Tony Blair's Handwritten Pledges

Details

Location

Coleraine

Year

1998

Date

Production 20/05/1998

Length

02min 22sec

Audio

sound

Format

Digibeta

colour

Source

Digitised as part of the BFI Heritage 2022 project.

Courtesy

British Film Institute, ITV, UTV Archive

Rights Holder

ITV

It is illegal to download, copy, print or otherwise utilise in any other form this material, without written consent from the copyright holder.

Description

Mark McFadden reports for UTV Live on a famous speech during the referendum campaign. As part of the campaign to vote in favour of the Good Friday Agreement, Tony Blair visits the University of Ulster campus at Coleraine and makes a memorable contribution to iconography of an historic series of events.

The prime minister unveils a series of pledges to those in the Unionist community thinking of voting No, and presents them on a large board in his own handwriting. These pledges contain his personal assurance that there will never be a change to Northern Ireland's position in the United Kingdom without the consent of the majority of its people.

Among other pledges, there are also assurances that anyone endorsing violence will be excluded from the new institutions and that paramilitary prisoners will remain in jail until violence is given up for good. Blair pays tribute to the leadership of David Trimble and urges voters to grasp the opportunity before them, saying, "I don't know if the chance will come again, this generation, if we turn our back on it now." Blair's attempt to win over those wavering bears some instant results. Present at the event is David McNarry of the Orange Order, who announces that he is convinced by Blair's pledge and that he will back the Agreement.

Credits

An Ulster Television Production.
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