McGuinness: Good Friday 'failure' behind crisis

The British government’s failure to implement the Good Friday Agreement is at the root of the political crisis affecting Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness insisted today.

With the IRA under pressure to abandon violence for good, the former Stormont Education Minister said Sinn Fein was “in the business” of “resolving the issue of all armed groups” in Northern Ireland.

However, on the eve of a visit to Washington, where he will brief Ambassador Richard Haass, US President George W Bush’s special advisor on Northern Ireland, Mr McGuinness argued that had to be achieved through the “full and faithful implementation of the Agreement in its entirety”.

That meant addressing vital issues like policing, human rights, equality and demilitarisation, he said.

Calling for all-party talks in Northern Ireland to resolve the crisis and for the Government to fulfil its “responsibility” to implement the whole Agreement, the Mid Ulster MP observed: “Tony Blair in his speech last Tuesday has now explicitly acknowledged that the British Government has failed to implement substantial sections of the Agreement.

“Sinn Fein are in the business of ensuring the full and faithful implementation of the Agreement in its entirety.

“This includes the resolution of the issue of armed groups along with the iseu of policing, human rights, equality and demilitarisation.

“This is not a single item crisis.

“Its roots can be found in the British Government’s failure to honour its obligations, its pandering to unionist demands and in unionism’s resistance to change.”