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Martin (TV series)

Martin is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on Fox from August 27, 1992, to May 1, 1997. The show stars comedian Martin Lawrence as the titular character. Lawrence also played several other characters. Martin was one of Fox's highest-rated shows during the sitcom's run. In 2024, the cast reunited at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Premise
Martin Lawrence played the role of Martin Payne, originally a disc jockey who lived with his girlfriend Gina Waters (Tisha Campbell) in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Martin worked for the fictional radio station WZUP; in later seasons, he became the host of the talk show Word on the Street.

Main characters

 * Martin Lawrence as Martin Payne
 * Tisha Campbell as Gina Waters-Payne '''
 * Carl Anthony Payne II as Cole Brown
 * Thomas Mikal Ford as Thomas "Tommy" Strawn
 * Tichina Arnold as Pamela "Pam" James
 * Jon Gries as Shawn McDermott (seasons 1–2)
 * Garrett Morris as Stan Winters (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)

Supporting characters

 * Reginald Ballard as Bruh-Man (Brother Man) (seasons 2–4)
 * Tracy Morgan as Hustle Man (seasons 3–5)
 * Jeri Gray as Ms. Geri
 * Maura McDade as Shanise McGillicuddy (season 5)
 * Sean Lampkin as Nipsey (seasons 3–5)

Recurring characters

 * Judyann Elder as Nadine Waters
 * J.A. Preston as Dr. Cliff Waters
 * Adrian Tibbs as Lil' Dawg
 * Ray Massara as Buckwhite
 * Charlie Murphy as Bro Fo' Real (Brother For Real)
 * David Jean Thomas as Angry Man
 * Jeris Lee Poindexter as Mr. Booker
 * Ellia English as Mrs. Booker
 * Laura Hayes as Maddie Brown
 * LaWanda Page as Evelyn Porter
 * David Alan Grier as Reverend Leon Lonnie Love
 * Roxanne Reese as Marian
 * Kenneth Whack as Kenji
 * Simbi Khali as Laquita
 * Yo-Yo as Keylolo
 * Kim Coles as Bonquisha
 * Reno Wilson as Sonny
 * Tommy Davidson as Varnell Hill
 * Luis Antonio Ramos as Luis
 * Bentley Kyle Evans as Titus
 * BeBe Drake-Massey as Myra
 * Angelina Estrada as Gloria Rodriguez

Other roles played by Lawrence

 * Sheneneh Jenkins
 * Edna (Mama) Payne
 * Ol' Otis (seasons 1-4)
 * Jerome (seasons 1-4)
 * Roscoe
 * Dragonfly Jones (seasons 1-3)
 * Bob (seasons 1-2)
 * King Beef (seasons 1-2)
 * Elroy Preston (seasons 2)

Lawsuit
In November 1996, Campbell left the series during its final season, citing "intolerable" working conditions. She filed a lawsuit against Lawrence and the show's producers in January 1997 for sexual harassment and verbal and physical assaults. The series explanation was that Gina was "out on business", though in the two-part episode "Going Overboard" it was stated that Gina had arrived too late to board the boat for the trip alongside everyone else. By April 1997, Campbell had settled the lawsuit and returned for the last two episodes of the series under the condition that she would not share any scenes or interact with Lawrence. Campbell and Lawrence have since reconciled, and repaired their relationship.

Syndication
Martin went into second run syndication on August 8, 1995 through Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution; it airs multiple times a week on the networks of Paramount Global, including MTV2, VH1 and BET, with Max and Netflix also carrying the full run of the series.

Home media
Besides being purchasable on most digital video retailers, HBO Home Video released all five seasons of Martin on DVD in Region 1.

Young Martin
On July 11, 2024, an hourlong prequel series to Martin, titled Young Martin, was announced to be in development by Deadline Hollywood. The series is executive produced by Martin Lawrence, Rae Proctor, Robert Lawrence and Stacy Lyles from RunTelDat, with Bob Yari, David McPherson, Rosa Peart, Greg Martin for WonderHill Studios,

Young Martin follows a teenage Martin Payne residing in a modern-day Detroit finding his path to success as he transitions from childhood to adulthood and is described as both an origin story and a reimagining of the character.

title: Martin (TV series)


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Vega machine

Vega machines are a type of electroacupuncture device used in pseudoscientific Vega testing, which proponents claim can diagnose allergies and other illnesses. The forerunner to the Vega test was electroacupuncture according to Voll developed by Reinholdt Voll in the 1950s. Helmut Schimmel modified the technique in the 1970s and presented it under the name Vega test.

Several medical associations have advised against their use, including the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the Australian College of Allergy, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the Allergy Society of South Africa. In 1990 a medical practitioner was censured by the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Committee in New Zealand for using a Vega machine. Another practitioner was censured by the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 1999 for having "failed to meet the standard of practice" in his use of the Vega machine in diagnosis.

Reviews of the available evidence in the medical literature indicate that electrodermal testing, such as that performed with a Vega machine, is ineffective at diagnosing allergies and recommend that it not be used.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Vega machine


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FM4

FM4 is an Austrian national radio station operated by the ORF. Its main target is the youth audience, and much of the music output is characterised by an alternative rock and electronic music slant.

Programmimg
The programming of FM4 is also notable for its high level of spoken word content, much of which is produced in the English language. Morning programmes, including the current affairs-based Reality Check and Update, are broadcast in English while afternoon shows Connected and Homebase are German-speaking. News updates in French were also transmitted twice a day up until 2019 when they were discontinued due to reduced demand.

History
FM4 was launched on 16 January 1995 and initially shared its frequencies with English-language ORF radio station Blue Danube Radio, created principally for the United Nations community at UNO City in Vienna. From its launch in 1995 until 31 January 2000 FM4 was only on-air during evenings and night times from 7pm-6am. Since 1 February 2000 FM4 has broadcast its programmes 24/7, when the station was merged with Blue Danube Radio (resulting in the English programmes being broadcast today).

At launch, FM4 was known as an underground radio station, but full-time broadcasting has increased its popularity and listening figures considerably. It describes its format as alternative mainstream. As well as increasing popularity in Austria itself, a growing number of listeners are tuning in outside the country, most notably in the German state of Bavaria. In 2005, FM4 held its first music festival outside Austria, in Munich.

The website is an essential part of the FM4 concept. Selected web hosts such as Boris Jordan, Johannes Grenzfurthner and Hans Wu post reports, articles or essays about various topics.

In 2001, FM4 teamed up with concert promoter Musicnet to create the FM4 Frequency Festival. This has become the biggest alternative music festival in Austria, and predominantly features artists and bands who appear on the FM4 playlist.

On 26 October 2001 the FM4 Soundpark was launched, creating an online platform on which young musicians can publish their work for free to reach FM4's audience.

FM4's programme director is Doroteja Gradištanac. The most famous voice of FM4 is former Blue Danube Radio host Joe Remick.

FM4 has released a number of compilation albums under its Sound Selection and Sunny Side Up brands, as well as a DVD (FM4 - The Early Years), which was produced to mark the station's 10th anniversary in 2005.

Reception
FM4 can be received worldwide by Livestreams as Internet radio:
 * Official stream on the FM4-Website (Formats: MP3)

In Europe FM4 can be received digitally over the Astra satellites at Astra 19.2°E:
 * Satellite: Astra 1H
 * Transponder: 115
 * Downlink frequency: 12,66275 GHz
 * Symbol rate (MS/s): 22
 * Error protection (FEC): 5/6
 * Polarisation: Horizontal

title: FM4


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Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide fame for starring as Frances "Baby" Houseman in the romantic drama film Dirty Dancing (1987), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. Her other feature films include Red Dawn (1984), The Cotton Club (1984), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Bounce (2000), Redbelt (2008), The Wind Rises (2013), In Your Eyes (2014), Duck Duck Goose (2018), and Bittersweet Symphony (2019).

Grey's early television work includes the made-for-TV films Murder in Mississippi (1990), Criminal Justice (1990), and If the Shoe Fits as Kelly Carter / Prudence (1990). She starred as herself in the series It's Like, You Know... (1999–2001), won season eleven of the dancing competition series Dancing with the Stars (2010) and starred as Judy Meyers in the Amazon Prime Video comedy Red Oaks (2014–2017). She has done voice work in film and television, providing her voice in the 2018 film Duck Duck Goose and the 2008–2014 animated television series Phineas and Ferb.

Early life
Jennifer Grey was born on March 26, 1960, in New York City, the daughter of stage and Academy Award-winning screen actor Joel Grey and former actress/singer Jo Wilder (née Brower). Her paternal grandfather was comedian and musician Mickey Katz. Grey's parents both came from Jewish families.

Grey attended the Dalton School, a private school in Manhattan where she studied dance and acting, and where she met her best friend, actress Tracy Pollan. After graduating in 1978, Grey enrolled at Manhattan's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre for two years of training as an actress. While waiting for roles, she supported herself waitressing.

Career
Grey's commercial debut was at the age of 19, in an ad for Dr Pepper, before making her film debut in Reckless (1984), in a small role. She appeared in a small role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984). That year she starred in the war film Red Dawn. She then appeared in the 1985 John Badham project American Flyers.

In 1986 she played the role of jealous sister Jeannie Bueller in the John Hughes comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, opposite Matthew Broderick. The film was commercially successful and received a positive critical reception.

The following year, she reunited with Patrick Swayze, her co-star in Red Dawn, to play Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing. The story is a coming of age love story: spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the resort's dance instructor, Johnny Castle. The low-budget film was a surprise hit, was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and is considered a classic. Paid $50,000 for her role, the film came to define Grey's career, and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for the role.

Grey's sole Broadway theatre credit is her 1993 appearance in The Twilight of the Golds.

Despite the success of Dirty Dancing, Grey felt that her looks would place restrictions on the type of future roles she would be considered for. After consulting her mother and three plastic surgeons in the early 1990s, she underwent two rhinoplasty procedures. The second was necessary to correct an irregularity caused by the first operation and ended up more extensive than what Grey had expected. This resulted in a nose that caused even close friends to fail to recognize her, and the major change in her appearance affected her career. Of the experience, she said, "I went in the operating room a celebrity—and came out anonymous. It was like being in a witness protection program or being invisible." Grey recalled in a 2020 interview that an airline employee who checked her identity refused to believe that she and the actress the employee knew from Dirty Dancing were one and the same. Grey briefly considered changing her name in order to start her career anew, but ultimately decided against this.

From March 1999 until January 2000, Grey starred as herself in the short-lived ABC sitcom It's Like, You Know..., which satirized her much-publicized nose job as a running gag.

Grey appeared with Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli, and Kathy Bates in the CBS television movie The West Side Waltz, adapted by Ernest Thompson from his play. She appeared in one episode of Friends as Mindy, a high school friend of Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel. She had a small role in the 2000 film Bounce with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. In 2007, Grey portrayed Daphne on the HBO series John from Cincinnati. In 2010, she played Abbey, the mother of a sick child in the season seven House episode "Unplanned Parenthood".

Grey was a contestant on season eleven of Dancing With the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancer Derek Hough. She came out very strong at first, frequently topping the leaderboard. However, injuries, stress, and exhaustion took their toll on Grey, and for a couple of weeks, she fell behind. In week seven, however, she improved, tying with previous frontrunner Brandy Norwood. On November 23, 2010, Grey and her partner Hough won the competition, making her the oldest female winner in the competition.

In September 2011 Grey appeared in the Lifetime movie Bling Ring as Iris Garvey, the mother of Zack Garvey. On November 5 and 6, 2011, Grey stood in for head judge Len Goodman on the BBC One TV show Strictly Come Dancing.

Grey voiced Mrs. Kurokawa in the English dub version of Hayao Miyazaki's film The Wind Rises.

From 2014 to 2017, Grey portrayed Judy Meyers on Red Oaks. In 2018, Grey co-starred in the film Untogether; the film was released on February 8, 2019.

Grey also appeared at the 2015 Tony Awards alongside her father Joel, presenting a performance from the musical Fun Home.

Ballantine Books published Grey's memoir, Out of the Corner, on May 3, 2022.

Personal life
On August 5, 1987, Grey suffered severe whiplash in a car collision in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, while vacationing with actor Matthew Broderick, whom she had begun dating in semi-secrecy during the filming of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The crash, the event through which their relationship became public, occurred when Broderick, at the wheel of a rented BMW, crossed into the wrong lane and collided head-on with a Volvo driven by a local mother and daughter, Margaret Doherty, 63, and Anna Gallagher, 28, who were killed instantly. Broderick was convicted of careless driving and fined $175. Dirty Dancing was released a few weeks after the collision, catapulting Grey to fame. But she has said that her grief and survivor's guilt over the crash prevented her from enjoying the film's success and led her to withdraw from acting for some time.

Grey was also romantically involved with actors Michael J. Fox, Johnny Depp, William Baldwin and then-aide to President Clinton, George Stephanopoulos. She married actor/director Clark Gregg on July 21, 2001. They have a daughter. They lived in Venice, California. The couple co-starred in the Lifetime movie The Road to Christmas in 2006. On July 3, 2020, Grey and Gregg announced they had separated amicably in January, and were in the process of divorcing. Their divorce became final on February 16, 2021.

According to a September 2015 Grey profile in Jewish Journal, Grey had recently reconnected with Judaism, saying, "I love being a Jew. I've gotten a lot more Jewish in the last five years because of my daughter's bat mitzvah, and I realized I really care about being a Jew."

Prior to her 2010 appearances on Dancing with the Stars, Grey had a physical examination to ensure that she was fit enough to compete and saw a doctor to address chronic neck problems caused by the car crash decades earlier. Her spinal cord was compressed and her surgeon placed a titanium plate in her neck to stabilize it. He also found a cancerous nodule on her thyroid that he removed in 2009. Grey said she believed the cancer was caught before it could metastasize and that she was now cancer-free.

In January 2017, Grey participated in the Los Angeles 2017 Women's March.

title: Jennifer Grey


text: User talk:210.149.190.138

title: User talk:210.149.190.138


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Ruthless People

Ruthless People is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and written by Dale Launer. It stars Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Anita Morris, and Helen Slater, with Bill Pullman in a supporting role in his film debut. The film is the story of a couple who kidnap their ex-boss's wife to get revenge and extort money from him. They soon realize he does not want her back and was planning to kill her himself. Meanwhile, the boss's mistress plans a blackmail attempt on him, which also fails to go as planned.

The film was a critical and commercial success. This was the last film released under the Touchstone Films label before Walt Disney Studios changed the name of the label to Touchstone Pictures as well as the last film directed by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker trio together.

Plot
Beverly Hills fashion tycoon Sam Stone despises his wife, Barbara, having married her for her family wealth, and plans to murder her so he can inherit her $15million fortune and retire with his mistress Carol. He returns home armed with chloroform but finds Barbara is missing and receives a call from her abductor, demanding $500,000 for her return and threatening to kill her if the police or media are involved. Hoping to get Barbara killed, a delighted Sam deliberately ignores the demands.

The abductors, Ken and Sandy Kessler, are a lower-class couple targeting Sam because he built his business using the Kesslers' life savings and fashion designs he stole from Sandy. They detain Barbara in their basement but she proves difficult to control, and Sandy feels guilty about their actions. Intending to financially blackmail Sam, Carol sends her lover Earl to film Sam at the cliff from which he intended to dispose of Barbara, but, unaware of Sam's appearance, Earl unwittingly films a man having sex with a prostitute, mistaking her screams for Barbara dying. Without watching the tape, Carol forwards a copy to Sam who assumes it is a seductive birthday present, and she interprets his lewd response as a threat, causing her and Earl to go into hiding.

Bored and overweight, Barbara begins following television exercise programs. She is eventually overjoyed to realize she has lost 20 lbs and bonds with Sandy after being impressed by her fashion ideas and dress designs, into which she now can fit. Meanwhile, Ken repeatedly drops the ransom price, eventually reaching $10,000, but Sam refuses to pay and encourages Ken to kill Barbara. Although Ken is confronted as a suspect because of tire tracks at the Stone residence, the investigation is redirected when Carol, hoping to incriminate Sam, sends another copy of the tape to police chief Henry Benton, unaware he is the man on the tape. Assuming he is being blackmailed, Benton has Sam investigated and arrested following the discovery of the chloroform and photos of him with Carol.

Realizing he is incapable of being a ruthless criminal, Ken returns home to collect Sandy and flee to Mexico. He learns that Sandy has released Barbara and they want to work together to develop and sell Sandy's fashion designs. The Bedroom Killer, a notorious local serial killer, invades their home and confronts them and Barbara as she returns, leading to an altercation in which he dies after falling down the basement stairs. Realizing that Sam wanted her dead and having learned of his affair, Barbara collaborates with Ken and Sandy to take revenge by blackmailing him for his entire personal fortune worth over $2.2million. After being bailed out of jail, Sam reluctantly collects the ransom in a briefcase, desperate to prove his innocence in Barbara's disappearance. Carol finally views the tape and, realizing Earl's mistake, reconnects with Sam to learn when the ransom handover will take place and that the police, now distrustful of Sam, will not accompany him.

Earl ambushes Sam and a masked Ken at the exchange, but they are surrounded by scores of SWAT officers, and Earl is arrested. Ken warns the cops that Barbara will be killed if they try to stop him, and drives off followed by a police convoy. Cornered, he drives off the end of the Santa Monica Pier and seemingly drowns. The police recover the body of the Bedroom Killer, disguised as Ken, from the car but are unable to locate the ransom money. Despite his loss, Sam is elated that Barbara must be dead until she arrives on the pier, identifies the Killer as her abductor, and kicks Sam into the water. Elsewhere, Ken emerges from the ocean in scuba gear, carrying the briefcase, and celebrates with the waiting Sandy and Barbara.

Cast

 * Danny DeVito as Sam Stone
 * Bette Midler as Barbara Stone
 * Judge Reinhold as Ken Kessler
 * Helen Slater as Sandy Kessler
 * Anita Morris as Carol Dodsworth
 * Bill Pullman as Earl Mott
 * William G. Schilling as police chief Henry Benton
 * Art Evans as Lt. Bender
 * Clarence Felder as Lt. Walters
 * J. E. Freeman as Bedroom Killer
 * Gary Riley as Heavy Metal Kid
 * Phyllis Applegate as Loan officer

Production
The set design for the majority of the interiors of the home of Sam and Barbara Stone extensively employs the Italian radical design furniture and lighting from the Memphis Group.

The directors normally wrote all their own material. However, they were contacted by Michael Eisner, who became head of Disney after working with the trio at Paramount. According to David Zucker, Eisner "said he had a script that we wouldn't be able to turn down and he was right. It was too good. It was very well written with great characters. And hey we wouldn't have to leave town to do it."

While directing Jerry Zucker would be on set talking to the actors while the other two would watch from monitors and give comments.

The trio found the making of the film difficult due to them having to direct a script none of them had written as well as the film's style being different from their previous work. It also contributed to their eventual split in the 90s with Jerry Zucker stating “it became evident that if we were going to do (scripts written by other people), we’d have to direct separately.”

Reception
The film was a financial success, grossing $71.6 million compared to the relatively frugal budget of the film's production. It was Disney's highest-grossing film (excluding reissues). On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 43 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It's sometimes crude and tasteless, but Ruthless People wrings acid-soaked laughs out of its dark premise and gleefully misanthropic characters." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 78 based on 15 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert said that the film "is made out of good performances, a script of diabolical ingenuity, and a whole lot of silliness." Leonard Maltin agreed that this "clever farce" has "lots of laughs, bright performances, but turns sour: these really are unpleasant people!"

Although it has been perceived that Ruthless People was influenced by O. Henry's story "The Ransom of Red Chief", writer Dale Launer claims that it was inspired by the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst and that the similarities between the film and the earlier story were a coincidence.

Soundtrack
The album's soundtrack was released on Epic Records. The track, "Waiting to See You" by Dan Hartman, is missing the first several drum bars on the CD release contained on the vinyl and cassette releases. The soundtrack version of "Ruthless People" is similar to the version heard in the film, including both an extended intro and a second verse edited out of the single version.

Track list

 * 1) "Ruthless People" – Mick Jagger
 * 2) "Give Me the Reason" – Luther Vandross
 * 3) "Modern Woman" – Billy Joel
 * 4) "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" – Paul Young
 * 5) "No Say In It" – Machinations
 * 6) "Waiting to See You" – Dan Hartman
 * 7) "Dance Champion" – Kool and The Gang
 * 8) "Neighborhood Watch" – Michel Colombier
 * 9) "Stand on It" – Bruce Springsteen
 * 10) "Don't You Want My Love" – Nicole McCloud

title: Ruthless People


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Northern Ireland peace process

The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developments.

Towards a ceasefire
In 1994, talks between the leaders of the two main Irish nationalist parties in Northern Ireland, John Hume of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin (SF), continued. These talks led to a series of joint statements on how the violence might be brought to an end. The talks had been going on since the late 1980s and had secured the backing of the Irish government through an intermediary, the priest Alec Reid.

In November it was revealed that the British government had also been in talks with the Provisional IRA, although they had long denied it.

On Wednesday 15 December 1993, the Downing Street Declaration was issued by John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Albert Reynolds, Taoiseach, on behalf of the British and Irish governments. This included statements that:
 * The British government had no "selfish strategic or economic" interest in Northern Ireland. This statement would lead, eventually, to the repeal of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
 * The British government would uphold the right of the people of Northern Ireland to decide between the Union with Great Britain or a united Ireland.
 * The people of the island of Ireland, North and South, had the exclusive right to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.
 * The Irish government would try to address unionist fears of a united Ireland by amending the Irish Constitution according to the principle of consent. This would lead, eventually, to the modification of the Articles 2 and 3.
 * A united Ireland could only be brought about by peaceful means.
 * Peace must involve a permanent end to the use of, or support for, paramilitary violence.

Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) opposed the Declaration, James Molyneaux of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) argued that it was not a "sell-out" of unionists, and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin requested dialogue with the governments and clarification of the Declaration.

Towards negotiations
On 6 April 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a three-day "temporary cessation of hostilities" to run from Wednesday 6 April – Friday 8 April 1994.

Five months later, on Wednesday 31 August 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a "cessation of military operations" from midnight. Albert Reynolds, the Irish Taoiseach, said that he accepted the IRA statement as implying a permanent ceasefire. Many unionists were sceptical. UUP leader James Molyneaux, in a rare slip, declared "This (the ceasefire) is the worst thing that has ever happened to us."

In the following period, there were disputes about the permanence of the ceasefire, whether parties linked to paramilitaries should be included in talks, and the rate of "normalisation" in Northern Ireland. Loyalist bombings and shootings, and punishment beatings from both sides, continued.

This is an abbreviated list of events of significance in the lead-up to all-party negotiations: The proposals were not welcomed by unionists and the DUP described it as a "one-way street to Dublin" and a "joint government programme for Irish unity".
 * 13 October 1994: The Combined Loyalist Military Command, representing the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association and Red Hand Commandos announce a loyalist paramilitary ceasefire.
 * Friday 15 December 1994: Albert Reynolds resigned as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland following the collapse of his Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition. He was succeeded by John Bruton, heading a "Rainbow Coalition" of Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left.
 * Wednesday 22 February 1995: Framework Documents published:
 * A New Framework For Agreement, which dealt with north–south institutions, and
 * A Framework for Accountable Government in Northern Ireland, which proposed a single-chamber 90-member Assembly, to be elected by proportional representation and which was put directly to the electorate in 1997 by Conservative Party candidates standing in Northern Ireland at the general election.
 * Sunday 13 August 1995: Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin President, addressed a demonstration at Belfast City Hall. A member of the crowd called out to Adams to, "bring back the IRA". In reply Adams said: "They haven't gone away, you know".
 * Friday 8 September 1995: David Trimble was elected leader of the UUP, replacing James Molyneaux.
 * Friday 24 November 1995: a referendum in the Republic of Ireland to change the constitution to allow divorce was narrowly approved, with 50.2% in favour. Divorce had long been available north of the border. The ban in the Republic was sometimes cited by (mainly Protestant) unionists as evidence of excessive influence by the Catholic Church in the Republic which would (in the event of a United Ireland) represent a threat to the religious liberty of non-Catholics.
 * Tuesday 28 November 1995: a joint communiqué by the British and Irish Governments outlined a "'twin-track' process to make progress in parallel on the decommissioning issue and on all-party negotiations". Preparatory talks were to lead to all-party negotiations beginning by the end of February 1996. US Senator George Mitchell was to lead an international body to provide an independent assessment of the decommissioning issue.
 * Thursday 30 November 1995: Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, visited Northern Ireland, and spoke in favour of the "peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast's City Hall. He called terrorists "yesterday's men".
 * Wednesday 20 December 1995: blaming the Provisional IRA for recent killings of drug dealers, the Irish government decided not to give permanent release to a further ten republican prisoners.
 * Wednesday 24 January 1996: Dated 22 January, the report of the International Body on arms decommissioning (also known as the Mitchell Report) set out the six "Mitchell Principles" under which parties could enter into all-party talks, and suggested a number of confidence-building measures, including an "elective process". The main conclusion was that decommissioning of paramilitary arms should take place during (rather than before or after) all-party talks, in a "twin-track" process. The report was welcomed by the Irish government and the main opposition parties in Britain and the Republic, as well as the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party. It was accepted as a way forward by Sinn Féin and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), who both had paramilitary links. The moderate unionist party, the UUP, expressed reservations, and the more hardline DUP rejected it outright.
 * Monday 29 January 1996: "Twin-track" talks began with the SDLP, the Progressive Unionist Party, and the UDP. The UUP declined the invitation.
 * Friday 9 February 1996: one hour after a statement ending their ceasefire, the Provisional IRA detonated a large lorry bomb near South Quay DLR station in the London Docklands, killing two people, injuring 40, and causing £150 million worth of damage. The IRA ceasefire had lasted 17 months and 9 days. The IRA statement said that the ceasefire was ended because "the British government acted in bad faith with Mr Major and the unionist leaders squandering this unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict" by refusing to allow Sinn Féin into the talks until the IRA decommissioned its arms. Albert Reynolds, while not supporting the bombing, concurred with the IRA analysis. As Major's Government had lost its majority in Parliament and was depending on unionist votes to stay in power, it was widely accused of pro-unionist bias as a result. On the other hand, on the day of the bombing, Major had been preparing to meet with Sinn Féin representatives at Downing Street for the first time.

Towards another ceasefire

 * Friday 16 February 1996: There was a large peace rally at City Hall, Belfast, and a number of smaller rallies at venues across Northern Ireland.
 * Wednesday 28 February 1996: After a summit in London, the British and Irish prime ministers set a date (10 June 1996) for the start of all-party talks, and stated that participants would have to agree to abide by the six Mitchell Principles and that there would be preparatory 'proximity talks'.
 * Monday 4 March 1996: Proximity talks were launched at Stormont. The Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party refused to join, and Sinn Féin were again refused entry, ostensibly because of IRA violence.
 * Thursday 21 March 1996: Elections to determine who would take part in all-party negotiations were announced. The elections would be to a Forum of 110 delegates, with 90 elected directly and 20 'top-up' seats from the ten parties polling the most votes.
 * Thursday 18 April 1996: The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations) Act was passed at Westminster. 30 parties and individuals were to take part in the election.
 * Monday 20 May 1996: Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, said that SF was prepared to accept the six Mitchell Principles, if the other parties agreed to them.
 * Thursday 30 May 1996: In the Forum Elections, with a 65% turnout, the UUP won 30 seats, the SDLP 21, the DUP 24, Sinn Féin 17, the Alliance Party 7, the UK Unionist Party 3, the Progressive Unionist Party 2, the Ulster Democratic Party 2, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition 2, and Labour 2 seats.
 * Tuesday 4 June 1996: The Northern Ireland Office invited nine political parties to attend initial talks at Stormont. Again, Sinn Féin were not invited to the talks. Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, began the first official state visit to Britain by an Irish head of state.
 * Friday 7 June 1996: IRA members killed Jerry McCabe, a Detective in the Garda Síochána (the Irish police service), during a post office robbery in Adare, County Limerick, in the Republic.
 * Monday 10 June 1996: All-party negotiations (the 'Stormont talks') began in Stormont. Sinn Féin were again refused entry.
 * Friday 14 June 1996: The Northern Ireland Forum met for the first time in Belfast. Sinn Féin declined to take part due to their policy of not taking seats in either the Westminster parliament or a regional "partitionist" Northern Ireland parliament (latter policy changed in 1998).
 * Saturday 15 June 1996: The IRA exploded a bomb in Manchester, which destroyed a large part of the city centre and injured 212 people. Niall Donovan (28), a Catholic man, was stabbed to death near Dungannon, County Tyrone by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
 * Thursday 20 June 1996: An IRA bomb factory was found by Gardaí in the Republic. In response the Irish government ended all contacts with Sinn Féin.
 * Sunday 7 July 1996: As part of the ongoing Drumcree conflict, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) prevented a march by Portadown Orangemen from returning from Drumcree Church via the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road. This decision was followed by widespread protest in the unionist community, and by rioting in unionist areas.
 * Thursday 11 July 1996: Hugh Annesley, then Chief Constable of the RUC, reversed his decision and ordered his officers to allow the Orange march to pass along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. No music was played as the parade passed the disputed area. This was followed by nationalist protests, and riots in republican areas.
 * Saturday 13 July 1996: A republican car-bomb attack on a hotel in Enniskillen injured 17. The Continuity Irish Republican Army later claimed responsibility. The SDLP announced that it would withdraw from the Northern Ireland Forum.
 * Monday 15 July 1996: A committee to review parades in Northern Ireland (the Independent Review of Parades and Marches) was announced.
 * Thursday 30 January 1997: The Report of the Independent Review of Parades and Marches (The North Report) recommended setting up an independent commission to review contentious parades. Most nationalists welcomed the review but unionists attacked it as an erosion of the right to freedom of assembly. A period of "further consultation" was announced.
 * Wednesday 5 March 1997: Stormont Talks adjourned until 3 June, to allow the parties to contest the forthcoming general election.
 * Monday 7 April 1997: The Belfast Telegraph published the first of three articles over three days with results of an opinion survey it conducted in collaboration with Queens University. Survey questions were developed in cooperation with the 10 leading parties in Northern Ireland. Ninety-three per cent of Protestants and 97 per cent of Catholics said they "support the principle of a negotiated settlement for the political future of Northern Ireland," but only 25 per cent of Protestants and 28 per cent of Catholics believed the "Talks" would lead to a settlement.
 * Sunday 27 April 1997: In Portadown Robert Hamill, a Catholic, was severely beaten in a sectarian attack by a gang of loyalists. Hamill later died from his injuries.
 * Thursday 1 May 1997: A general election was held across the UK. The Labour Party won a majority and formed a government for the first time since 1974. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin had increased its share of the vote to 16%, becoming the third largest party in the region, and winning two seats: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were their new MPs. The Ulster Unionist Party won 10 seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, the Democratic Unionist Party 2, and the UK Unionist Party 1.
 * Monday 12 May 1997: Sean Brown, a 61 year old father of six from Bellaghy, County Londonderry, was abducted and murdered on May 12 1997. An instructor at the Ballymena Training Centre, Mr Brown played an active role in the GAA.
 * Friday 16 May 1997: Tony Blair, the new British Prime Minister, endorsed the Framework Documents, the Mitchell Report on decommissioning, and the criteria for inclusion in all-party talks. He stated that he valued Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom, and suggested that the Republic of Ireland should amend Articles 2 and 3 of its constitution, and indicated that officials would meet Sinn Féin to clarify certain issues.
 * Wednesday 21 May 1997: In local government Elections the UUP remained the largest unionist party, and the SDLP the largest nationalist party, though they lost control of Belfast and Derry city councils respectively.
 * Sunday 1 June 1997: Gregory Taylor, an off-duty RUC constable, died following a beating he received from a loyalist mob. It was later disclosed that Taylor had used his mobile phone to try to summon help from the local police station but no car was available to come to his aid.
 * Tuesday 3 June 1997: The talks resumed at Stormont. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) were both proscribed.
 * Friday 6 June 1997: There was a general election in the Republic of Ireland. The ruling coalition government of Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left was defeated by a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats, and independent members. Sinn Féin won its first seat in the Dáil Éireann, since it had ended its policy of abstentionism in 1986.
 * 16 June 1997 Two members of the RUC, ROland John Graham and David Johnston, murdered in Lurgan.
 * Wednesday 25 June 1997: The British and Irish governments gave the IRA 5 weeks to call an unequivocal ceasefire. 6 weeks later Sinn Féin would be allowed into the talks (due to resume on 15 September).
 * Sunday 6 July 1997: The Orange Order parade at Drumcree was again permitted to go ahead, after a large operation by the RUC and British Army. This was followed by violent protests in nationalist areas.
 * Saturday 12 July 1997: After an earlier decision by the Orange Order to reroute seven of their marches, the Twelfth parades across Northern Ireland passed off peacefully.
 * Wednesday 16 July 1997: The DUP and the UKUP left the Stormont talks in protest at what they claimed was a lack of clarification by the British government on decommissioning.
 * Friday 18 July 1997: John Hume and Gerry Adams issued a joint statement. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness called on the IRA to renew its ceasefire.
 * Saturday 19 July 1997: The IRA announced the renewal of its 1994 ceasefire as of 12.00pm on 20 July 1997.

Towards agreement

 * Tuesday 26 August 1997: The British and Irish governments jointly signed an agreement to set up an Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). U2 held a concert at Botanic Gardens, in Belfast, with an audience of around 40,000.
 * Friday 29 August 1997: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Marjorie Mowlam, accepted the IRA ceasefire as genuine and invited Sinn Féin into the multi-party talks at Stormont.
 * Tuesday 9 September 1997: Representatives of Sinn Féin entered Stormont to sign a pledge that the party would abide by the Mitchell Principles.
 * Thursday 11 September 1997: The IRA said that they "would have problems with sections of the Mitchell Principles", but that what Sinn Féin decided to do "was a matter for them".
 * Thursday 11 September 1997: The Belfast Telegraph published the first of two articles over two days with results of a survey it conducted with Queens College. Survey questions were developed in cooperation with the leading parties in Northern Ireland. Ninety-two per cent of respondents (86 per cent of Protestants and 98 per cent of Catholics) said they wanted the party they support to stay in the Stormont talks.
 * Monday 15 September 1997: Multi-Party Talks resumed. The Ulster Unionist Party, the Progressive Unionist Party, and the Ulster Democratic Party instead attended a special meeting at the UUP headquarters, and re-entered the talks on Wednesday.
 * Wednesday 24 September 1997: Procedures were agreed at the Multi-party Talks, decommissioning of paramilitary weapons was sidestepped, and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was formally launched.
 * Tuesday 7 October 1997: Substantive talks began at Stormont.
 * Friday 17 October 1997: The Parades Commission was announced. Its membership and powers attracted criticism from unionists.
 * Thursday 6 November 1997: Around 12 members of Sinn Féin resigned in protest at the acceptance of the Mitchell Principles.
 * Sunday 9 November 1997: During a radio interview on the tenth anniversary of the Enniskillen bomb which killed 11 people on 8 November 1987, Gerry Adams said he was "deeply sorry about what happened".
 * Saturday 27 December 1997: Inside the Maze Prison, members of the Irish National Liberation Army shot and killed Billy Wright, the Loyalist Volunteer Force leader.
 * Saturday 10 January 1998: The Belfast Telegraph published the first of four stories over four days with results of an opinion survey it had conducted with Queens University. Questions were developed in cooperation with the major parties in Northern Ireland. Seventy per cent of Protestants said the most important step to ensure lasting peace would be to disband paramilitary groups; 78 per cent of Catholics said the most important step towards a lasting peace would be a bill of right guaranteeing equality for all.
 * Friday 23 January 1998: The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), reinstated their ceasefire. This was taken as an admission that they had been responsible for the murders of several Catholics.
 * Monday 26 January 1998: The talks moved to Lancaster House in London. The UDP were barred from the talks, following UFF/UDA involvement in three more murders. The governments stated that the UDP could re-enter the talks if the UFF maintained its renewed ceasefire.
 * Thursday 29 January 1998: Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, announced a new inquiry into "Bloody Sunday" in Derry on 30 January 1972. This inquiry became known as the Saville Inquiry. The previous inquiry was widely regarded as a whitewash.
 * Friday 20 February 1998: The British and Irish governments announced a 17-day exclusion of Sinn Féin from the talks because of IRA involvement in two killings in Belfast on 9 and 10 February 1998. Sinn Féin organised street protests over their exclusion.
 * Monday 23 March 1998: Sinn Féin agreed to rejoin the talks, following the expiry of their exclusion a fortnight before, on 9 March.
 * Tuesday 31 March 1998: The Belfast Telegraph published the first of four article over four days reporting results of a survey they conducted with Queens University. Survey questions were developed in cooperation with the leading parties in Northern Ireland. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents (74 per cent of Protestants and 81 per cent of Catholics) said they would vote 'yes' for an agreement supported by a majority of the political parties taking part in the talks.
 * Wednesday 25 March 1998: The chairman of the talks, Senator George Mitchell, set a two-week deadline for an agreement.
 * Friday 3 April 1998: The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville, an English Law Lord, opened.
 * Thursday 9 April 1998: Talks continued past the midnight deadline. Jeffrey Donaldson, who had been a member of the Ulster Unionist Party talks team walked out, causing speculation about a split in the party.
 * Good Friday, 10 April 1998: At 5.30pm (over 17 hours after the deadline) George Mitchell stated: "I am pleased to announce that the two governments and the political parties in Northern Ireland have reached agreement". It emerged later that President Clinton of the USA had made a number of telephone calls to party leaders to encourage them to reach this agreement.
 * Saturday 15 August 1998: Omagh bombing by the Real IRA resulted in 29 deaths and hundreds of injuries. It was the single worst incident in Northern Ireland during the conflict.

The agreement, known as the Good Friday Agreement, included a devolved, inclusive government, prisoner release, troop reductions, targets for paramilitary decommissioning, provisions for polls on Irish reunification, and civil rights measures and "parity of esteem" for the two communities in Northern Ireland.

The referendum campaign
The agreement was to be approved by a referendum in Northern Ireland, and a separate referendum was to be held in the Republic to approve the necessary change to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. The people of the Republic overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement, but the campaign in Northern Ireland was more controversial, and the result less predictable. The referendums were held on the same day, 22 May 1998.

The pro-agreement campaign framed the question as progress versus stalemate, as a struggle between intolerant bigots with no solutions on the one hand, and moderates with a constructive way forward on the other. The agreement was promoted to the nationalist community as delivering civil rights, inclusive government, recognition of their Irishness, and a peaceful route to Irish reunification. To the unionist community, it was presented as bringing an end to the troubles, a guaranteed end to paramilitaries and their weapons, and a guarantee of the Union for the foreseeable future. There was a massive government-funded campaign for the "Yes" vote, with large posters posted across Northern Ireland. One such poster featured five handwritten "pledges" by Prime Minister Tony Blair in an attempt to obtain the unionist "Yes" vote – this is despite the fact that none of the wording from these "pledges" was actually contained within the agreement that was being put to the electorate. These "pledges" were:

 * No change to the status of Northern Ireland without the express consent of the people
 * The power to take decisions to be returned from London to Northern Ireland, with accountable north–south co-operation
 * Fairness and equality for all
 * Those who use or threaten violence to be excluded from the government of Northern Ireland
 * Prisoners to be kept in prison unless violence is given up for good

On the republican side, the "No" campaign seemed to concentrate on the purity of the republican ideal of complete and absolute independence from Britain. In this view, any compromise, however temporary, on the goal of Irish unity (or the right to pursue the armed struggle) was depicted as a betrayal of those who had fought and died for Ireland. Decommissioning of weapons and an end to paramilitary activity was portrayed as surrender to the British. The principle of consent was represented as a unionist veto, as it meant political progress would be almost impossible without unionist participation. It was pointed out that the agreement accepted partition. The state and its institutions would remain hostile to the republican community, claimed the critics. Despite these misgivings, the vast majority of republicans voted yes, with only some tiny unrepresentative parties (such as Republican Sinn Féin) on the nationalist side advocating a No vote.

On the unionist side, the "No" campaign was much stronger and stressed what were represented as concessions to republicanism and terrorism, particularly the release of convicted paramilitaries from prison (often those who had killed friends and relatives of unionist politicians and were serving "life" sentences), the presence of "terrorists" (by which they meant Sinn Féin) in government, the lack of guarantees on decommissioning, the perceived one-way nature of the process in moving towards a united Ireland, the lack of trust in all those who would be implementing the agreement, the erosion of British identity, the destruction of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the vague language of the agreement, and the rushed nature in which the agreement was written.

It was widely expected that the nationalist community would endorse the agreement. As the vote approached, unionist opinion appeared divided into those who supported the agreement, those who opposed the agreement on principle, and those who welcomed agreement, but still had major misgivings about aspects like prisoner release and the role of paramilitaries and parties associated with them (particularly Sinn Féin). The fear among the Agreement's supporters was that there would not be a majority (or only a slim majority) of the unionist community in favour of the agreement, and that its credibility would be thereby undermined.

The votes
In the Republic of Ireland, the results of the vote to change the constitution in line with the agreement were:

In Northern Ireland, the results of the vote on the agreement were:

There is no official breakdown of how the nationalist and unionist communities voted, but CAIN, the Conflict Archive on the Internet, estimated that the overwhelming majority (up to 97%) of members of the largely Catholic nationalist community in Northern Ireland voted 'Yes'. Their estimate of the largely Protestant unionist community's support for the agreement was between 51 and 53 per cent.

Complicating matters for the calculation was the turnout, with a substantial increase over elections in many traditionally unionist areas, whilst the turnout was close to that for elections in staunch nationalist areas. Approximately 147,000 more people voted in the referendum than in the subsequent Assembly elections, though it is estimated that there was also some deliberate abstentions by hardline republican voters.

The referendum was calculated centrally so it is not clear what the geographic spread of voting was, but an exit poll found that out of all eighteen constituencies, only Ian Paisley's North Antrim stronghold voted against the Agreement.

The pro-agreement result was greeted at the time with relief by supporters of the agreement. However, the scale of sceptical and anti-agreement sentiment in the unionist community, their continued misgivings over aspects of the agreement, and differing expectations from the Agreement on the part of the two communities were to cause difficulties in the following years.

Tensions and dissident threats
Although the peace process initially progressed mostly trouble-free, tensions escalated in 2001 with increasing sectarian conflicts, rioting, political disagreements and the decommissioning process. Real IRA bombs at the BBC and a commercial district in London threatened to derail the peace process. The Holy Cross dispute in north Belfast starting in June 2001 would become a major episode of sectarian conflict. Widespread rioting occurred in July, and that same month the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) pulled out of the Good Friday Agreement whilst the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) withdrew from the "current phase" of the peace process. On 26 July two hardline Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MPs, David Burnside and Jeffrey Donaldson, both called for their party's withdrawal of supporting the new power-sharing Stormont assembly.

Much of the disturbances are thought to have been caused by the alienation of loyalists in the years following the Good Friday Agreement, who increasingly feared that the Agreement was largely in the Catholics' favour and that Irish unity was inevitable. Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid told unionists in a speech that they are "wrong" to think so, and that the Agreement would be a failure if Protestants no longer felt at home. The number of loyalist paramilitary shootings increased from 33 at the time of the Agreement to a peak of 124 in 2001/02.

On 9 September 2001 a gang of 15 Provisional IRA members kidnapped, tortured and shot two youths. Major loyalist rioting and violence broke out amid the Holy Cross dispute on 27 September. The next day, journalist Martin O'Hagan was killed by Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) members. On 13 October 2001, Reid declared the ceasefires of two loyalist paramilitary groups, Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the LVF, to be over due to their violent shooting and rioting incidents. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams urged the Provisional IRA to disarm amid Stormont's near-collapse. In December 2001, two army watchtowers were attacked in South Armagh by republicans that caused many injuries. Throughout 2002 rioting and sectarian clashes continued, the most tense incident being the clashes in Short Strand.

On 6 May 2002 Progressive Unionist Party politician David Ervine said that continuing violence, doubts among loyalists and uncertainty about the IRA has left the peace process in a "substantial and serious crisis". On 14 October 2002, the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended and direct rule from Westminster imposed.

Implementation

 * The Northern Ireland Assembly made a good start. However, it was suspended several times mainly because of unionist anger at the IRA's refusal to decommission their weapons "transparently". Elections carried on nonetheless and voting polarised towards the more radical parties – the DUP and Sinn Féin. In 2004, negotiations were held to attempt to re-establish the Assembly and the Executive. These negotiations failed but the governments believed they were very close to a deal and published their proposed deal as the Comprehensive Agreement.
 * Although the Royal Ulster Constabulary was renamed as the Police Service of Northern Ireland on 4 November 2001, Sinn Féin, the second-largest party, did not declare its acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland until 28 January 2007 as part of the St Andrews Agreement. A 2005 survey indicates that 83% of the Northern Ireland population have "some", "a lot", or "total" confidence in the police's ability to provide a day-to-day policing service.
 * No IRA weapons were decommissioned until October 2001, and the final consignment to be "put beyond use" was announced on 26 September 2005. There has also been allegations of IRA involvement in espionage at the Stormont Assembly (which prompted the UUP to collapse the Assembly), in training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas, in several high-profile murders, and allegations of major robberies such as that of approximately £1 million of goods from a wholesaler and in excess of £26 million in the Northern Bank robbery.

Endgame
In January 2005, Robert McCartney was murdered after a pub brawl by IRA members. After a high-profile campaign by his sisters and fiancée, the IRA admitted its members were responsible and offered to meet them. The McCartney sisters turned down their offer, but the episode badly damaged the standing of the IRA in Belfast.

In April 2005, Gerry Adams called for the IRA to lay down its weapons. It agreed on 28 July 2005 calling for its volunteers to use "exclusively peaceful means". It would not disband, but simply use peaceful means to achieve its aims.
 * Apart from some worn pistols from the Loyalist Volunteer Force, no other loyalist paramilitary group has decommissioned any of their weapons, and all have been involved in several murders, including major feuds, both internal and with other loyalist groups. Most Unionists maintain that the loyalist refusal is less of a stumbling block to the restoration of the assembly because, unlike the Provisional Irish Republican Army, parties with formal links to loyalist paramilitary groups do not have significant elected representation within the Assembly, despite their high levels of support. Throughout their existence, loyalist paramilitaries have been described by some (including Taoiseach Albert Reynolds) as "reactionary", i.e., that they respond to the attacks of republican groups, and some commentators claim that if there were no violent republican activity, loyalist violence would cease to exist. Others contend that these claims of solely "reactionary" loyalist attacks are hard to square with the emergence of militant loyalism in the civil rights era (i.e., when the IRA was dormant), and their preference for attacks on Catholics with no paramilitary connections, rather than attacking the more dangerous members of republican organisations. In the event that full transparent decommissioning by republican paramilitaries is completed, then it is widely expected by political commentators that loyalist paramilitary organisations would be put under heavy pressure to follow suit.
 * While killings and bombings have been almost eliminated, "lower level" violence and crime, including "punishment" beatings, extortion and drug dealing continue, particularly in loyalist areas. Paramilitary organisations are still perceived to have considerable control in some areas, particularly the less affluent. Details of the perceived current level of activity by paramilitary organisations were published in a 2005 report by the Independent Monitoring Commission.

On 28 July 2005, the IRA announced the end of its armed campaign, and committed to the complete decommissioning of all its weapons, which was to be witnessed by both Catholic and Protestant clergymen. The statement was first read by veteran IRA militant Séanna Walsh in a video released to the public and contained the following text:

The IICD confirmed in its final report of September 2005 that the IRA had decommissioned all of its weapons. The definitive end of The Troubles and thus of the Peace Process came in 2007. Following the St Andrews Agreement of October 2006, and March 2007 elections, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin formed a government in May 2007. In July 2007, the British Army formally ended Operation Banner, their mission in Northern Ireland which began 38 years earlier, in 1969.

On 8 December 2007, while visiting President Bush in the White House with the Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First Minister, said to the press "Up until the 26 March this year, Ian Paisley and I never had a conversation about anything – not even about the weather – and now we have worked very closely together over the last seven months and there's been no angry words between us. ... This shows we are set for a new course."

Consultative Group on the Past
The Consultative Group on the Past was an independent group established to consult across the community in Northern Ireland on the best way to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

The Group stated its terms of reference as: "To consult across the community on how Northern Ireland society can best approach the legacy of the events of the past 40 years; and to make recommendations, as appropriate, on any steps that might be taken to support Northern Ireland society in building a shared future that is not overshadowed by the events of the past."

The Group was co-chaired by the Most Rev. Dr. Robin Eames (Lord Eames), the former Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, and Denis Bradley, and published its report in January 2009.

Whilst the group met MI5 and the UVF, the Provisional IRA refused to meet with the group.

The Group published its recommendations on 28 January 2009 in a 190-page report, containing more than 30 recommendations, expected to cost in total £300m. The report recommended setting up a 5-year Legacy Commission, a Reconciliation Forum to aid the existing commission for victims and survivors, and a new historical case review body. The report concluded the Legacy Commission should make proposals on how "a line might be drawn", but omitted proposals for an amnesty. Additionally, it was proposed that no new Public Inquiries be held, and an annual Day of Reflection and Reconciliation and a shared memorial to the conflict. A controversial proposal to pay the relatives of all victims killed in the Troubles, including the families of paramilitary members, £12,000, as a "recognition payment", caused disruption to the report's launch by protesters. This estimated cost of this part of the proposal was £40m.

title: Northern Ireland peace process


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Prime rate

A prime rate or prime lending rate is an interest rate used by banks, usually the interest rate at which banks lend to customers with good credit. Some variable interest rates may be expressed as a percentage above or below prime rate.

United States and Canada
Interest rates.webp

]] Historically, in North American banking, the prime rate was the actual interest rate, although this is no longer the case. The prime rate varies little among banks and adjustments are generally made by banks at the same time, although this does not happen frequently. the prime rate was 8.50% in the United States and 7.20% in Canada.

In the United States, the prime rate runs approximately 300 basis points (or 3 percentage points) above the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans made to fulfill reserve funding requirements. The Federal funds rate plus a much smaller increment is frequently used for lending to the most creditworthy borrowers, as is LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times per year to set a target for the federal funds rate.

Prior to December 17, 2008, the Wall Street Journal followed a policy of changing its published prime rate when 23 out of 30 of the United States' largest banks changed their prime rates. Recognizing that fewer, larger banks now control most banking assets (that is, it is more concentrated), the Journal now publishes a rate reflecting the base rate posted by at least 70% of the top ten banks by assets.

Malaysia
Effective January 2, 2015, the Base Lending Rate (BLR) structure was replaced with a new Base Rate (BR) system. Under BR, which will now serve as the main reference rate for new retail floating rate loans, banks in Malaysia can determine their interest rate based on a formula set by Bank Negara, the Malaysian central bank.

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has set a group-wide base rate at 3.2%, effective Jan 2, 2015. All new retail loans and financing such as mortgages, unit trust loans, share margin financing, personal financing and overdraft facilities which are applied for by individual customers will be based on the base rate. Though certain banks may be setting a higher BR compared to others, they can sometimes offer lower ELR to customers in order to remain competitive. Loans that are already approved and extended prior to January 2, 2015 will still follow the old BLR until the end of the loan tenure.

Uses
The prime rate is used often as an index in calculating rate changes to adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) and other variable rate short-term loans. It is used in the calculation of some private student loans. Many credit cards and home equity lines of credit with variable interest rates have their rate specified as the prime rate (index) plus a fixed value commonly called the spread or margin.

title: Prime rate


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University of Buckingham

The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983.

Buckingham was closely linked to Margaret Thatcher, who as Education Secretary oversaw the creation of the university college in 1973, and as Prime Minister was instrumental in elevating it to a university in 1983; thus creating the first private university in the UK since the establishment of the University Grants Committee in 1919. When she retired from politics in 1992, Margaret Thatcher became the university's second chancellor, a post she held until 1998. Buckingham's finances for teaching operate entirely on student fees and endowments; it does not receive direct state funding (via the Office for Students or Research England) although its students can receive student loans from the Student Loans Company. It has formal charity status as a not-for-profit institution dedicated to the ends of research and education.

History
Some of the founding academics migrated from the University of Oxford, disillusioned or wary of aspects of the late-1960s ethos. On 27 May 1967, The Times published a letter from J. W. Paulley, a physician, who wrote: "'Is it now time to examine the possibility of creating at least one university in this country on the pattern of [the] great private foundations in the USA'." Three London conferences followed which explored this idea.

The university was incorporated as the "University College of Buckingham" in 1976 and received its royal charter as a university from the Queen in 1983. As of May 2016, it is the only private university in the UK with a royal charter.

Its development was influenced by the Institute of Economic Affairs, in particular, Harry Ferns and Ralph Harris, heads of the institute. The university's foundation-stone was laid by Margaret Thatcher, who became the university's chancellor between 1993 and 1998.

The university's vice-chancellors have been: Lord Beloff, former Gladstone Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford; Alan Peacock, founder of the economics department at the University of York and Fellow of the British Academy; Michael Barrett; Richard Luce, now Lord Luce, former Minister for the Arts; Robert Taylor; Terence Kealey; Anthony Seldon and James Tooley.

From 2004, students at Buckingham have been eligible for government student loans, which led to an increase in UK students at the university.

Campus
Near the centre of the town of Buckingham is the riverside campus, which is partly contained within a south-turning bend of the River Great Ouse. Here, on or just off Hunter Street, are some of the university's central buildings: Yeomanry House; the Anthony de Rothschild building (which contains Humanities); the Humanities Library; and also some of the student accommodation, looking northwards across the river. Prebend House, a recently restored Georgian house, contains the Vice-Chancellor's office. On the other side of Hunter Street, on the so-called 'island', is the Tanlaw Mill, one of the university's social centres; with the main refectory, the Fitness Centre, and the Students' Union Office.

Overlooking this site, on the hill above, is the extensive Chandos Building. This complex contains the Medical School. It also houses the Ian-Fairburn Lecture Theatre, the largest lecture theatre on the river-side site.

Further on, up the hill, on the London Road, is another element of the campus, in particular the schools of Law and Computing, which is housed in the Franciscan Building, surrounded by other student accommodation blocks. This is opposite the swimming pool and leisure centre. The university has been expanding in recent years. It has acquired a new site on the west side of the river, which will increase the capacity of the river-side campus as a whole.

Chancellor
On 24 February 2020, Dame Mary Archer was installed as chancellor of the university.

Former chancellors were Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone (from 1973 to 1993), Baroness Margaret Thatcher (from 1993 to 1998), Martin Jacomb (from 1999 to 2010), Lord Tanlaw (from 2010 to 2013), and Lady Keswick (from 2014 to 2020).

Vice-chancellor
Since October 2020, the vice-chancellor is Professor James Tooley.

Teaching
The university's schools (faculties) are: Business, Computing, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Law, Medicine, Postgraduate Medicine and Allied Health, Psychology, and the Foundation Department. Each of these is presided over by a dean.

The quality of the university's provision is maintained, as at other UK universities, by an external examiner system (i.e., professors from other universities oversee and report on exams and marking), by an academic advisory council (comprising a range of subject-specialist academics from other universities), and by membership of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

The university was created as a liberal arts college, and still describes itself as such, although in an interview with The Guardian in 2003, then-vice-chancellor Terence Kealey remarked that it had "become a vocational school for law and business for non-British students, because that's where the market has taken us". Consequently, major humanities subjects such as history and politics are no longer offered as stand-alone degrees, instead being combined with economics as a degree in international studies. Economics, however, is available as a stand-alone degree as is English literature, as a single honours subject, and in combinations with English Language, or Journalism, and related areas.

Some degree programmes at Buckingham, Law for example, place greater emphasis on exams as an assessment method rather than coursework, but in general its degree programmes balance assessment between exams and coursework.

School of Medicine
The Medical School offers a 4.5 year MB ChB medical degree, accredited by the General Medical Council. Other medical courses are offered in the School of Postgraduate Medicine and Allied Health. The school opened in 2015 as the first private medical school in the UK (since the establishment of the UGC in 1919), in partnership with the Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust.

"Alternative" medicine
The university ran a diploma course in "integrated medicine" that was later withdrawn under pressure from David Colquhoun, a campaigner against pseudoscience and alternative medicine. The Dean of the School, Karol Sikora, was a Foundation Fellow of Prince Charles's now-defunct alternative medicine lobby group, The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health, and is Chair of the Faculty of Integrated Medicine, which is unaffiliated with any university but also includes Rosy Daniel and Mark Atkinson, who co-ordinated Buckingham's "integrated medicine" course. Daniel has been criticised by David Colquhoun for breaches of the Cancer Act 1939, regarding claims she made for Carctol, a herbal dietary supplement with no utility in treating cancer. Andrew Miles is on the scientific council of the College of Medicine an alternative medicine lobby group linked to the then Prince of Wales. Sikora is also a "professional member" of this organisation. The degree was stripped of validation by the University of Buckingham prior to the first graduation.

School of Postgraduate Medicine and Allied Health
Postgraduate medical courses and non-clinical allied health courses are offered in a separate school from the clinical medical degree. The School of Postgradaute Medicine and Allied Health offers postgraduate Master of Surgery and Master of Medicine programmes aimed at overseas-qualified doctors preparing for the General Medical Council's Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board in order to practice in the UK.

School of Education
The Department of Education has two aspects, research and vocational: it conducts research into education and school provision, and also maintains various PGCE courses for teacher training. The Department of Education has been home to some of the most prominent educationalists in Britain, including the late Chris Woodhead (former head of Ofsted) and Anthony O'Hear (director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy). Its postgraduate certificate in education – which deals with both the state and the independent sector – is accredited with Qualified Teacher Status which means that it also qualifies graduates to teach in the state sector.

School of Business
The University of Buckingham has a business school which offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications for students.

The dean of the school is Debarpita Bardhan-Correia. A range of undergraduate and postgraduate business, entrepreneurship, accounting and finance degrees are offered by the Business School.

There are a number of lecturers including many BLEU (Buckingham Lean Enterprise Unit) certified ones, which are individuals who have completed a MSc with the university since 1999. There are also a number of lecturers who are CIM certified.

Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship
On 28 November 2018 the University of Buckingham opened the Vinson Building, a multi-purposed facility for use by Buckingham's students and the local community. The university's Business Enterprise undergraduates and businesses that are members of Buckinghamshire Business First use the Buckingham Enterprise Hub, which is located in the Vinson Building.

Degrees
The university offers traditional degrees over a shorter than usual time-frame. Students at Buckingham study for eight terms over two years, rather than nine terms over three, which (with extra teaching) fits a three-year degree into two years. (The MBChB course lasts 4.5 years.)

Because Buckingham's degrees take two years to complete, students view its degrees as cost-effective compared to other UK university courses, once the income from an extra year's employment is taken into account. In some subject areas, notably Humanities, the university is now offering its degrees over different time-scales, i.e., the 2-year 'intensive' model, working the extra summer term per year, and the traditional 3-year model with the usual summer break each year.

External degrees and validation
The university awards undergraduate and graduate (Masters/MBA) degrees to students who have studied at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology.

The university validated courses in medicine at Medipathways College, a small private college based in London. Medipathways operates dentistry and medicine courses. In late 2014 Medipathways was found by the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency 'to be at serious risks of failure'; the university disagreed with the assessment. The company was wound up in September 2019.

Research
The Humanities Research Institute includes academics working in a range of disciplines, particularly military history, security studies, political history, the history of art, 19th-century literature and social history.

Alan Smithers runs the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER), from within the School of Humanities.

From the English department, John Drew runs Dickens Journals Online, the project which has put the whole of Dickens's journalistic output on free-access on the web.

Reputation and rankings
The university was awarded the Times/Sunday Times University of the Year for Teaching Quality 2015–16 in 2015, at which time it ranked 38th in the Times/Sunday Times league table. The university is not listed in the Guardian University Guide. The Complete University Guide has seen a steady decline in Buckingham's ranking, from 20th in 2011 to 107th in the 2020 table. The University of Buckingham had fallen again to 123rd out of 130 universities in the University League Tables 2022. It was ranked 17th for graduate employability in 2015. It was ranked joint second for student satisfaction in the 2018 National Student Survey, however a fall in satisfaction in the 2019 National Student Survey saw it fall out of the top ten.

Departments
The league tables of individual subjects in The Guardian University Guide 2020, produced by The Guardian newspaper, ranked Buckingham 10th (out of 101) for Accounting and Finance, 18th (out of 119) for Business Management and Marketing, 6th (out of 71) for Economics, 12th (out of 105) for English and Creative Writing, 28th (out of 101) for Law, and 51st (out of 116) for Psychology. It is noted as teaching Computer Science and Information Systems, History, History of Art, Medicine, and Politics, but not ranked in the subjects.

The subject league tables in the Complete University Guide 2020 ranked Buckingham 79th for Accounting and Finance, 76th for Business & Management, 82nd for Computer Science, 52nd for Economics, 73rd for English, 49th for Law, 73rd for Politics, and 92nd for Psychology. in 2022 Economics had fallen to 69th.

Quality assurance
Buckingham has been reviewed voluntarily by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) from 2001. The QAA indicated it had "limited confidence" in the university's management of academic standards in 2008, as the external academic advisory council had "come to see itself as part of the Buckingham academic community" and "serious concerns about academic standards [had] been flagged by external examiners". The university was subsequently judged to "meet UK expectations" in its 2012 review. In 2015 the QAA found that Buckingham had failed to follow the university's regulations on academic misconduct with respect to possible plagiarism by students. An "alternative providers" (i.e. private universities) review by the QAA in 2017 found again that Buckingham met UK expectations in all areas.

In June 2017 the university was judged by the Teaching Excellence Framework panel to be "of the highest quality found in the UK" and given a gold award.

In December 2022, England’s higher education regulator OfS (Office for Students) fined the university for publishing its 2019 audited accounts two years late, citing a "“significant regulatory risk”. The auditors of the accounts noted "“the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group’s and the university’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The 2020 and 2021 accounts had to that date not been published.

University of Buckingham Press
The University of Buckingham Press publishes in the areas of law, education, and business through its journal articles, books, reports and other material. In 2006 the press relaunched The Denning Law Journal and it is now available in print and its whole archive is online.

It also publishes three other journals: The Buckingham Journal of Language and Linguistics, The Journal of Prediction Markets, and The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics. It has a co-publishing arrangement with Policy Exchange for its Foundations series.

Notable alumni
British alumni include Bader Ben Hirsi, playwright and director; The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE, MP for Great Yarmouth, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; Mark Lancaster, Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton, former Armed Forces minister; Graham Roos, appointed in 2011 as the university's first Creative Artist in Residence; James Henderson (former CEO of Bell Pottinger); Michael Ellis, MP for Northampton, serving Minister for the Cabinet Office since 2022 and Paymaster General since 2021.

International alumni include Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia from April 2009 to May 2018. Mohammadin Ketapi, a government minister in Malaysia; Pravind Jugnauth, MP in the National Assembly of Mauritius, former Deputy Prime Minister, and leader of one of Mauritius's main parties, the Militant Socialist Movement; Mahamudu Bawumia, Current Vice-President of Ghana, since 7 January 2016, and former deputy Governor of The Bank of Ghana; Lawyer Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Member of the Parliament of Effutu (Ghana parliament constituency); Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Governor of Osun State, Nigeria; racing driver Marc Gené, winner of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 2009; Mariano Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Graetz, current head of the Austria-Italian, House of Windisch-Graetz; BMW heiress, Susanne Hanna Ursula Klatten;  and Yosef Elron (a current Justice at the Supreme Court of Israel).

Notable academics

 * Past

 * Norman P. Barry (1944–2008), political philosopher
 * Anne Beloff-Chain (1921–1991), biochemist
 * Mark Blaug (1927–2011), economist
 * Bruce Charlton, Visiting Professor of Theoretical Medicine (retired)
 * Olufemi Elias, lecturer in law (retired)
 * Robert Garner, political scientist
 * John Jewkes (1902–1988), economist
 * Geraint Jones, dean of School of Education, 2014–2018
 * Terence Kealey (born 1952), former Vice-Chancellor
 * Andrew George Lehmann (1922–2006), Professor of European Studies
 * Ram Mudambi, lecturer in business strategy
 * Dennis O'Keeffe (1939–2014), Professor of Social Science
 * Sir Alan Peacock (1922–2014), economist
 * Robert A. Pearce (born 1951), Professor in Law 1990–2003
 * Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor, 2015–2020
 * Nicolaus Tideman (born 1943), economist
 * Chris Woodhead (1946–2015), professor of education
 * Sir David Yardley (1929–2014), Rank Foundation Professor of Law 1980–1982

 * Present

 * Susanna Avery-Quash, art historian
 * Hugh Belsey, art historian
 * Lloyd Clark, military historian
 * Saul David, military historian
 * John M. L. Drew, Professor of English Literature
 * Gert-Rudolf Flick, Visiting Professor in art history
 * Simon Sebag Montefiore, Visiting Professor in humanities
 * Julian Morris, Visiting Professor in economics
 * Anthony O'Hear, Professor of Philosophy
 * Jane Ridley, professor of modern history
 * Karol Sikora, Professor of Medicine
 * Alan Smithers, Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research
 * James Tooley (born 1959), Vice-Chancellor

title: University of Buckingham