Ahern warns DUP: reforms will continue without deal

THE Taoiseach has warned that the Irish and British Governments will implement those sections of the Good Friday Agreement that do not require the elected institutions to be up and running if the DUP continue to stall the talks.

Bertie Ahern said that the governments will jointly press ahead next month on matters such as the anti-discrimination elements of the Agreement, cross-border cooperation, amnesties for on-the-run prisoners and dismantling of British army observation posts.

The Taoiseach made his statement after a brief discussion with the British prime minister Tony Blair in Rome yesterday where they attended the signing of the European Constitution.

Discussions over the past two weeks yielded little progress and Mr Ahern said the deadline to complete the current phase of talks is the first anniversary of the last Assembly elections on November 25.

However, he warned time was running out because some key people would be missing next week.

He said that while he was addressing both the DUP and Sinn Féin, he was mainly concerned with the DUP. His message to them was: “There is no going back to the old ways.”

He added there would be no return to majority rule, both governments are committed to co-partnership and there would be no deviation from this.

He also claimed that the Good Friday Agreement is indispensable and is the only way that the divided society of the North can be addressed.

The governments are not going to dilute the Agreement in any way, the Taoiseach added. If talks on the current phrase are not completed successfully in the next few weeks, they will simply move onto the next phase.

“There will not be any divergence. We will press on if we do not have a deal by the anniversary,” he said.

Mr Ahern also said that there were people in the DUP who wanted a deal now, those who do not want to do anything until after the election in Britain and others who do not want to do a deal at all.

But he said Ian Paisley had been very helpful and constructive.

But his message to all sides was clear: “They have to understand that the governments are together in this and will move on.”