Present Realities
The document lists 18 "Present Realities" which it says require to be addressed, the most urgent being the removal of the causes of conflict. "The peace process provides an unprecedentedly favourable climate in which to face this challenge", it says. "The opportunity now available needs to be grasped to the full."
The origins of the divisions encompass "the totality of relationships" within Northern Ireland, within Ireland as a whole and between the peoples of Britain and Ireland. The British and Irish Governments have accepted that they have a responsibility to lead the process of overcoming division and finding an accommodation acceptable to all.
"In the Joint Declaration, the British Government, having declared that it has no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland, has accepted that its role will be to encourage, facilitate and enable the achievement of agreement among the people of Ireland through a process of dialogue and co operation and that it will legislate for any such agreement, while the Irish Government has committed itself to the principle that the democratic right of self determination by the people of Ireland as a whole must be achieved and exercised with and subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.
"The Forum also notes that the Irish Government has said that no individual party can have a veto over negotiations and discussions over their outcome, and the British Government has said no group or organisation has a veto over the policy of a democratically elected government."
The paper states that the earliest possible start of all party talks is "crucial to the achievement of a comprehensive agreement."
The ceasefires "have profoundly altered the situation in Northern Ireland." They have brought about a deep determination that the advances made must be consolidated and built upon.
"Conflict and division now in Northern Ireland primarily result "from profound disagreement on its status and on what shape a durable political settlement should take. The absence of consensus on these issues gives rise to many other divisions, including Ion policing, the administration of justice and also on social, cultural and economic issues.
The "profound disagreement" Ion Northern Ireland's constitutional status arises from the fact that both major traditions there define their identities in terms' that transcend Northern Ireland - looking broadly to Britain and Ireland. "The issue of self determination and consent are fundamental."
While it is a view shared by the majority of the people of this island, though not by all, that the Irish people as a whole have a right to national self determination, the exercise of self determination is a matter for agreement between the people of Ireland and "must be based on consent.
"The approach reflected in the agreed position of the two Governments on this crucial matter is of particular importance. The British Government recognise that it is for the people of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively and without external impediment, to exercise their right to self determination on the basis of consent freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a United Ireland if that is their wish the Irish Government accept that the democratic right of self determination by the people of Ireland as a whole must be achieved and exercised with and subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people in Northern Ireland. This integrated approach by the two governments to the issues of self determination and consent has been accepted by the majority - though not all - of the political parties, North and South, representing a large majority of the people of Northern Ireland."
A majority in the North wishes for no change in its constitutional status, a substantial minority wants a sovereign united Ireland. Neither option has the consent of the other community, therefore there is a need for new arrangements.
The paper proposes 16 Principles and Requirements as necessary elements of a political accommodation. Two of these are the clauses in the paper to which Sinn Fein objects (see separate story on this page).
Those agreed include the right to peace based on justice. The pursuit of all political goals must be undertaken by exclusively democratic and peaceful means. "Appropriate action" will be important on the issues relating to prisoners. The talks process must bring about an honourable and, democratic accommodation between the two major traditions.
"The constitutional changes, proposed should be such as not to diminish in any way the existing citizenship rights [of the people in Northern Ireland] and their birthright to be accepted as being British or Irish - or both - as appropriate and desired." Arrangements must afford parity of, esteem to both traditions and enhance and facilitate a ethos throughout Ireland. "Institutions and structures forming a part of new political arrangements must be accepted by both major traditions as essential elements of an overall settlement which is honourable and balanced, and must therefore enjoy widespread public support from within both traditions. In this context, and in the context of the totality of relations, it is widely accepted that there can be no exclusively internal Northern Ireland settlement."
Human rights should be protected in any new arrangements, and, in particular, the rights of any community that finds itself in a minority position in the North or the South must be protected.
Conclusion
The opportunity to create a lasting peace and an honourable and enduring settlement is "unprecedentedly favourable". Much difficult work will be involved, and democratic solutions must not be undermined by violence. "This requires a total commitment to dialogue, to seeking to understand the fears, concerns and aspirations of the others engaged in the process, and to a spirit of compromise and reconciliation.