Britain must honour NI talks pledges, says SF

The political process in Northern Ireland will remain deadlocked if the British government fails to honour pledges on issues such as equality, human rights and justice, Sinn Féin vice president Pat Doherty warned today.

With British and Irish ministers facing demands for Sinn Féin’s exclusion from talks on the future of the Assembly, the West Tyrone MP said during a visit to London that both governments must fulfill their commitments.

“The difficulties in the process go beyond the problems of the armed groups and the refusal of unionists to commit to inclusive government as claimed by the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister,” Mr Doherty said.

“While these are important matters and Sinn Féin will continue to work to see them resolved the refusal of the governments to deliver on their obligations has a more serious negative effect on the overall process.

“This results in the ongoing denial to citizens of fundamental rights including equality, human rights and justice.

“We will not get the progress or the stability required unless this is rectified.”

Northern Ireland’s politicians have been dismayed at the pace of talks chaired by the two governments on the future of the Good Friday Agreement.

Those talks were destablised last month after a gang tried to abduct Belfast republican Bobby Tohill from a city centre bar.

Northern Ireland’s most senior policeman Hugh Orde blamed the IRA for the incident.

The Provisionals issued a statement denying their leadership authorised any bid to kidnap Mr Tohill.

The Reverend Ian Paisley’s DUP and David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists have been to the fore in calls for Sinn Féin’s exclusion from the review of the Good Friday Agreement at Stormont.

They have also argued the incident underlines why they should not share power with Sinn Féin in a devolved government until the IRA is wound down.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will travel to Northern Ireland next week for talks with the parties focusing on paramilitary activity.

The four member Independent Monitoring Commission, which was set up last year to assess if the governments and parties are honouring their commitments under the Agreement, will also bring forward its first report on paramilitary activity to Easter.

While republicans are facing calls for the IRA to end all paramilitarism, Sinn Féin has accused the British government of reneging on commitments on police and justice reform, on scaling down military installations and British army patrols, on a pledge to allow terror suspects who fled Northern Ireland during the Troubles to return, on Irish language rights and on human rights and equality.

They also want the Irish Government to set up cross-border institutions such as the all-Ireland Inter-Parliamentary Forum, an all-Ireland Consultative Forum, give people in Northern Ireland voting rights in the Irish Presidential Elections and allow Northern Ireland politicians to take part in Parliamentary debates in Dublin.

Mr Doherty said today that republicans honoured their commitments last October when attempts to restore devolution floundered over Ulster Unionist concerns about the third act of IRA disarmament.

“In October last year republicans stepped up to the mark and delivered. Unionism reneged on its commitments and so have the British and Irish governments,” he said.