Brown pledges €75bn North power-sharing ‘sweetener’

NORTHERN leaders were last night promised a multi-billion euro “sweetener” if they signed on for power-sharing.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown made the pledge after DUP and Sinn Féin leaders put on a united front with centre-ground parties to demand a “peace dividend” from British taxpayers to fund massive investment in infrastructure and enterprise.

After meeting the all-party delegation in Downing Street, Mr Brown, who is likely to become prime minister when Tony Blair stands down next year, outlined a package for the North worth around €75 billion. This included an increase in planned spending over the next four years of more than €4bn and support for a €26bn capital investment strategy until 2017.

The extra cash came after Mr Brown was warned failure to deliver could scupper hopes of restoring the Belfast Assembly.

The DUP insisted the cross-party demands for a peace dividend for the province were an “essential element” of devolution.

“This is not for us a deal maker, but it is a deal breaker, if the Chancellor is not going to come up with a package that meets the needs of Northern Ireland,” the party’s deputy leader, Peter Robinson, said.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams insisted the package should not be directly linked with progress on devolution. “It is about trying to ensure that an incoming executive has the resources to drive forward and bring about prosperity.”

UUP leader Reg Empey, said the province wanted to be independent, but it needed an upfront “contribution” to achieve that.

“We need help to get our economy back on its feet after 35 years of disturbances.”

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is holding talks with Sinn Féin in Dublin today in a bid to get them to back civil policing and endorse the St Andrews Agreement before the November 10 deadline for all parties to sign up to it in order to allow the appointment of a first and deputy minister on November 24 and the restoration of devolved power to Belfast on March 26.

Mr Ahern welcomed the announcement by Mr Brown. “It clearly shows what can be achieved when the Northern Ireland parties work together,” he said.

Taxpayers in the Republic will also have to foot part of the bill for Northern economic recovery to the tune of up to €1bn.