Talks bid to restore devolution
A new bid to bring back devolution to the North got under way today.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and Minister for Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern hosted the new round of negotiations with the Stormont Assembly parties.
However, as they began their new push to bring back the Assembly and devolve government, the gaps between unionists and nationalists remained considerable.
The Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists, fresh from their party conference in Belfast on Saturday, were the first to have a meeting with Mr Hain.
But party representatives, whose deputy leader, Peter Robinson, told nationalists at the weekend that the Good Friday Agreement was dead, refused to meet Mr Ahern, insisting they would not discuss the internal affairs of the North with the Dublin minister.
British and Irish officials were today keen to stress that the talks were not merely a stocktaking exercise but the launch of a concerted effort to bridge the gaps between the DUP, Sinn Féin and other parties.
Mr Hain said today that all parties needed to contribute.
“There is no reason at all for any political party not to negotiate on the future politics of Northern Ireland now,” he said.
“Terrorism has been closed down by the IRA. It is still unfortunately in existence with small paramilitary groups on the loyalist side and on the republican, dissident side.
“These groups need to be dealt with, but there is no reason at all for any political party not to turn up and discuss with me at Hillsborough Castle the way forward.”
Before arriving at the talks’ venue, Mr Ahern insisted the negotiations would be a real test of leadership for the parties.
Last week’s reports from the Independent Monitoring Commission and General John de Chastelain’s disarmament body, however, have demonstrated the obstacles which still need to be overcome if devolution is to return.
The IMC said that, while the IRA appeared to be implementing its pledge last July to end its arms campaign and pursue a political path, members of the organisation were still involved in intelligence-gathering, unauthorised attacks and criminal activity.
Both the IMC and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning also said they had received reports that the IRA had retained some weapons despite carrying out a final act of disarmament last September.
Despite the IICD saying it believed the IRA had destroyed all the weapons under its control last September, Mr Paisley told the DUP conference on Saturday that claims that the Provisionals had completed weapons decommissioning were a lie.
