Hain begins task of restoring NI peace

New Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain arrives in Belfast today, with achieving a permanent peace settlement a priority of Labour’s third term.

With the UK general election out of the way, he takes over the reigns at Stormont with a brief from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to inject fresh emphasis into the search for a political settlement and restoration of devolved government.

He spent much of the weekend in telephone contact with the local political party leaders and wants to get full blown talks under way as soon as possible.

Mr Hain is convinced that with effort and goodwill on all sides it is possible to “crack this problem”.

“I want to work very actively with all the leaders and indeed all the different representatives in the coming weeks and months to try and get this peace agreement back on the road to a permanent settlement,” he said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern made contact with Mr Hain and they agreed to meet as soon as possible.

They will “set out a clear agenda for progress out of the current stalemate”. Said a spokesman for Minister Ahern.

“They spoke about the need to secure a way forward that is based on exclusively peaceful and democratic means and on a real commitment by all parties to partnership politics,” he added.

However reports from Dublin that the IRA is still training and recruiting - despite Gerry Adams’ pre-election call for them to commit totally to democratic and peaceful activity – will not make Mr Hain’s job any easier.

The claims are said to be contained in the fifth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was set up by the British and Irish governments to monitor paramilitary activity.

This latest report was presented to the two governments 10 days ago, but will not be published until later in the month.

The Northern Ireland Office refused to be drawn on the content of the report, but confirmed it had been received and would be published in due course.