SF must be barred from power-sharing, warn unionists

Devolution in Northern Ireland will only return if the nationalist SDLP is prepared to exclude Sinn Fein from power sharing, a hardline Ulster Unionist insisted today.

As sources close to UUP leader David Trimble signalled they would probably stay away from multi-party talks this week, South Antrim MP David Burnside warned the British government unionists would not tolerate “token IRA gestures” in return for concessions to republicans.