Video interviews with Andrew Mackay, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and William Thompson, UUP MP for West Tyrone, by John Draper for ITN on 14 July 1999. On 2 July the British and Irish governments published ‘The Way Forward’, a document setting out a process for the formation of the Executive on 15 July and the beginning of decommissioning soon after. In response to UUP rejection of the proposals, Tony Blair stated that failsafes on decommissioning would be built into legislation on the devolution of power to Northern Ireland. Ahead of the Northern Ireland Assembly sitting to nominate ministers to the Executive, Mackay and Thompson discuss the centrality of decommissioning to the functioning of power-sharing government.
Date of Release/Broadcast: 14 July 1999
Name of First Interviewee: Andrew Mackay
Name of Second Interviewee: William Thompson
Role at time of Interview: Andrew Mackay (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland), William Thompson (UUP MP for West Tyrone)
Interviewer: John Draper
Purpose: News
Media: Audiovisual
Copyright: ©2013 ITN All rights reserved
Link: Watch the interview
Programme/Book/Article: ITN
Time Period covered: 1998-1999
Key Individuals: Andrew Mackay, William Thompson, David Trimble, Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, John de Chastelain
Key Words: Belfast Agreement, Good Friday Agreement, UUP, Sinn Fein, decommissioning, IRA, power-sharing, paramilitary, failsafe