Ahern determined to work towards elections

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said he is determined to use the weeks ahead to work towards an election in the North, after talks with UUP leader David Trimble.

He said: “If everybody moves to a position that allows us to move on we can have elections, a working executive and all that was in the Agreement.”

But he warned that a period of time for setting up an election was short.

“It is mid-September exactly today,” Mr Ahern said.

“If we had anything done today that brings us to the end of October. We are not in that position today.

“So everything after today is pushing us into November. That is the reality of it so therefore we are going to try and do as much as we can in the next two weeks.”

He added: “We have to really move now. Otherwise we are pushing it back into November and that is not a great idea.”

Mr Trimble said that was the institutions were up and running once again the New Monitoring Commission would be a way of ensuring that any paramilitary activity was spotted immediately.

He said: “We want to see a complete end to paramilitary activity and it happening in a context where we can sure it doesn’t come back.

“I have to say on that that the Monitoring Commission – which has been set in place and I appreciate what has been done to set them in place – that is part of a way of assuring people that in the new dispensation if there is any continuing paramilitary activity it will be spotted and responsibility clearly attributed if it occurs.”

Mr Trimble said a “major decisive move” was needed on the decommissioning front to ensure an end to this activity.

He said the time frame for an election was short adding: “It does really boil down to achieving a breakthrough over the next few weeks.”

Mr Trimble added that he hoped that the positive summer would help the parties move forwards in the course of the next couple of weeks.