Frustration palpable as DUP demands on agreement halt talks
HOUSE-BUYERS will understand the frustrations of those attending Leeds Castle over the weekend.
Moving into your new dream home is never as easy as it seems, as there are other people house hunting at the same time and you need all the elements in the chain to fall seamlessly into place in sequence. If the seller can’t vacate their house, then that blocks the buyer from moving.
Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair are effectively auctioneers trying to sell accommodation in Stormont Castle to a number of dysfunctional and rival families.
To be as helpful as possible Brian Cowen and Paul Murphy have lined up the mortgage approval, furniture removal, interior decorating and even the legal papers.
The hitch previously was getting Gerry Adams cousins in the IRA to leave their bunker residences and dispose of their unfashionable ornaments.
Yet at the weekend when agreement was effectively reached on overcoming this difficulty, another obstacle emerged when Ian Paisley said he would move into the castle with everyone else but wanted to retain control of access to the communal living room.
Rather than guns, the issues now seem to be revolve around Government and instead of paramilitarism, it’s now politics.
The sticking point upon which an historic agreement fell appeared to be the DUP’s demands for changes to the Good Friday Agreement and the running of Stormont, particularly the issue of the accountability of ministers.
The frustration was palpable as the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister confirmed that three days of talks aimed at restoring the power sharing Government in Northern Ireland had ended without agreement.
Typical of Northern Ireland, just when it seemed that all the pieces of the jigsaw were fitting into place, it wasn’t possible to reach agreement on the institutional issues of the assembly.
The Taoiseach summed up the mood when he sarcastically concluded, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, by thanking Mr Blair for what he described as “three splendid days at Leeds Castle”.
While the location was picturesque there was nothing genteel about the discussions inside the castle as the ferocity of the exchanges reportedly almost lifted the paint off the walls and the officials being startled by the colourful language emerging from the governments’ side.
Although there was a real prospect of reaching agreement, the process faltered at the final hurdle so the governments must retain the hope that the momentum can be maintained over the coming days when Mr Cowen and Mr Murphy reconvene talks at Stormont. The Taoiseach and Mr Blair remain on standby if a genuine conclusion nears.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is expected to move in the Cabinet reshuffle next week, so being a key player in crafting a definitive deal would be a fine swansong after five years.
Giving his version of events inside the Tudor buildings at Leeds Castle, Gerry Adams said the DUP didn’t even engage or negotiate in the talks and that Mr Blair had to persuade Mr Paisley to do the deal.
The warning from Mr Blair that if agreement is not reached then a different way of moving the peace process forward will be found still remains but the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland secretary will continue tomorrow to try to clinch a deal so tantalisingly close.
The talks were not a complete waste of time though as both Mr Ahern and Mr Blair agreed that progress had been made on arms decommissioning.
The governments virtually achieved a commitment from the IRA on total disarmament. Sinn Féin was handed a memo by the governments outlining all the elements required in a definitive statement from the IRA, including details on the remaining arsenal to be put beyond use. The details were generally accepted by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and decommissioning could have been completed by Christmas, along with an end to IRA activity.
The return of devolution is predicated upon the IRA giving up its arms so the first element of the equation was quite firmly ready to be put into place. The reciprocal arrangement was that the unionists would agree to share power with Nationalists and Republicans as laid out in the Good Friday Agreement.
The offer on the table wasn’t enough to entice Ian Paisley. The DUP insisted there would have to be major changes to the Good Friday Agreement with profound implications for the power-sharing nature of a devolved Northern Ireland government.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
