Sinn Féin welcomes DUP’s ‘advance’ on Good Friday Agreement

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s belief that the Democratic Unionist Party accepts the fundamental principles of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was a highly significant advance, Sinn Féin said yesterday.

The party's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said, if true, it represented a "huge statement" and if DUP leader Ian Paisley was prepared to reach agreement, so would Sinn Féin.

His upbeat assessment of last week's historic first official meeting between the DUP and the Irish Government in Dublin was qualified, however.

"It's something the people of Ireland, nationalists and unionists need to think very carefully about. If the DUP are up for a deal then we too are up for a deal but that deal has to be on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement.

"So maybe there is some kind of common ground there that we need to work towards. We certainly are prepared to do that but we have to be faithful to the Agreement," he said.

Mr McGuinness was speaking after a six-strong delegation from the party, led by Gerry Adams, met the Taoiseach and the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, for 90 minutes at St Luke's in Drumcondra yesterday morning.

Mr Adams confirmed afterwards that he had raised concerns about the fundamentals of the GFA, repeating his weekend remarks that both the Irish and British governments had acquiesced to the Unionist agenda.

He was worried, he said, that both governments were moving towards presenting the DUP stance as a reasonable one.

"The DUP obviously have concerns that we are very open to but equality is the watchword," he said.

Dermot Ahern described the talks as constructive and useful.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the meeting had given both delegations an opportunity to look at a range of issues that may form part of a comprehensive agreement.

The Department spokeswoman later confirmed that the new Minister, Mr Ahern, would be meeting the Northern Secretary Paul Murphy within the next week or ten days. Mr Murphy is still recovering after taking ill at the Labour Party conference in Brighton last week.

Government sources reiterated that they will not contemplate any change to the fundamental architecture of the GFA and that the review will concentrate on the problem issues that emerged at the unsuccessful Leeds Castle talks last month those surrounding the workings of Strand Two and Strand Tree of the Agreement, accountability and differences between the parties over the election process for First Minister and Deputy First Minister.