NI parties ready to make progress, says Murphy

Northern Ireland’s political parties are ready to make progress to resurrect the stalled peace process, Northern Secretary of State Paul Murphy said tonight.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are due in Belfast tomorrow for crunch talks with the North's parties, amid speculation that a major breakthrough might be imminent.

Mr Murphy said there was “a lot to be hopeful about” and said he was convinced that the parties were ready to make progress.

“There is everything to play for tomorrow and I think if people get together and talk about going forward and not looking backwards, there is a possibility - a very strong possibility – that we can deal with those issues positively in the days ahead of us,” he said.

“There is a lot to be hopeful about. I am convinced that political parties in Northern Ireland do want to accept that and move forward,” he added.

Reports have suggested the IRA may be considering an act of decommissioning in a bid to restore the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, and a republican source has claimed supporters are preparing for “acts of completion”.

The source said the fact that Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness travelled to south Armagh today to address supporters at a republican commemoration was a sign that “there is going to be a move”.

Mr McGuinness told supporters in South Armagh that some progress had been made in “tough” behind-the-scenes talks with the Government.

He said: “Some movement has emerged, particularly around a British Government commitment to new legislation on policing and criminal justice.”

Mr McGuinness said progress was also made on other matters which did not require legislation, before hitting out at Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, who suggested sanctions should be imposed on Sinn Fein if the IRA indulged in paramilitary activity.

Mr Trimble claimed the IRA must decommission its weapons and declare its war is over before Sinn Fein can return to government.

He told his party’s annual meeting that devolution cannot be reinstated unless the IRA “goes away”.

“Their acts must start with proper, open decommissioning and continue with saying the war is over and ensuring that it will not start again – the IRA does have to go away,” he said.

“The onus is on them. They know what has to be done. The time for talk is drawing to an end.”

Any possible deal to emerge from tomorrow’s talks would have to be ratified at a special Ulster Unionist Council meeting later this month.

But this could prove difficult as anti-agreement elements in the party have already expressed their opposition to any deal.

The hard-line Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson said only total IRA disarmament and disbandment could see the return of Sinn Fein to government.

David Burnside, the anti-Agreement South Antrim MP, said Sinn Fein should not be accepted back into government under any circumstances.

Mr Murphy said all parties would have to make big moves tomorrow.

“The business we face at the moment is a collapse of trust, a collapse of confidence that effectively led to the suspension of the Assembly,” he said.

“In order to restore that trust, on the one hand we have to see a cessation of paramilitary activity in all its forms and on the other hand we have to address the stability of institutions.”

Mr Murphy denied reports that the British government was considering an amnesty for fugitive IRA suspects, but said consideration of a solution to the problem would be on the table tomorrow.

He also confirmed that the creation of a ‘verification monitor’, who could ensure that paramilitaries would hold to any promise to cease activities, was being considered.

“There have to be guarantees for all parties,” he added.

The SDLP’s former finance minister Sean Farren also expressed his view tonight that progress had been made prior to tomorrow’s talks.