Adams says DUP must not get veto

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has warned the unionist majority in the North must not be given a veto over progress as part of efforts to restore the Stormont Assembly.

Mr Adams was speaking after a meeting with the Taoiseach in Dublin to discuss ongoing efforts to restore devolved government, which has been suspended for two years.

Mr Ahern also held talks on the matter with Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley last week and said afterwards he did not believe the DUP was trying to alter the fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement.

However, Mr Adams said today that the DUP's demand for changes to Assembly procedures were a worry for republicans.

Recent negotiations between the Northern parties at Leeds Castle in Kent collapsed because the DUP refused to budge on its demand for changes to the agreement.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP said these changes would effectively lead to a return to unionist majority rule.

The DUP's stance came despite the IRA's apparent willingness to decommission and disband.