Paisley prepares for Ahern talks

Ian Paisley tonight announced plans to stand down as an MEP this summer as his party prepared for historic face to face talks with the Irish Government.

As British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern agreed a review of the Good Friday Agreement would begin on February 3, the Democratic Unionist leader said he was quitting Strasbourg to focus on the forthcoming negotiations.

After 25 years service in the European Parliament, the 77-year-old North Antrim MP insisted he was “not running away from Europe”.

He said: “I’m going to finish my course there. But I am not going back to Europe.

“I am going to be here in Northern Ireland. I am going to be in every one of these talks. Bertie Ahern will get away with nothing.”

Mr Paisley’s decision to quit the European Parliament came after his party emerged Northern Ireland’s largest party in November’s Assembly Elections, overtaking David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists.

His announcement was interpreted as further evidence of the sea change which has occurred in unionist politics, with a new generation of DUP members increasingly coming to the fore under deputy leader Peter Robinson.

Mr Paisley’s son, Ian Junior, an Assembly member for North Antrim, was one of those being tipped as a possible European candidate.

There was also speculation that North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds, a former Paisley aide in Europe, or former Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson could be the party’s standard bearer.

Stormont sources tonight were expecting the first ever meeting soon between the DUP and Mr Ahern ahead of the review.

“A meeting between the DUP and the Irish Government will happen,” one source said.

“The mechanics are still being arranged but I would imagine that it will not take place in Dublin but possibly Belfast, London or Europe.”

Mr Ahern had a 90-minute lunchtime meeting with Tony Blair at Downing Street during which both governments agreed they would aim to have the review of the Good Friday Agreement concluded by Easter.

The DUP’s negotiating team will hope to secure radical changes to the Agreement during the review including a reduction in the size of the Assembly from its current level of 108 MLAs and fewer government departments.

The cross-community Alliance Party has also joined with the DUP in pressing for changes to the way Northern Ireland is governed under devolution – with a new system replacing the four-party power sharing executive which operated at Stormont until direct rule was reimposed in October 2002.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP, however, have stated their firm opposition to changes.

After his meeting with Tony Blair, Mr Ahern confirmed there would be talks between him and the DUP.

The Taoiseach also admitted the Easter target date for the end of the review was not set in stone.

“While we have not put a fixed date on it we see Easter as a fair period of time to make an assessment,” he said.

Sinn Féin Assembly Group leader Conor Murphy said there was a responsibility on both London and Dublin to honour commitments under the Agreement.

The Newry and Armagh MLA repeated his leader Gerry Adams’ warning that if Northern Ireland had five more years of political stalemate it could eventually lead to “breakdown.

“With political will and the proper approach and strategies we can move this process forward,” Mr Murphy argued.

“Sinn Féin has made it clear that this is a review of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

“It is not a substitute for working political institutions and it is not a renegotiation of the Agreement.

“The format and agenda of the review must be used as an opportunity to give a renewed impetus to the full implementation of the Agreement.”

Democratic Unionist deputy leader Peter Robinson tonight paid tribute to Ian Paisley, claiming Northern Ireland owed him “a debt of gratitude” for his work in Europe.

The East Belfast MP said the decision showed Mr Paisley was honouring the party’s Assembly Election manifesto pledge “to work for a fair deal.

“The Democratic Unionist Party is now the only party that is capable of delivering for unionism.

“The challenges ahead will be many but we will work without ceasing in order to achieve a new agreement.”