Ahern and Blair consider next move in peace process

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are today meeting to consider their next move to save the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern will join Mr Blair at Downing Street for a working dinner to review developments in the peace process since David Trimble’s resignation as North's first minister.

The two leaders were also due to finalise plans for negotiations aimed at preventing the collapse of the Stormont power-sharing executive.

The latest round of talks involving the North's pro-Good Friday Agreement parties are expected to begin later this week under the chairmanship of Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid and foreign minister Brian Cowen.

Northern Ireland’s parties have six weeks to strike a deal on decommissioning, policing, demilitarisation and the institutions in order to secure David Trimble and Seamus Mallon’s re-election in the Assembly as first and deputy first ministers.

Failure to strike a deal after six weeks could result in Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon not being re-elected, triggering fresh Assembly elections.

The British Government could suspend the institutions before the Assembly vote to buy the parties more time to strike a deal, but with Northern Ireland facing a volatile marching season, it is by no means guaranteed that the parties can resolve their differences.

Republicans have been under pressure since the General Election to make a move on disarmament.

But Sinn Fein has been resisting that pressure in the wake of a report by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning which revealed the IRA had not yet spelt out how and when it intended to put its weapons beyond use.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Gerry Kelly yesterday criticised Dr Reid for trying to lay the responsibility for disarmament at its door.

The North Belfast MLA said: ‘‘Not for the first time this Secretary of State, like his predecessor Peter Mandelson, has sought to lay the primary responsibility for dealing with the arms issue at the door of Sinn Fein.

‘‘It appears that part of the job description of British secretaries of state is that they need not read the Good Friday Agreement.

‘‘The Agreement is very specific on this issue. It says that it is the collective responsibility of all the parties and the two Governments, equally, to create the conditions in which this issue can be dealt with.

‘‘John Reid cannot abdicate his or his Government’s responsibility on this matter.’’

But Stormont agriculture minister Brid Rodgers told republicans a move on decommissioning would build confidence in the Good Friday Agreement among unionists.

The Upper Bann MLA said: ‘‘Republicans have sought and have been granted confidence building measures throughout the process.

‘‘Therefore, they more than anyone must understand and respect the need for such measures and provide the pro-agreement unionist community with similar confidence building steps.

‘‘Their repeated commitment to initiate a process of decommissioning and their repeated failure to do so has clearly sapped the confidence of pro-agreement unionists.

‘‘The political process, which republicans claim to support, cannot and will not survive unless the need for confidence building within both communities is recognised or acted upon.

‘‘The failure to decommission is the largest obstacle to progress at this present time. It must be addressed with great urgency in order to allow the process and the community to move on.’’