'Plug-pulling' ultimatum for Northern parties

The plug will finally be pulled on the Stormont Assembly if a working administration is not formed in Belfast by the end of March, the Irish and British governments warned tonight.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Northern Secretary Peter Hain issued the ultimatum to Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists amid continued political wrangling.

With republican endorsement of policing putting pressure on the DUP to pledge to share power, fresh elections in the North are set for March 7.

Mr Ahern and Mr Hain, who held talks in Cardiff ahead of the Six Nations rugby clash between Ireland and Wales, insisted the deadline for establishing a coalition would not be extended.

In a joint statement, London and Dublin said: “The election on March 7 must be about the future of Northern Ireland, and that future lies in a locally accountable, devolved power-sharing Assembly and Executive.

“This must be in place on March 26. It is devolution or dissolution.

“There is no future in basing a political strategy on trying to delay devolution past March 26, or trying to prevent it altogether. Anyone who does will be left behind.”

Earlier, Mr Hain stressed that Sinn Féin’s decision to back the police in the North had left Ian Paisley’s DUP with no excuse to balk at power-sharing.

“There have been a few off-stage noises recently where some politicians appear to be oblivious to that fact or are in denial.

“What has happened in the last week with Sinn Féin’s decision to get involved in policing at its special ard fheis last week, and the remarkable series of statements by Gerry Adams afterwards, urging people in republican communities to cooperate with the police and encouraging them to join, means Sinn Féin are well on their way to delivering what their leadership promised to do.

“That was to comply with policing and the rule of law. That leaves no excuses for unionists to balk at power-sharing during the election or after that.”

Mr Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed last Monday that the Northern Assembly election should go ahead on March 7 as planned.

However, they warned the plug would be pulled on the election if it became apparent there would be no power-sharing government on March 26.

A senior Democratic Unionist, Gregory Campbell, whose party has insisted Sinn Féin must prove its commitment to policing by actions on the ground, cast doubt on whether or not the March 26 deadline was achievable.

Insisting Sinn Féin would have to undergo a series of tests over policing policy, the East Derry MP said: “It would be an insult to people’s intelligence to think we could be in government with Sinn Féin by March 26.”

DUP leaders have been anxious to acknowledge the ideological shift in Sinn Féin on policing but they have also stressed that they will judge republicans’ new-found support for Hugh Orde’s Police Service of Northern Ireland on how republican communities respond.

Mr Hain would not respond specifically to Mr Campbell’s comments.

“The leadership of the DUP is in no doubt that March 26 is D-Day.

“It’s devolution or dissolution. That is the choice.

“I believe Mr Paisley and his leadership want to establish devolved government.

“But if any of the off-stage noises become a wider reality, there is no point in having an election.

“There will also be no point in people getting to the other side of an election saying: ’We want a few more months.’

“We have been through this weary process of people saying: ’Let’s get to October,’ and then when we get to October: 'We need more time.'

“The time for closure on these issues is now.”

If the North’s politicians fail to form a power-sharing government by March 26, Mr Ahern and Mr Blair have warned they will implement a Plan B.

Although the full details have not emerged, it is believed the new joint partnership arrangement between Dublin and London would see the North still under direct rule from Westminster, but with increased cooperation between Irish Government ministers and the Northern Ireland Office.

Mr Hain insisted power-sharing remained the favoured option of both governments.

“The voters of Northern Ireland are fed up to the back teeth with this circus in Stormont going round and round in circles, especially now when all the conditions for the resumption of devolution are in place,” he said.

“There is a willingness within Sinn Féin to comply with the rule of law and policing. The IRA has ended its war and decommissioned its weapons.

“Republicans have done and are doing everything asked of them.

“Everybody understands that if there is dissolution of the Assembly we have to get on with things.

“That means cooperation with the Irish Republic’s Government, and also the continuation of direct rule. Everybody understands that, but I know that the Irish Government, like ourselves, would prefer devolved government in Northern Ireland, with powers in locally-elected ministers’ hands.”