Crunch North talks being held

Critical talks are being held in Belfast and London to determine the future of the North’s power-sharing deal.

The heads of the Irish and Britishgovernments meet at Downing Street today to try to help rescue the North’s power-sharing deal. At Stormont, Sinn Féin deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will hold an urgent meeting with Democratic Unionist leader and First Minister Peter Robinson.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams warned recently that if agreement cannot be reached devolving policing and justice powers from London to Belfast the institutions can no longer continue.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen believes the situation is serious and begins his session with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the pace of negotiations over the state of the peace process steps up.

Mr Robinson last week said progress was being made and republicans were creating an unnecessary political crisis.

Despite a measure of agreement among both power-sharing partners in the North that policing has to be devolved at some stage, they have sparred over when that will take place.

There is also a dispute over the handling of controversial loyal order parades.

The DUP wants to scrap the Parades Commission, which adjudicates on and places conditions on some of the most contentious marches, but Sinn Féin accused the unionist party of giving the Orange Order a talks veto.

Mr Cowen’s visit comes just 11 days after his last discussions with Mr Brown in London.

A Downing Street spokesman said today’s talks were “part of ongoing discussions on Northern Ireland”.

The Taoiseach has met the British Prime Minister three times in recent weeks and was in contact over the weekend. Mr Cowen will be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin.

Negotiations between the DUP and Sinn Féin on the contentious issue of policing broke down last week.

Sinn Féin’s Ard Chomhairle has drawn up a detailed brief for Mr McGuinness to inform the talks with the DUP.

Three years ago Sinn Féin backed the new policing arrangements in the North on condition the Assembly eventually took over political responsibility for law and order from Westminster.

But with unionists insisting that the conditions must be right before completing the transfer of the powers, and with Sinn Féin demanding they close a deal, the long-running dispute has now reached crisis point.

Alliance Party leader David Ford, who is expected to be nominated as the justice minister, said they should get on with striking a deal and claimed progress could have been made at Stormont.