Hints of Peace

Britain's proconsul for Northern Ireland, William Whitelaw, has had to tread a delicate line between the contending Catholic and Protestant communities during his three months in office--and never more so than last week. First, he had to deal with the rising militancy of the Protestant Ulster Defense Association; then he had to strike just the right note in his response to the latest peace feelers from the Irish Republican Army. Out of it all came the best, if still tenuous hopes for peace that troubled Ulster has had in many months.

Whitelaw's first test came when leaders of the paramilitary U.D.A., wearing masks to hide their identity, delivered an ultimatum: either he invaded the I.R.A. sanctuaries in Londonderry's barricaded "nogo" areas, or they would turn Belfast into a massive no-go area of their own.

Tough Line. While Whitelaw dealt with the U.D.A., an unexpected opening came from the other side. Whitelaw had previously released more than half of the Catholic men interned without trial last summer, and ordered the British army to adopt a lower profile in the Catholic ghettos. Now, many of Ulster's Catholics had begun to sign peace petitions, and the I.R.A. was losing support. Last week the Provisionals' fugitive chief of staff, Sean MacStiofain, called reporters to a rendezvous behind the Londonderry barricades. If Whitelaw would agree within 48 hours to meet the I.R.A. to discuss their peace terms, he said, the I.R.A. would declare a seven-day bombing halt. Bluntly, Whitelaw refused to respond to "an ultimatum from terrorists."

Whitelaw's tough line with the I.R.A. helped him in talking down the U.D.A. A masked U.D.A. spokesman announced that the U.D.A. was holding off on action for 14 days "to give Whitelaw and the minority a chance." Meanwhile moderate Catholic M.P.s of the opposition Social Democratic and Labor Party said that they were now ready to break their own boycott on talking to Whitelaw.

Encouraged, Whitelaw announced that Britain would push ahead with local elections this fall under a system favoring the moderate center. Also, he would open "talks about talks" leading to a July conference of all shades of Ulster opinion--except the gunmen.

Although both the I.R.A. and the U.D.A. were clearly under pressure from the peacemakers, there was still the chance of sectarian conflict erupting again. But meanwhile, British officials pondered ways of negotiating an end to the no-go barricades. Whitelaw was as usual unabashed by the task, even if he chose a harsh simile to express his confidence. As he said last week, quoting an Irishman: "There are more ways of killing a pig than cutting its throat."

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