Catholic nationalists could have kept the post, and the balance of power, once they had it.

Catholic nationalists, who want closer ties with the Irish Republic, as well as Protestant unionists, who want to remain part of Britain, have condemned the attacks.

Catholic nationalists could be and were arrested with little suspicion, detained, frequently beaten, and all with little or no possibility of redress.

Residential areas are more segregated between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists than ever.

Among the mostly Catholic nationalists, Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, displaced the Social Democratic and Labor Party.

A 1998 peace agreement largely ended more than three decades of violence between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists and predominantly Protestant unionists who want the province to remain British.

The Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders are fiercely pro-British groups that have carried out bomb attacks on Catholic nationalists.

The plan carves out common ground acceptable to pro-British Unionists, who are mainly Protestants, and the mainly Catholic nationalists who want to unite the region with Ireland.

In essence, Irish Catholic nationalists aspire to be part of the Republic of Ireland, while Protestant unionists wish to preserve their ties with Great Britain.

Catholic nationalists, who want all of Ireland united, point out that the agreement stipulates only disarmament by May 2000.