Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict

by David McKittrick

but most of the points the republicans had wished to see were very much diluted. The republicans had wanted the British to ‘join the ranks of the persuaders’ of the value of a united Ireland, and had wanted Northern Ireland’s future status to be decided by a single act of self-determination by the people of Ireland as a whole. They had also sought a timetable for a British withdrawal, but none of these made it into the declaration’s final form. Yet although the document fell far short of what republicans had sought, Sinn Féin reacted not by rejecting it but by calling for clarification. Major replied by announcing that no clarification was necessary and a stalemate developed, with much of the euphoria which accompanied the declaration draining away as weeks and months passed.