Video interviews with David Trimble, designate First Minister of Northern Ireland, and Mitchel McLaughlin, chairperson of Sinn Fein, for ITN on 19 April 1999. The Hillsborough Declaration from the British and Irish governments on 1 April created a framework for progress towards power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and invested the IICD with responsibility for scheduling IRA decommissioning. However, disagreement continued among Northern Ireland political parties over the timing of IRA decommissioning. Ahead of and following further talks at Downing Street between the British and Irish governments, the SDLP, Sinn Fein and UUP on 19 April, Trimble and Mitchel discuss the stability of the peace process.
Date of Release/Broadcast: 19 April 1999
Name of First Interviewee: David Trimble
Name of Second Interviewee: Mitchel McLaughlin
Role at time of Interview: David Trimble (designate First Minister of Northern Ireland), Mitchel McLaughlin (Chairperson of Sinn Fein)
Purpose: News
Media: Audiovisual
Copyright: ©2013 ITN All rights reserved
Link: Watch the video
Programme/Book/Article: ITN
Time Period covered: 1998-1999
Key Individuals: David Trimble, Mitchel McLaughlin
Key Words: UUP, Sinn Fein, British government, Belfast Agreement, Good Friday Agreement, decommissioning, power-sharing, loyalist paramilitary