Blair and Ahern bid to break peace deadlock

Six days of intense negotiations aimed at rescuing the Good Friday Agreement ended today without a deal on decommissioning IRA arms.

Instead, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced that they would be drawing up a package of proposals for the full implementation of the Good Friday deal, to be put to all Ulster’s pro-Agreement parties.

The talks, in an English country house, were called by Mr Blair in a bid to break the deadlock in the peace process caused by the failure of the IRA to put any of its arms beyond use by the end of June, as it had said it would do last May.

But this afternoon, the Prime Minister was forced to admit that no agreement had been secured on how and when the weapons would be decommissioned.

In what will be seen as a setback for unionists, the package to be drawn up by the two governments will not require moves on decommissioning as a pre-condition for further progress on other elements of the Agreement, as Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble had demanded.

The issue of weapons will instead be addressed alongside the nationalists’ concerns of police reform, the scaling down of the British military presence in the province and the restoration of stability in the Northern Ireland Executive and other Good Friday institutions.

In a joint statement, the two premiers said: ‘‘While each of these issues is best addressed on its own terms rather than being seen as a pre-condition for progress on any other, the Agreement can only succeed if all parts of it are implemented together.

‘‘We have worked hard on each of these issues, and have made progress.

‘‘We do not believe now that further negotiation is necessary. It is now for us, on the basis of our discussions, to draw together a final package.

‘‘In the meantime, we ask all involved to reflect very carefully. We remain convinced that the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement is the wish of the great majority of the people.’’

No timetable has yet been set for the production of the package and for the parties to respond, though it is understood that the governments intend the process to be completed before the August 12 deadline by which Mr Blair must decide whether to suspend the Stormont Assembly or call fresh elections.

A source close to the British Prime Minister said: ‘‘We believe that it is more important to get it right than to do it quickly, but we want to produce a package before too much time has elapsed.’’

Asked what would happen if the contents of the package failed to secure the approval of all parties, Mr Blair said: ‘‘We don’t contemplate failure. We want to contemplate success.’’

No details of the likely contents of the package were made available, though John Hume, leader of the nationalist SDLP, indicated that he expected changes to the structure of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland to ensure it would enjoy ‘‘the full support and consent of both communities’’.

Both the SDLP and Sinn Fein welcomed the governments’ initiative and pledged to approach the package in a positive way.

But, tellingly, Ulster Unionists were absent from a news conference at which Mr Blair, Mr Ahern and all the other parties were present at Weston Park, on the Staffordshire-Shropshire border, and gave their comments on the events of the week.

Mr Trimble had flown home to Belfast earlier in the day, in a move which Sinn Fein representatives said surprised them, as they had expected him to join them on a chartered jet this evening.