Elections delay a ‘slap in the face’

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams yesterday called for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to reconsider the postponement of Northern Assembly elections, saying there was no reason they couldn’t be held as soon as next month.

Speaking from Westminster, Mr Adams branded Mr Blair’s decision to postpone the Stormont elections a slap in the face of the Good

Friday Agreement. “It’s as if the rule book of conflict resolution has been torn up,” he said.

Rejecting British demands for more clarity, Mr Adams said the IRA had made significant progress.

“Our view is that Mr Blair should reverse his decision on the elections, that he should enable them to go ahead as soon as possible. In fact there is no reason, and no credible excuse, why there cannot be elections in June.

“There are IRA statements and it is clear from them that there is an IRA leadership which is determined there will be no activities that will undermine in any way the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

Speaking as the Dáil reconvened yesterday, Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín O’Caoláin accused the governments of engaging in a charade. Mr O’Caoláin also charged the Government of dereliction of duty.

Responding angrily to the allegations, Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen said such talk would do nothing to solve the peace process.

“I will not have my good faith questioned by anyone inside or outside this house,” he said.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern reiterated his view that calling off the elections caused more problems than it solved, but was careful to maintain the close partnership he has developed with Mr Blair.

Mr Ahern also said the latest IRA statement, released on Tuesday night, could have been helpful had it been released earlier.

However, he repeated his commitment to the Joint Declaration. Labour’s Pat Rabbitte said he had difficulty with the postponement of elections.

“It is unacceptable in any normal scheme of things that the people can be arbitrarily deprived of the right to vote,” he said.

Yet the Labour leader admitted he would also have sought clarification from the IRA given the wording of their statements. Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny said the party was deeply disappointed by the suspension of elections but

understood why it was necessary.

Mr Kenny also emphasised that republicans had still not gone far enough.

“Their language is promising but they do not contain the levels of comfort and reassurance required by the governments or pro-agreement unionism at this critical stage,” he said.