Republicans stand firm on Good Friday Agreement

Republicans will reject proposals to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland if they fall short of the Good Friday Agreement, the British and Irish Governments were warned tonight.

As British and Irish officials worked on proposals aimed at resolving a row over future power-sharing arrangements in the province, Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said a comprehensive deal, which would involve a groundbreaking IRA statement on its future, was only possible within the terms of the Agreement.

“Sinn Fein are up for a deal,” the Mid Ulster MP insisted as his party leader Gerry Adams prepared to brief colleagues in Dublin tomorrow.

“We have been working hard with both governments all week to try and achieve progress but the bottom line is that the DUP need to accept that a comprehensive deal is not possible short of the Good Friday Agreement.

“Sinn Fein will not settle for anything less than the Agreement.

“The fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement – power-sharing, equality, all-Ireland institutions, human rights and crucially the checks and balances, and the protections designed to prevent unionist abuse of power, are not up for negotiation.

“They were agreed by all of the parties to the talks, including the two governments, and they must be defended in the face of attempts to see them diluted. That is the basis on which we are engaged with the two governments.”

At the end of last month’s Leeds Castle talks in Kent, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he believed the difficult issues of the IRA winding down and carrying out full disarmament could be resolved.

However the Provisionals have put its statement on hold until unionist and nationalist negotiators sort out their differences over power-sharing.

The Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists want changes to the way the Assembly, power-sharing executive and cross-border institutions will operate.

However the nationalist SDLP and Sinn Fein have accused the party of trying to rewrite the Agreement.

They have also claimed the British and Irish Governments have encouraged the DUP to think this can be achieved.

Officials in London, Belfast and Dublin are working on a paper will address how ministers will be elected at Stormont, their accountability to their cabinet colleagues and the Assembly, and the future operation of cross-border institutions involving the Irish Government.

As yet, they have not indicated when the paper will be released.

However after a meeting in Dundalk with Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern in the heart of his Louth constituency, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan insisted what was currently being discussed was not good enough.

The Foyle Assembly member told PA News: “Without getting into the detail, the fact is the governments both know that we are far from impressed by some of the options they are canvassing.

“It is our view that it is not the Agreement which has to change but the DUP which has to change its negotiating position.

“The DUP is looking for something which will give them a veto over the work of nationalist ministers. That is unacceptable.

“They want something that will change the basic political equation of the Agreement in terms of the joint election of First and Deputy First Ministers and the North-South institutions.

“These are not small changes. They are significant changes that go right to the heart of the Agreement. We are not going to stand by and pretend they are insignificant.”

Meanwhile a Democratic Unionist MP tonight clashed with an Ulster Unionist rival after he alleged Rev Ian Paisley’s party was letting the IRA off the hook by failing to test the Provisionals’ commitment to the peace process.

East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said: “First of all, it is downright hypocritical for a party who never put the IRA on the hook to criticise the DUP.

“Sinn Fein/IRA led the UUP a merry dance at every negotiation process in which the UUP led unionism.

“From terrorist representatives in government, the destruction of the RUC, the early release of terrorist prisoners and unaccountable all-Ireland institutions to amnesties for on-the-runs, massive demilitarisation and radical troop reductions, the Ulster Unionist Party surrendered concession after concession to republicans and received nothing in return.

“It is laughable for any Ulster Unionist let alone its “leader in waiting” Reg Empey to try to argue now that the issue is one of republicans being committed to exclusively peaceful and democratic means.

“It was a never the issue for them before. Sinn Fein were admitted into government, with the full support of the UUP, with no demonstrable commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means.

“The IRA remained armed and active as the UUP partnered them in power. We welcome their belated conversion to this principle, if indeed it is a conversion and not merely a tactic, but they have caused serious damage to democracy by past actions, the ramifications of which we are still enduring.”

Earlier Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey said he was not convinced the Government knew exactly what the IRA would do to restore devolution and that needed to be tested.

He also claimed the DUP had effectively signed up to the Agreement and was seeking minor changes to it.

“The DUP, for a start, said vote for them and they would negotiate a new deal,” the East Belfast MLA said.

“They’re not even trying to produce a new deal. They’re just producing amendments, some of which would have happened anyway in the natural course of events.”

Mr Campbell insisted tonight allegations that his party was pursuing a pro-Agreement policy could not be further from the truth.

The former Stormont Regional Development Minister said: “We support the fundamentals of the Agreement as defined by the Secretary of State which are a commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means, the guarantee that there will be no constitutional change without consent, the requirement for cross-community participation in devolved government and the need for cross-border co-operation.

“The DUP will never sign up to the sort of Agreement that so badly damaged the Union and unionism in 1998.”