE - e952128) [This document]
[view current proposal at this moment]
- None (introduced on 1998-04-10 12:00:00 - ADOPT_PROPOSAL - e952129) [view current proposal at this moment]