Forum for Peace and Reconciliation

[3][5] Sinn Féin accepted, while the loyalist PUP and UDP rejected, as did the mainstream unionist UUP and DUP.

[3] The forum was drafting a final report "Paths to a Political Settlement: Realities, Principles and Requirements", which was leaked to the press on 2 February 1996.

[13][14] The Canary Wharf bombing on 9 February ended the IRA ceasefire and, with the continued participation of Sinn Féin in question, the Forum was adjourned.

[2][13] Paragraph 6 of the Downing Street Declaration stated in part:[4] Several of the reports the Forum commissioned addressed this issue, and a subcommittee was established on Obstacles in the South to Reconciliation.

The delegations were proportional to parties' electoral strength, as follows:[10] There were observers from the European Parliament (Piet Dankert and Leo Tindemans) and the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body.

[29] One was held on 5 December 1997, at which Ahern broached the possibility of amending Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution;[30] after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement this was effected by a 1999 referendum.

[39] In 2007, Ahern told the Dáil, "With the restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, there are no current proposals to reconvene the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.

[41] In 2011, Senator Paul Bradford inquired about the Forum's status and suggested it might be revived as a truth and reconciliation commission.