DUP blame SDLP for peace stalemate

The DUP claim SDLP opposition to a new model of power sharing for Northern Ireland is frustrating the chance to test the IRA’s commitment to peace.

As the war of words continued between Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists and the SDLP over the North's stalled peace process deal, DUP Assembly member Arlene Foster said the meetings her party had had with Mark Durkan’s nationalist party were depressing.

At the end of last week’s Leeds Castle talks in Kent, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair believed a breakthrough had been achieved on the thorny issues of IRA weapons and future paramilitary activity.

However a row between the DUP and SDLP over future devolved structures in the North has meant the IRA’s offer has not yet been revealed in public.

The DUP has been pressing go give MLAs the power to overturn unpopular decisions. The SDLP and Sinn Féin, however, accused the DUP of trying to rewrite the Good Friday Agreement by placing limitations on future Stormont ministers and trying to change the way the Executive will work with the Irish Government on cross-border initiatives.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today insisted he was still optimistic about the return of devolution to Northern Ireland.

He told the BBC’s Breakfast with Frost programme: “I think the republicans have come an enormous way and are really doing their best to try and bring about an enduring peace.

“I hope we can make sure that over the coming weeks, the republicans, nationalists and unionists manage to make a lasting agreement.

“I think the prospects of this are reasonable but in the end, it’s only they who can do it – we can help but we can’t do it.”