North Irish Peace Talks Due Monday Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell To Chair New Negotiations

Over the objections of Protestant leaders, Britain and Ireland announced Thursday that former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will chair the full meetings of Northern Ireland peace negotiators in Belfast beginning Monday.

Terry Dicks, a member of Parliament, threatened to withdraw from the Conservative Party to protest the appointment. Dicks is closely identified with Protestant Unionists in Northern Ireland, some of whom see Mitchell, D-Maine, as an ally of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

Prime Minister John Major’s Conservatives have only a one-seat majority in Parliament and he could be in charge of a minority government if Dicks follows through on his threat.

The Rev. Ian Paisley, leader of the hard-line Democratic Unionist Party, called Mitchell’s appointment “absolutely outrageous” and left open the possibility he would boycott the talks.

The peace talks are to involve negotiators from all political parties in Northern Ireland with the probable exception of Sinn Fein, which will be banned unless the IRA renews the cease-fire it broke on Feb. 9.

The talks will be aimed partly at bringing an end to violence, but that goal appears more remote after the IRA said Wednesday it would not renew the cease-fire any time soon and would not hand in any weapons until a political solution is found.

The talks also are intended to thrash out new political structures for Northern Ireland and define its relations with the Irish Republic.