North talks face another count

Peace process dealt another blow as IRA accused of being behind £26.5m bank heist, writes Dan McGinn.

THE NORTH’S bid for stable devolved government received another body blow yesterday after Chief Constable Hugh Orde said he believed the IRA carried out the £26.5 million bank heist.

Like a boxer in a gruelling 15-round contest, talks aimed at securing power-sharing have been battered and bruised since the Good Friday Agreement was forged in 1998. But the process has also shown remarkable resilience and an ability to get itself off the ropes at times of crisis.

The first punch came in February 2000 when Peter Mandelson, as Northern Secretary, suspended the fledgling power-sharing Executive during a row over the IRA’s refusal to disarm.

In August 2001, the process suffered another serious blow with the arrest of three Irish republicans - Martin McCauley, James Monaghan and Niall Connolly - in Colombia.

The Executive was sent crashing to the floor in October 2002 with a double-whammy of allegations about a republican spy ring at Stormont and the IRA breaking into a Special Branch office in Belfast eight months earlier.

But throughout these crises, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern have refused to throw in the towel, insisting republicans must end forever their twin-track approach of the Armalite and the ballot box.

November 2003 Assembly elections saw Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble replaced by Ian Paisley as the leading voice in his community.

But contrary to many people’s expectations, the Democratic Unionist Party has entertained in talks the idea of going into government with Sinn Féin while at the same time maintaining its policy of not engaging directly with republicans.

A previously unthinkable deal between Sinn Féin and the DUP was agonisingly close before Christmas but stumbled over the IRA’s refusal to accept a demand for photographic evidence of decommissioning.

Even after those talks, officials in London and Dublin were still holding out hope that a deal could be achieved early this year.

However, yesterday’s statement from the chief constable looks to have put paid to all of that. Mr Paisley has discussed the chief constable’s statement with Downing Street ahead of a meeting with the prime minister next week. DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson claimed the IRA’s involvement in the bank heist had raised the bar for republicans in the process.

“It was a clear and unambiguous statement from the chief constable which points the finger directly at the republican movement,” the East Belfast MP declared. “They will not be able to dodge or duck the consequences.” It also causes problems for future DUP involvement in talks involving Sinn Féin.

Republican sources were glum. With the IRA furiously denying it was behind the robbery, a source said: “Hugh Orde’s comments mean any attempt this side of the election to resurrect a deal will be on hold until after the next general election. There is huge anger in our constituency about what has happened. Given the antagonism towards this process among securocrats in the British system, there was always the potential they would try and blame the IRA for something.”

The North’s talks have been knocked to the floor and facing another count. Only Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern can decide if that count reaches 10.

What they said...

“On the basis of the investigative work we have done to date, evidence we have collected and exhibits we have collected and bringing that all together and working through it, in my opinion the Provisional IRA were responsible for this crime.” - PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde.

“I think it is unlikely that we will be able to get a resolution along the lines of what we agreed back before Christmas. I do not think that is realistic between now and the election. I do not think it is the end of the process... We have gone too far down the line for that.” - Northern Secretary Paul Murphy.

“It’s a serious setback....and a matter of some concern that an operation of this magnitude was being planned at a time when I was in negotiations with the leaders of the organisation involved.” - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

“The Prime Minister takes this development very seriously.” - Spokesman for Tony Blair.

“The Taoiseach should immediately reverse his ill-judged decision to release the killers of Jerry McCabe. This was a concession which he granted to Sinn Féin while their IRA colleagues were putting the finishing touches to the plan for the biggest robbery in the history of Ireland and Britain.” - Fine Gael Senator Brian Hayes.

“Are democrats going to continue to be held to ransom because the IRA can’t keep its fingers out of the till?” - Alliance Party’s Seamus Close.

“It’s all very well attributing blame to the Provisional IRA but if investigating detectives do not bring in every member of the IRA Army Council including the Sinn Féin leadership for interrogation, then the PSNI will not be carrying out its investigating role as a professional police service.” - Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside.

“Within days of the robbery at the Northern Bank, and following media speculation and PSNI briefings, which suggested IRA involvement, I asked the IRA about this and was assured that they were not involved.” - Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness.

“What Hugh Orde did was give an opinion, based on what he called intelligence, that the Provisional IRA was involved in this. ” - The IRA have said they were not involved.

He has not produced a single iota of evidence.” - Sinn Féin’s Northern Ireland Assembly member Gerry Kelly.

“Gerry Adams has betrayed the Prime Minister personally.” - Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble.

“The government has a choice here: they can either suspend the entire political process in Northern Ireland and we all sit and wait around for Sinn Féin to come clean... or we can get on with the business of governing in Northern Ireland.” - DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson.

“We have always known that this would be difficult. Today’s events only confirm the scale of the task still ahead.” - Nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan.