Cowen urged to ensure British do not indulge DUP

The SDLP has called on the Irish Government to ensure that the British authorities do not indulge the DUP during the forthcoming review of the Good Friday Agreement.

SDLP chairman Alex Atwood said Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen should use his meeting with Northern Secretary Paul Murphy tomorrow to demand the full implementation of the agreement.

It also urged Mr Cowen to ensure that the British government did not delay the implementation of the agreement to appease the DUP.

The SDLP said the peace process would be irreversibly damaged if the DUP was allowed to re-negotiate the 1998 peace deal.