Paisley and Adams meeting called off

A face to face meeting involving Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams was called off today.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain stepped in to postpone talks at Stormont following a row over whether Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander, would swear an oath to support the police and rule of law.

A Programme for Government meeting involving all sides in Belfast had been planned for this afternoon following last week’s political breakthrough at St Andrews, in Scotland.

Part of the process negotiated byTaoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair would have meant DUP leader Mr Paisley and Mid Ulster MP and Sinn Féin chief negotiator Mr McGuinness being installed as the First and Deputy First Minister on November 24.

Today’s meeting would have been the first time Mr Paisley and Sinn Féin President Mr Adams sat across the table from each other.

But when it became clear the DUP was unhappy with what they claimed to be an unresolved issue of Mr McGuinness swearing an oath of support for the police, the discussions were postponed.

A statement by Mr Hain said: “It has become clear to me this morning that there are differences in the understanding of parties of what the St Andrews Agreement will mean for the pledge of office.

“It is important that all parties have a chance to discuss this. I have, therefore, asked the Preparation for Government Committee in its meeting this afternoon to discuss both the way in which the pledge of office might best be amended to reflect paragraph six of the St Andrews Agreement and what the arrangements should be, in the context of the timetable set out in Annex D of the Agreement for confirming the pledge by the prospective ministers, including First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

“It is important that this is resolved quickly. I have therefore decided to postpone the Planned Programme for Government Committee meeting to enable the Preparation for Government Committee to discuss these issues urgently this afternoon.”

Mr Hain's decision came after crisis talks with the Democratic Unionists at Stormont.

Earlier their leader, Mr Paisley pulled out of the meeting, which would have seen Sinn Féin and other parties embark with the DUP on consultations on policy objectives for a future power sharing executive.

Irish and British Government officials regarded today’s meeting as an important step in the carefully-crafted choreography mapped out by the Taoiseach and Mr Blair at St Andrews towards power sharing next March.

The dispute over whether Mr McGuinness will take a ministerial pledge to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland and uphold the rule of the law also threatened to set back plans for the nomination of Mr Paisley and the Sinn Féin MP as Stormont’s First and Deputy First Ministers.