INVITATION IN THE MAIL

BRITAIN AND IRELAND OFFER A CHANCE FOR CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS TO TALK ABOUT THEIR POLITICAL FUTURE

The two silver-haired Prime Ministers put their proposals on the table in Belfast last week as little more than a reasonable next step. No announcement of a done deal. No imposition of an agreement. No threats. Just an invitation to all the political groups involved in the vicious struggle between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland to sit down somewhere and talk. Even the name of the document was self-effacing: Frameworks for the Future: a shared understanding between the British and Irish governments to assist discussion and negotiations involving the Northern Ireland parties. ``Read it, study it, think about it,'' said...

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