Sinn Fein hints at shift in stance

Sinn Fein tonight hinted the party could shift its position in the North's peace process if British Prime Minister Tony Blair met demands for more policing reforms and the scaling down of Army watchtowers.

As the Prime Minister prepared for a crucial meeting at Downing Street tomorrow with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said republicans would be prepared to respond positively if the British government shouldered its responsibilities under the Good Friday Agreement.

As Unionists continued to demand the emptying of IRA arms dumps and an end to paramilitary activity, the mid-Ulster MP said Mr Blair was “up for acts of completion all round.

“We’re for that also.

“I have not heard or seen anything from the British government which would indicate the British Prime Minister is up for acts of completion on policing, demilitarisation, human rights and equality.

“Maybe in the aftermath of tomorrow’s meeting, we will hear a different tune being sung and if that is the case, I think all of us will be able to rise to that challenge.”

Sinn Fein has billed tomorrow’s meeting between Mr Blair and Mr Ahern as the most important one in the peace process for 20 years.

The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach are expected to analyse discussions so far with the Northern Ireland parties and map out a way to revive devolution.

British and Irish government sources tonight were being cautious about the ability to satisfy unionist demands for an end to paramilitary activity and nationalist demands for the full implementation of the Agreement.

“A lot of ideas have been kicking around from the parties,” one source observed.

“What the Prime Ministers will be trying to do is find a way over the coming months to move the process forward.”

Republicans have demanded that there must be movement on further policing reforms, the scaling down of Army watchtowers and operations as well as the implementation of human rights and equality aspects of the Good Friday Agreement if the paramilitary issue is to be successfully addressed.

They are also anxious to secure guarantees that the political institutions created by the Good Friday Agreement, including North-South arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will never be pulled down.

However, with assembly elections looming, there is also concern in all quarters about whether Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, facing a stiff challenge from the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists, will be able to carry his party in endorsing any deal.

The bottom line for the Ulster Unionist party has been that the issue of an end to paramilitary activity by the IRA must be addressed.

Mr Ahern was tonight meeting the leader of the nationalist SDLP Mark Durkan in Dublin as part of a series of meetings in the run-up to his summit with Mr Blair.

Mr Durkan said before the meeting that he would like the two governments to act “with determination and live up to the promises and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.

“I would like to see them underpin its full and further implementation but I recognise, of course, that that involves responsibility for all of us and not just them.”