United Ireland

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Robert McClenaghan bombed buildings for the Irish Republican Army. Now, he builds houses."You can't believe the sense of accomplishment until you see something like this," says McClenaghan, sitting on the unfinished floor of his nearly completed brick townhouse in a Roman Catholic neighborhood.Eddie Kinner once planted a lethal bomb for a band of pro-British paramilitaries called the Ulster Volunteer Force. Now, he helps ex-prisoners get jobs and helps guide a local political party.

LONDON -- The irony is that if it weren't for the Irish Republican Army, Ireland would be effectively united by now.Early indications are that the IRA broke the cease-fire because it was on the brink of splitting internally. The ''hard men'' who were talked into declaring a unilateral cease-fire in late 1994 had lost faith in their colleagues' promises that this tactic would finally bring the organization recognition as an equal negotiating partner in Irish affairs.Facing a choice between internal division and renewed war, the IRA followed its instincts and went back to bombs.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- None of the dreams of lasting peace in Northern Ireland have yet come true.There is the example of Gerry Adams, after the handshakes with President Clinton, after the first coating of worldwide celebrity was tarnished, after the Irish Republican Army's terror bombs wrecked a fragile peace nearly a year ago.Adams, as president of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, still conducts business and interviews inside a party headquarters...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- As an act of remembrance and forgiveness, Marie Close will vote "yes" today when an Ireland united by the ballot box stages a referendum for peace."

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- What was once unthinkable became unforgettable as Northern Ireland's voters broke with their bloody past and delivered a landslide victory for peace and power sharing.In a ballot taken Friday and counted yesterday, 71.12 percent of voters approved the historic Northern Irish peace accord, with 28.18 percent against.Eighty-one percent of Northern Ireland's 1.2 million voters cast ballots, putting the politicians on notice to put an end to the terrorist troubles that have brought so much heartbreak to so many families in a society divided by faith and history.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Battle-weary voters in Northern Ireland and the southern Irish republic gave strong approval to the Northern Irish peace accord yesterday, according to an early exit poll.The referendum received a 70 percent to 75 percent yes vote in Northern Ireland, with 25 percent to 30 percent voting no, according to the exit survey of 1,600 voters taken three hours before polls closed in the historic ballot.Ninety-nine percent of Roman Catholics voted yes in the north, according to the survey, commissioned by Irish television network, RTE.Protestant voters split 50-50.

WASHINGTON -- Last May, during a thunderstorm so violent it seemed biblical, the adversaries in Northern Ireland's civil war stood under a tent on the South Lawn of the White House and put aside ancient hatreds.The Irish visitors were attending a presidential conference on trade and investment in Northern Ireland, an effort that would have been unthinkable a year earlier.President Clinton, the man of the hour, joined the party to choruses of "Hurrah! Hurrah!"A cease-fire in the 25-year-old civil war opened new possibilities to the people of Northern Ireland, and Irish leaders on all sides credit Mr. Clinton for playing a crucial role in bringing it about.

THE REFERENDUM in the Irish Republic on Nov. 24, to amend the constitution to provide for legal divorce and remarriage, may mark a significant step from a Catholic to a nonsectarian state. The momentum for passage comes from changes that have already occurred within Irish society.A similar attempt nine years ago backfired. But now some 75,000 marriages are believed to have broken down, a legal framework for property rights in separation has been legislated and the Catholic Church, which claims some 95 percent of the people as adherents and opposes the change, has been undermined by a few spectacular scandals involving priests.

About 50 Irish Americans, many from Baltimore, marched in front of the White House yesterday to protest FBI training of Northern Ireland police officers.The FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., has for years opened its training programs to international police agencies, including the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the resident police force in Northern Ireland, which employs some 10,000 people.The RUC has been condemned by Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and other international rights organizations.

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is urging all parties in Northern Ireland to seize the "unique opening for peace" there and has asked the Clinton administration to give active support to the British and Irish governments as they seek an end to the violence.In letters made public yesterday, the U.S. Catholic bishops appeared to be echoing British Prime Minister John Major's statement about the new effort to stop the bloodshed."If they lose this opportunity," Mr. Major warned, "it might never come their way again."