Senator Kennedy calls for North elections

US Senator Edward Kennedy, with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at his side, today called on the British government to hold elections in Northern Ireland.

Adams is raising money this week in Boston and New York and rallying public support, which has always been strong among Irish-Americans .

“At a time when we’re talking about both the British and the United States building democracy in Iraq, we ask what is the reason for continued delay for having an election in Northern Ireland,” Kennedy said in Boston.

Forging a stable Catholic-Protestant administration for Northern Ireland was the central aim of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair cancelled elections in May. He hopes to reschedule the vote for the autumn if the IRA ceases intelligence-gathering, training and recruiting, and weapons procurement – or any other activities that suggest it could abandon its 1997 ceasefire.

“The burden for this is with 10 Downing St. It’s with the prime minister to set the time, to set the date,” said Kennedy, adding that he raised the issue with Mr Blair during the prime minister’s recent trip to Washington.

Adams also plans to meet Richard Haas, a senior State Department official who has been assigned by President George Bush to follow Belfast developments.

“The democratic imperative is to have the election,” Adams said. “The point of principle is that the people have the right to vote. The British government should concede.”