Four-day deadline set for power-sharing deal

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have given the Northern Ireland Peace Process exactly four days to reach a breakthrough.

Mr Ahern, speaking at a celebration to mark his 10th anniversary as leader of Fianna Fáil, said ongoing negotiations had been an “exhaustive effort” but that the work was now done and decisions had to be made by the parties involved.

“Tony Blair and myself have to call it, to be precise, in four days,” he said.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and DUP leader the Reverend Ian Paisley have been engaged in intense talks in recent days as the bid to restore power-sharing institutions in the North moved towards an historic breakthrough.

Mr Ahern said his vision for Ireland was radical and republican and that the objective was a united Ireland.

He said the Good Friday Agreement provided the framework to achieve these objectives through consent but added that unity could only be achieved by agreement, harmony and friendship.

“No deal is perfect,” he said. “But what is in prospect is truly historic. It is also fair and reasonable.”

After meeting Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde, Mr Paisley warned that if there were moves to accelerate demilitarisation it could put back the process.

He said he believed Sinn Féin had to reveal its view on the British and Irish governments’ proposals before the DUP.

Mr Paisley is under pressure to make a definitive response to the the proposals when he meets the British Prime Minister at Downing Street on Monday.

But he put the ball firmly in Sinn Féin’s court to decide whether they would accept the proposals put forward by the two governments by agreeing to IRA decommissioning.

“This is not negotiations with Sinn Féin. It’s an ultimatum to Sinn Féin. Are you going to continue to be terrorists or are you going to quit your terrorist path,” he said.

Earlier, Sinn Féin Vice President Pat Doherty said the process of negotiation could not last forever.

“We have spent months in detailed and thorough-going discussions with the two governments across all of the issues. I think we have all been patient over the past months. But this phase of discussions cannot be drawn out interminably.

“A comprehensive deal is possible. But it can only be done on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement.”