Call to DUP chiefs over peace talks

Democratic Unionist leaders the Rev Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson were urged today to face down any internal dissent over their bid to strike a deal to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

As talks resumed at Stormont under the chairmanship of Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and Junior Irish Foreign Minister Tom Kitt to revive the Assembly, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness urged the DUP to strike a deal as quickly as possible.

The Mid Ulster MP said: “I think there is now a very strong spotlight on the DUP.

“I was interested to hear that at Leeds Castle people were telling us that Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley were singing from the same hymn sheet but they were having difficulties with some of the backwoodsmen who accompanied them to Leeds Castle.

“So this is a test of real leadership for Ian Paisley. This is a real test of leadership for Peter Robinson.

“We represent a political party that leads from the front.

“We don’t follow our followers. We certainly consult our followers. We engage with our followers, but when it comes to taking the hard decisions, we take the hard decisions and we lead from the front.”

The British and Irish governments today hoped that the talks at Stormont would build on the achievements of last week’s talks in Kent.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern believed, when the talks concluded on Saturday, that they had resolved satisfactorily the issue of IRA disarmament and the ending of paramilitary activity.

However, they were unable to close a comprehensive deal because of differences between the DUP and pro-Good Friday Agreement parties over changes to the political institution.

The DUP wants to make power-sharing ministers more accountable to the Assembly but has also been accused by nationalists of trying to downgrade the position of Deputy First Minister.

Mr Murphy and Mr Kitt met the DUP, Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP before lunch.

Talks sources said a number of potential ways of resolving the dispute over power-sharing arrangements were floated.

Democratic Unionist Assembly members also held a meeting reviewing the political situation after last weekend’s Leeds Castle talks.

Mr McGuinness noted that there had been some reports that Mr Blair and Mr Ahern were hoping to close the deal at a summit at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland in mid-October.

However, the Sinn Féin chief negotiator insisted there was no reason why the outstanding problems in the process could not be resolved now.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble emerged from talks expressing concern about the number of reviews of elements of the Agreement.

“Our general approach to these matters, as you know, is if there are ways of making the Assembly and Executive work more effectively and with greater accountability and more responsibly, then we are in favour of that,” the former Stormont First Minister said.

“On the other hand, if the proposals have the effect or are designed to disrupt the working of the institutions, then that is an entirely different matter.

“There is one matter that I want to flag up and am concerned about right at the outset.

“There is in the papers that have been given to us quite a few reviews – a review of this, a review of that and a review of the other.

“I must say, as a general principle, I think this is not a wise way of proceeding.

“Decisions ought to be taken, at the end of the day, by elected representatives, and this business of constantly contracting out work from elected representatives to unelected people is not a good idea.”