Editing Northern Ireland peace process (section)

===Towards negotiations===
On 6 April 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a three-day "temporary cessation of hostilities" to run from Wednesday 6 April – Friday 8 April 1994.

Five months later, on Wednesday 31 August 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a "cessation of military operations" from midnight. [[Albert Reynolds]], the Irish [[Taoiseach]], said that he accepted the IRA statement as implying a permanent ceasefire. Many unionists were skeptical. UUP leader [[James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead|James Molyneaux]], in a rare slip, declared "This (the ceasefire) is the worst thing that has ever happened to us."<ref>Anne-Marie Logue, "The acid test for unionist democrats is on the councils" ''Irish News Online'' 3 October 2005.</ref>

In the following period, there were disputes about the permanence of the ceasefire, whether parties linked to paramilitaries should be included in talks, and the rate of "normalisation" in Northern Ireland. [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalist]] bombings and shootings, and punishment beatings from both sides, continued.

This is an abbreviated list of events of significance in the lead-up to all-party negotiations:
*13 October 1994: The [[Combined Loyalist Military Command]], representing the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], [[Ulster Defence Association]] and [[Red Hand Commando]]s announce a loyalist paramilitary ceasefire.
*Friday 15 December 1994: Albert Reynolds resigned as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland following the collapse of his [[Fianna Fáil]]/[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour]] coalition. He was succeeded by [[John Bruton]], heading a "[[24th government of Ireland|Rainbow Coalition]]" of [[Fine Gael]], [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour]] and [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]].
*Wednesday 22 February 1995: Framework Documents published: {{anchor|Joint Framework Document}}
**''A New Framework For Agreement'', which dealt with north–south institutions, and
**''A Framework for Accountable Government in Northern Ireland'', which proposed a single-chamber 90-member Assembly, to be elected by [[proportional representation]] and which was put directly to the electorate in 1997 by Conservative Party candidates standing in Northern Ireland at the general election.<br />The proposals were not welcomed by unionists and the DUP described it as a "one-way street to [[Dublin]]" and a "joint government programme for [[United Ireland|Irish unity]]".
*Sunday 13 August 1995: [[Gerry Adams]], Sinn Féin President, addressed a demonstration at [[Belfast]] City Hall. A member of the crowd called out to Adams to, "bring back the IRA". In reply Adams said: "They haven't gone away, you know".
*Friday 8 September 1995: [[David Trimble]] was elected leader of the UUP, replacing [[James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead|James Molyneaux]].
*Friday 24 November 1995: a referendum in the Republic of Ireland to change the [[Constitution of Ireland|constitution]] to allow divorce was narrowly approved, with 50.2% in favour. Divorce had long been available north of the border. The ban in the Republic was sometimes cited by (mainly Protestant) unionists as evidence of excessive influence by the Catholic Church in the Republic which would (in the event of a United Ireland) represent a threat to the religious liberty of non-Catholics.
*Tuesday 28 November 1995: a joint communiqué by the British and Irish Governments outlined a "'twin-track' process to make progress in parallel on the decommissioning issue and on all-party negotiations". Preparatory talks were to lead to all-party negotiations beginning by the end of February 1996. [[United States Senate|US Senator]] [[George J. Mitchell|George Mitchell]] was to lead an international body to provide an independent assessment of the decommissioning issue.
*Thursday 30 November 1995: [[Bill Clinton]], then President of the United States, visited Northern Ireland, and spoke in favour of the "peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast's City Hall. He called terrorists "yesterday's men".
*Wednesday 20 December 1995: blaming the Provisional IRA for recent killings of drug dealers, the Irish government decided not to give permanent release to a further ten [[Irish republicanism|republican]] prisoners.
*Wednesday 24 January 1996: Dated 22 January, the report of the International Body on arms decommissioning (also known as the Mitchell Report) set out the six "[[Mitchell Principles]]" under which parties could enter into all-party talks, and suggested a number of confidence-building measures, including an "elective process". The main conclusion was that decommissioning of paramilitary arms should take place during (rather than before or after) all-party talks, in a "twin-track" process. The report was welcomed by the Irish government and the main opposition parties in Britain and the Republic, as well as the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] and the [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]]. It was accepted as a way forward by Sinn Féin and the [[Ulster Democratic Party]] (UDP), who both had paramilitary links. The moderate [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]] party, the UUP, expressed reservations, and the more hardline DUP rejected it outright.
*Monday 29 January 1996: "Twin-track" talks began with the SDLP, the [[Progressive Unionist Party]], and the UDP. The UUP declined the invitation.
*Friday 9 February 1996: one hour after a statement ending their ceasefire, the Provisional IRA [[1996 Docklands bombing|detonated]] a large lorry bomb near [[South Quay DLR station]] in the [[London Docklands]], killing two people, injuring 40, and causing [[Pound sterling|£]]150 million worth of damage. The IRA ceasefire had lasted 17 months and 9 days. The IRA statement said that the ceasefire was ended because "the British government acted in bad faith with Mr Major and the unionist leaders squandering this unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict" by refusing to allow [[Sinn Féin]] into the talks until the IRA decommissioned its arms. Albert Reynolds, while not supporting the bombing, concurred with the IRA analysis. As Major's Government had lost its majority in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] and was depending on unionist votes to stay in power, it was widely accused of pro-unionist bias as a result. On the other hand, on the day of the bombing, Major had been preparing to meet with Sinn Féin representatives at Downing Street for the first time.