SF knew of bank raid plans during talks - Ahern

Sinn Féin knew the IRA was planning the £26.5m (€26m) Northern Bank raid as well as other robberies while holding key political talks with the Irish and British governments, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.

Yet any thoughts the governments may have of trying to restart the devolved administration without the republicans appeared tonight to be a non-starter after the SDLP said it would not support the exclusion of Sinn Féin from the political process.

Mr Ahern told the Dáil he learned of Sinn Féin’s knowledge for the first time on Tuesday when he and Tony Blair were briefed by Northern Ireland and Irish police chiefs in Downing Street.

He told the Dáil: “They believe that a number of operations that took place during 2004 – not just the Northern Bank robbery – were the work of the IRA, had sanction from the Army Council and would have been known to the political leadership of the IRA”.

He added: “There is no doubt that the planning and operation of these issues was going on last year and obviously we were in negotiations then.”

The two governments, he said, were waiting for answers from republicans to the questions they had posed to them on whether they were ready finally to decommission and end paramilitarism and criminality.

Mr Ahern said that the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement remained the clear objective and the three remaining issues of decommissioning, paramilitarism and criminality had to be resolved.

“For once the the final issues are clear to everybody. Unless we get a clear understanding and a definitive position we cannot make progress.

“Talks and contacts will go on but unless we get answers to these issues, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said bluntly.

The talks did continue , with Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness leading a party delegation to Stormont for discussions with Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy.

Speaking after the hour long meeting Mr McGuinness accused Tony Blair of “talking nonsense” when he said on Tuesday that IRA activity was the only obstacle to political progress.

He said: “Paul Murphy was left with no illusions about the huge anger within the nationalist and republican community at the current mishandling of the situation by the two governments.

“Mr Blair’s comments yesterday that the only obstacle to a comprehensive agreement was the IRA were silly because this is patently not the case.

“Unionism has not demonstrated that it will share power with nationalists and republicans,” said Mr McGuinness.

Meanwhile, the SDLP met the International Monitoring Committee – which is due to produce an interim report on republican culpability for the Northern Bank robbery within days – and told them sanctions against Sinn Féin were not the way ahead.

The IMC could recommend to the two governments that sanctions should be imposed, but the SDLP's Alex Attwood said that would allow Sinn Féin to pose as the victims of the robbery.

The West Belfast MLA said: “The SDLP gave the IMC a strong message. We do not believe that sanctions are the way forward. They allow Sinn Féin to pretend to be the victims of the raid.”

He said the real victims were the people held hostage at gunpoint and threatened with death and the people of Ireland whose Agreement had been “badly damaged by the IRA’s greed”.

Mr Attwood added: “Excluding Sinn Féin from the political process is the nuclear option and we don’t think it will work.

“It will grab a headline but not rectify what the IRA has been doing.”

Despite the reticence of the SDLP, the DUP tonight said it was time to move forward without Sinn Féin.

Commenting on Mr Ahern’s statement, North Belfast DUP MP Nigel Dodds asked what more had to be heard before the (British) government sat up, took notice and took sanctions against Sinn Féin/IRA.

“Gun running from Florida, Colombian escapades, break-ins at Castlereagh, spying at Stormont, robberies in Belfast and other incidents throughout last year – what more evidence does Tony Blair need before he moves the political process forward without Sinn Féin,” he said.

“The more the government prevaricates the more the people of Northern Ireland are being punished for the illegal activity of the IRA,” he added.