Adams: 'Good Friday talks a farce'

Talks on the future of the Good Friday Agreement have descended into a farce, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams claimed today.

During a visit to Dublin, Mr Adams said he was concerned at the failure to inject a new momentum into the peace process.

The West Belfast MP, who was meeting community groups in Dundrum and Tallaght, said Sinn Féin had pressed for a “two pronged approach” from the British and Irish Governments to restore devolution and honour outstanding commitments under the Agreement.

But he added: “Instead we have a review which is now little more than a farce and even that has been cancelled until after Easter, despite parties like Sinn Féin putting forward a comprehensive agenda for discussion.

“The two governments have to come up with a more focused structure if they really want to make progress.”

Mr Adams’s comments came after SDLP negotiator Sean Farren also expressed concern that the review of the Agreement was drifting.

Sinn Féin and SDLP negotiators were meeting in Belfast today to discuss their concerns.

The British and Irish Governments are not planning any meetings with the parties over the next fortnight.

In a letter the governments asked the parties to come back with their own views on issues discussed at the Hillsborough talks last week with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Farren said last night the SDLP wanted “urgency” to be injected into the review.

The former Stormont Finance Minister said: “At the moment, we have a senseless drift. The governments are not even holding any meetings this week.

“However, the SDLP will be seeking dialogue with all the main parties.

“What we need less of is the helicopter diplomacy that we saw in Hillsborough last week, but instead real work between the parties to get them to face each other and face up to their own responsibilities.”

After his talks with the Northern Ireland parties last week, the British Prime Minister said they hoped to pick up the pace of efforts to restore devolution.

Mr Blair said two issues still needed to be addressed: the ending of ongoing paramilitary activity, especially by the IRA, and the unionists’ willingness to share power with republicans in those circumstances.

The review was plunged into turmoil when Northern Ireland’s most senior policeman, Hugh Orde, blamed the Provisional IRA for the attempted kidnapping last month of Belfast republican Bobby Tohill.

The incident sparked unionist demands for sanctions against Sinn Féin despite the IRA’s denial that its leaders authorised the incident.

The governments are expecting a report on IRA activity from the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission before Easter.

Mr Adams also rounded today on the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists who, he claimed, had yet to demonstrate they were willing to positively engage with the peace process or the political institutions created by the Agreement.

With Mr Paisley’s party insisting they would only engage with republicans if the IRA was wound down, the West Belfast MP said: “The DUP terms for talking to Sinn Féin are totally unacceptable.

“The failure of the two governments to honour their commitments under the Agreement and last October, reinforces the DUP in this position.

“Indeed, why should the DUP properly engage at all when by doing nothing they can veto progress?

“The British and Irish Governments hold the key to unlocking the current stalemate.

“By implementing their obligations, by making it clear to unionism that it cannot block change, the two governments can engender confidence and create an atmosphere in which everyone can feel liberated and empowered to move forward.”