IRA 'may have misunderstood process': Durkan

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said today he believed the IRA could have misunderstood the true intention of the parties caught up in the peace process.

Speaking after a meeting with Bertie Ahern in Dublin, Mr Durkan commented: “Maybe people had misinterpreted to them what was the intent and the will and the requirement of the two governments and of all the other parties as well. Maybe they understand that better now.”

Mr Ahern’s talks with the SDLP followed earlier discussions about the peace process with the leadership of Sinn Féin.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Michael McDowell highlighted optimism over a breakthrough on the peace process by Monday.

Speaking during the Progressive Democrats’ annual conference in Galway, he said the latest joint statement from Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern appeared to be a sign of progress.

But he warned: “Effectively, the window of opportunity that is now available runs into 96 hours rather than weeks or months. It is a very narrow window of opportunity.

“I would say to Sinn Féin that the opportunity available to them now, if the Provisional movement in its entirety makes this commitment to exclusive and democratic means for progressing its agenda in unambiguous and clear language, must be much more attractive than the downside of being the whipping boy of a failure in the context of elections.

Earlier, in an address to the conference, Mr McDowell hit out at Sinn Féin, talking of “those who talk about human rights, while their friends wield baseball bats and lump-hammers in the lanes of Belfast and the by-roads of south Armagh”.