Power-sharing in hands of republicans, says Robinson

POWER-SHARING cannot be restored in the North until it is certain that IRA criminality is at an end, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) told an Anglo-Irish political conference in Kerry yesterday.

In a forceful address to the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, deputy leader Peter Robinson made it clear the DUP, the biggest party in the North, would not be "bullied" into dealing with Sinn Féin before it was ready to.

Even when it reached that stage, the DUP would first need to consult with the unionist community before sitting down with Sinn Féin, Mr Robinson said effectively to get the go-ahead to govern with Gerry Adams's party. This consultation period would take weeks rather than months, he said.