Loyalist Response to IRA Ceasefire

From the collection of

Launched in 2000, Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive spans from 1897 to the present day and currently contains an ever-expanding catalogue of 13,000 items. It comprises material from a variety of depositors including feature films, sport, documentaries, animation, amateur footage, light entertainment, and a significant proportion of broadcast material from the UTV Archive.

Loyalist Response to IRA Ceasefire (UTV News)

Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive
Belfast
1994-09-01
Sound

The PUP's David Ervine gives IRA gesture a cautious welcome.

This studio piece sees UTV's Mike Nesbitt questioning David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party on his response to the IRA statement announcing a cessation of military operations.

The PUP were seen as the political wing of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a loyalist paramilitary group. As well as taking an obviously staunch line on constitutional matters, the PUP differed from the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP by mixing their loyalist brand of unionism with progressive and socialist politics. While the DUP refused to engage with the notion of an IRA ceasefire, the PUP cautiously welcomed it.

Ervine puts across his point that he feels the loyalist people have been disenfranchised but that he is prepared to engage in wherever the process leads, concluding that "there is ample opportunity for this society to move forward in an honourable and equitable peace.""

Starting in 1993, UTV Live took over as Ulster Television's local news series, running a flagship programme each evening, with other bulletins throughout the day. In the 1990s it captured the unfolding story of the push towards a peace settlement in Northern Ireland, through all its twist and turns, which ended with the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Northern Ireland: The Road to Peace

The historic events which led to a political agreement to end almost 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland during the time known as 'The Troubles'.

In 1993, exploratory talks about peace gave hope that decades of civil strife and violence in Northern Ireland could be brought to an end. At Christmas that year, the Downing Street Declaration by John Major and the Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds paved the way for a peace process that would build in momentum over the next five years. The path forwards was often rocky and turbulent, and punctuated by further violence and unrest. However, the major players from all sides of the divide eventually struck an historic deal in what was known as the Good Friday Agreement. This collection of news reports and interviews between 1993 and 1998 records the slow but steady path towards a better future after a generation of conflict.

26 videos in this collection

How We Got Here

Belfast
1998-04-09

Downing Street Declaration

Westminster
1993-12-15

US Visa Given to Gerry Adams

1994-02-02

Sinn Féin Conference (Ard Fheis)

1994-07-25

IRA Cessation of Military Operations

Belfast
1994-08-31