Stormont pay cut threat 'a sign of frustration'

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain was reflecting the public’s frustration over the lack of political progress when he warned that Assembly salaries at Stormont could be cut if there was no movement, Dermot Ahern said today.

Speaking before a meeting in Belfast to review the timetable for the political process this year, the Foreign Minister said Mr Hain was perhaps articulating publicly what many parties accepted privately in the North.

And he also confirmed plans by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to visit Northern Ireland later this month.

“I heard the comment that Peter made and the comments that the parties have made in answer to that,” the Fianna Fáil minister said.

“I think Peter is articulating his sense of frustration that might be articulated privately by political parties – maybe not publicly – and also a sense of frustration among the people.

“I look at us and if I was to tell my people the Dáil is not going to be in session for the next year yet I am going to take my salary – you know it’s bad enough that we go on long holidays.”

Devolution in Northern Ireland has been in suspension since October 2002 when allegations about a republican spy ring threatened to destroy the Assembly and power-sharing institutions for good.

Last month, a case against three men accused of operating the alleged spy ring dramatically collapsed at Belfast Crown Court.

But in another twist, Sinn Féin unmasked one of the accused, its former head of administration at Stormont Denis Donaldson, as a British intelligence agent.

The revelations have helped to further pollute a political atmosphere in Northern Ireland already unsettled by controversial British government legislation for dealing with murderers during the Troubles, and equally disputed guidelines on community restorative justice schemes.

With the ceasefire watchdog – the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) – due to report at the end of this month, officials in London and Dublin are hoping that will provide a springboard for talks on the restoration of power-sharing between unionists and nationalists.

In particular, both governments will be looking to the IMC to verify that the Provisional IRA has fully disarmed following its statement last July declaring an end to its armed campaign.

The Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have been cautious and are unlikely to enthuse about the IMC report, demanding further proof that the republicans’ pledges are for real.

The DUP has insisted there must be action on a number of confidence-building measures for the unionist community, outlined to Downing Street, before it can seriously contemplate taking part in talks on the political future.

Dermot Ahern, who was also in Belfast to attend a ceremony announcing plans by the city to host the 2006 Special Olympics Ireland Games, insisted there needed to be real progress politically in the North this year as next year would be more difficult.

While he would not be drawn on speculation that both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will visit Northern Ireland together this month in a bid to breathe life into the talks process, he said: “Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair will be discussing these issues over the coming weeks.

“We (Mr Hain and himself) will be discussing these issues later on. I don’t want to second guess in relation to timetables.

“The Taoiseach and Tony Blair meet very often and are in contact very often. I know the Taoiseach will be up here in late January, to the best of my knowledge.

“I think Tony Blair will be coming as well at some stage.”