Reid wants 'ceasefire watch' for public

The British government is examining ways to keep the public fully informed about which paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland are breaching their ceasefires, Secretary of State John Reid confirmed today.

With 12 days to go before a crucial meeting of David Trimble’s Ulster Unionist council on the state of the peace process, Dr Reid said there was a need to address the demands from all sections of the community to keep them fully briefed on the behaviour of loyalist and republican terror groups.

Emerging from one and three-quarter hour talks at Stormont with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, he said: “The political and legal obligation of making a decision on ceasefires rests with me and will stay with me.

“My chief adviser on that is the Chief Constable (Hugh Orde of the Police Service of Northern Ireland).

“There is, I think, a widespread feeling that we need to put more systematic information to the public in Northern Ireland about who is committing this violence, in what quantities and to let people really know the details of what’s going on.

“I think in principle it is something supported by many, many people in Northern Ireland, including the leaders of many parties and I am consulting at present how that might be done.”

After a summer of street clashes along sectarian flashpoint areas of Belfast, unionists have called for a rigorous assessment of the state of the paramilitary groups’ ceasefires.

They have accused the IRA of orchestrating much of the violence – a charge the Provisionals and Sinn Fein have denied.

Nationalists and republicans have accused the loyalist Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force of initiating the disturbances.

Mr Trimble’s Ulster Unionists have also expressed concern at allegations that the IRA was behind the break-in at the top security Castlereagh Police Station in March and about the arrest of three republicans in Colombia last August.

The IRA has denied it was behind the break-in in March and that it sanctioned any operation involving its members training left-wing rebels in Colombia.

Dr Reid said today that the Northern Ireland peace process was the bedevilled by mistrust on both sides.

Unionists, he said, were not convinced that republicans wanted to abandon violence, while republicans were not yet certain that unionists were committed to the political process.

“So we have to rebuild that trust,” he said. “As far as the level of violence in Northern Ireland is concerned, I think it is right that the people of Northern Ireland know the truth.

“They should know as many facts as possible.

“I obviously have to retain the right to take the decision on the ceasefire, but I see no reason why we cannot put into the public domain as much information as people are entitled to about the level of paramilitary activity and involvement in violence and I am consulting people on ways to do that.

“That is not a concession to David Trimble. It is something that has been asked for by David Ford of the (cross-community) Alliance Party and Mark Durkan (leader of the nationalist SDLP) and indeed by many of the people that I meet.”

Dr Reid was commenting at the beginning of a week which promised a heavy round of meetings involving British and Irish governments and the Northern Ireland parties.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan is due to meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern later this week and Mr Trimble was also expected to hold talks with Dr Reid.

Mr Adams was also arranging meetings with Mr Ahern and Mr Trimble and US President George Bush’s special adviser on Northern Ireland, Richard Haass, was planning talks with the North’s leaders on Thursday.