NORTHERN IRELAND: Slamming the Door

The week began on a note of wistful hope. Northern Ireland's 78-member Constitutional Convention was scheduled to resume formal talks at Belfast's Stormont Parliament building after a summer of private discussions. To optimistic observers, it appeared that Ulster's Protestant and Roman Catholic politicians might be on the verge of some pragmatic settlement. Even the continued tide of sectarian terror, which extended to England in a wave of recent bombings (TIME, Sept. 15), did not dim the hope. The very savagery of the killings, so the reasoning went, would pressure the politicians...

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