First and formost i want to apologize if this thread already exists because I did create it however it doesn't seem to have apeared and I can't find it anywhere, but if it has please close down this thread, but I made this one just in case.

I need help with my history coursework (GCSE) where the question is "Why did the IRA ceasefire in august 1994?". The annoying thing is our school is only letting us do it in school in timed conditions and we only get one hour. Anyway I need to write about the factors and how they all relate to each other and how without one factor another owuld wouldn't of happened or made a difference. The thing is i can only name three, the role of idivuduals, the failure of military tactics and the success of the political campaign. What other ones are there and how do they all connect?

Thankyou very much in advance.

1. Many bombs actually lost the PIRA public support, especially in the USA (where the money came from), and they also gave loyalist paramilitaries an excuse to kill Catholics in revenge. A number of failures in 1987-8 weakened the PIRA – particularly the capture by French customs men of the ship Eksund, with a large cargo of weapons.
2. The Anglo-Irish Agreement had improved cross-border security, and made it easier for Britain to extradite IRA terrorists.
3. Gerry Adams had been holding secret talks with John Hume since 1988. In 1991, Hume took their proposals to the new Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, who enthusiastically adopted them. Reynolds then persuaded/ bullied the British Prime Minister John Major (whose official stance was that negotiating with Gerry Adams made his stomach turn).
4. On 15th December 1993, Reynolds and Major issued the Joint Declaration (sometimes called the Downing Street Declaration). The Joint Declaration was a seminal document. It said that it was for the two parts of Ireland to establish a united Ireland … if they wished, through mutual agreement. For Nationalists, this was a renunciation of the article in the Irish Constitution which claimed sovereignty over Northern Ireland.
5. By the 1990s, after 25 years of troubles, people wanted peace. Just as the Welfare State changed Ulster politics after 1945, societal developments after 1980 have helped the peace process. Although they did not have an effect at the time, people’s attitudes have been changed in the long-term by peace campaigners such as Betty Williams (who in 1976 formed a women’s peace movement called Peace People). This has been reinforced by growing war-weariness.
6. Increased prosperity has given everybody, including nationalists, ‘something to lose’. Better education, investigative reporting and 24-hour SKY-TV news also have reduced the number of people who will simply believe and do what they are told. Religion and politics have declined in importance for people; by 1993, only 10% of Ulster people attended church regularly. One 2006 survey of young people’s political interests showed their main concerns to be environmental – the troubles came very low on the list of influences.

Thankyou very much, could you please give me more details on the role of imdividuals, at the moment I'm not sure what Albert Reynolds did, specifically.

Reynolds was vital to the success of the peace process.

The basis of the ceasefire/peace was the belief of Gerry Adams and John Hume that any solution had to be an all-Ireland solution. In 1991 John Hume wrote A Strategy for Peace and Justice in Ireland. Its idea was that the British government and the Unionists should acknowledge that the Irish people might be united if there was a democratic mandate (ie the Unionists would not be forced into unity, but the north might one day voluntarily vote itself into a united ireland), and Republic of Ireland and the IRA/Sinn Fein would at the same time give up their constitutional claim to Northern Ireland (ie it would change its constitution and accept that the Unionists would not be forced to become part of a united Ireland if they didn't want to).

He took it to the Republic of Ireland government, who accepted it but didn't think it would work; and the British government outright rejected it.

Enter Albert Reynolds!
He ACCEPTED the Hume-Adams plan, and he did two things to help it succeed:
1. He persuaded President Clinton and the Americans to allow Gerry Adams to make a visit to the USA. The british government were against this, but Reynolds persuaded Clinton to ignore them. Adams visit established him as a politician (rather than a terrorist, as the British claimed) of world stature, important enough to meet the President - and if important enough to treat with the President of the USA, then surely important enought to be accepted at the megotiating table by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sulkily, the British were forced to listen to what Adams had to say.
2. He took a revised version of the Hume-Adams Plan (the 'Joint Declaration') to the British Prime Minister John Major and asked him to agree to it. Major refused. Reynolds insisted, and published the document, virtually forcing Major to agree. This then became the basis of the peace proess that followed. (You can read all about this here.)

one again thankyou but i have one more question....

Why did he pursuade Bill Clinton? What reasoning did he have for doing so?

How cynical/trusting are you?

According to Reynolds (in this must-read interview):
"My sole interest in the peace process was to try and save lives by getting the different organisations to call a halt to the killings."

And this is echoed in the statements he made at the time, when (commenting on the Loyalist ceasefire of 1994) he said:
"This decision greatly signifies the end of 25 years of violence, and the closure of a tragic chapter in our history. Indeed, it is my hope and my conviction that there will never be political violence on our island again.... For the first time in over 100 years, this will make a new type of politics -- a politics of consent and agreement, involving both sides equally possible in relation to the North.... We must now all work for the consolidation of peace and for a demilitarization of the entire situation."

If you are more cynical, you might believe with this website that he did it for fame and political cuedos:
"In the 26 counties Albert Reynolds was eager to seize the mantle of the Taoiseach who brought peace to Ireland. On the day of the cease-fire we were treated to a nauseous broadcast by him telling us how he had made the country safe for the little children."

Some politicians just enjoy playing on the world stage, which is where advancing the peace process certainly propelled Reynolds.

Personally, I go with the genuine; you would be surprised how many politicians went into politics because they wanted to do good (though the fame is not unwelcome if it happens).

Okay thank you very much, you have been very helpful.