Independent chairmen given wide powers

THE procedural guidelines published yesterday detail the arrangements for chairmanship of all parts of the talks, the ground rules for all meetings and, crucially, the powers of the chairmen.

These include the power to proceed with meetings in the event of withdrawals by negotiating teams and to deem, where there is no unanimity on a particular issue, that "sufficient consensus" exists.

The British government will chair Strand One of the negotiations and the British and Irish governments will jointly chair Strand Three.

Senator George Mitchell will be chairman of a group comprising himself, Gen John de Chastelain and Mr Harri Holkeri which will provide independent chairmanship of the other parts of the negotiations.

Senator Mitchell will chair the plenary session, to which the various strands and any sub-committees established by them will report, and which will periodically review progress across the entire spectrum of the negotiations. As chairman, he may also convene further meetings of the plenary "in the light of developments across the negotiations as a whole".

Gen de Chastelain will be chairman of Strand Two. He will also chair the business committee which is charged with establishing and maintaining a timetable for the negotiations as a whole unless the participants decide otherwise.

Mr Holkeri will be the alternate in any of the independent chairmanship roles.

Committees and sub-committees established with the agreement of the negotiating teams will be overseen by the chairman of the format of which the committee is part, or by a person nominated by the chair and agreed by the participants.

The chairman will be responsible for convening, rescheduling and adjourning meetings and consulting with the negotiating teams where he considers this appropriate.

Negotiators may request adjournments of up to 10 minutes, but where a team fails 19 attend, or with draws from a meeting, the chairman will be free to proceed with the remaining teams.

The chair will be responsible for the orderly conduct of business and ensuring a fair hearing on all issues.

The chairman may at any time ask one or more of the participating teams to meet him and he will agree to any reasonable request to meet them. During meetings, all remarks will be addressed through the chair, whose rulings on procedure and order will be final.

The negotiations will operate on the basis of consensus. Where there is no unanimity on an issue, the chairman may (1) consult with the participants, putting forward his own solution (2) invite participants to set up a working group to consider the problem within an agreed time scale, (3) seek the agreement of the participants for referral of the issue to a group of experts.

The negotiating teams may also, by agreement, refer a matter to the forum, requesting a report.

WHERE unanimity still does not exist after one or more of these remedies have been attempted, the chairman may deem that there is "sufficient consensus" to proceed.

Sufficient consensus requires that a position is accepted by parties which between them represent a clear majority in both the unionist and nationalist communities. This majority will be determined by the support they received in the elections of May 30th. Where there is neither unanimity nor sufficient consensus, the chairman will work in consultation with the negotiators to remove obstacles to agreement.

In any part of the talks, the negotiating teams may direct the chairman to request the forum to investigate or discuss a specified subject and submit a report.

The British government, as chairman of Strand One, will keep the Irish Government informed of the progress achieved through liaison arrangements agreed in consultation with the political parties.

The British and Irish governments, as joint chairmen of Strand Three, have pledged to provide "a meaningful role for the political parties" in this part of the process. To this end, they will ensure regular meetings with the parties, briefing them and where appropriate consulting on issues. Such meetings will be with up to three members of the negotiating teams and will be cochaired by the two governments.

The parties may submit, orally or in writing, their views on Strand Three issues, and any response will be given jointly by the two governments.

The outcome of Strand Three negotiations will be considered by all the participants log side the outcome of the negotiations as a whole.