Martti Ahtisaari speaks with Tonino Picula on the margins of the conference in Dublin.COPENHAGEN, 1 May 2012 – In Dublin on 27 April, OSCE PA Vice-President Tonino Picula represented the Assembly at the OSCE Chairmanship's Conference "Shared Future: Building and Sustaining Peace," which focused on Northern Ireland as a case study of an effectively resolved protracted conflict.
The conference was moderated by former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari with an opening address by the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore. It included a video message from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as presentations by many of the key officials involved in the peace process, including former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Northern Ireland.
Many of the keynote speakers stressed that although the peace agreement, the Good Friday Agreement, was signed and overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland – both north and south of the border – its implementation was and still is the key challenge.
Deputy First Minister McGuinness compared the peace process with a bicycle which either keeps moving forward or falls. Presentations observed that Northern Ireland still faces the challenge of segregated population groups, especially in housing and education, which remains a stumbling block to the creation of a shared future for all.
Many speakers stressed the initial difficulties in convincing population groups to accept the compromise, but highlighted the current general acceptance that violence is unacceptable and solves nothing.
In his opening remarks, Gilmore explained that during the negotiations, ground rules were established reflecting shared understandings. One was that "nothing will be finally agreed on any of the tracks until everything was agreed in the negotiations as a whole," he said.
Another was that "talks would proceed on the basis of 'sufficient consensus' so that where unanimity was not possible; any decision would have to be able to command a clear majority in both communities in Northern Ireland."
In addition to a discussion of the process leading to the peace agreement, special sessions were dedicated to the issues of justice and policing, respecting different traditions as well as creating the conditions for peace – the international dimension.
In the latter session, Vice-President Picula spoke about the Croatian experience, which had been influenced heavily first by prospects of EU Membership and later by the accession talks and reforms.
Secretary General Spencer Oliver, Deputy Secretary General Tina Schoen and Secretary of the Croatian Delegation to the OSCE PA Milovan Petkovic also participated in the conference. The Irish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly was represented by Eoghan Murphy, Ann Phelan, Arthur Spring and Joanna Tuffy.
