The Remarriage Majority
The most consequential all-island development came on 22 February, when Bruton and British Prime Minister John Major launched two closely connected Framework Documents in Belfast. A Framework for Accountable Government in Northern Ireland outlined possible devolved institutions within Northern Ireland. A New Framework for Agreement addressed relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic, as well as those between the British and Irish governments. They were proposals rather than an agreed settlement, but their importance lay in putting constitutional relationships, North–South machinery and power-sharing on the same agenda.