Talks at Stormont Begin
From the collection of
From the collection of
A difficult start to peace talks.
Chris Hagan reports for UTV Live on the second day of talks at Stormont, where there is huge disagreement on how to proceed, with no consensus on the role and powers of Senator George Mitchell as chair of the talks. David Trimble, Ian Paisley and Seamus Mallon are all interviewed and the lack of common ground on how to even frame the talks does not inspire confidence of any positive outcome from them.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein are still excluded altogether from the talks due to the IRA's renewed campaign of violence. On this day they staged an unusual protest outside the gates, using caricature masks of local politicians to act out scenes depicting the barring of their party from the process.
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.