Northern talks - Parties must be pushed into action

The Irish and British Governments intend to remain on course to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, as announced in St Andrews last month, despite no definite commitment from either Sinn Féin or the Democratic Unionist Party.

Although none of the parties in the North have wholeheartedly embraced the formula to emerge from the Scottish meeting, these parties are pivotal to the process moving forward.

Both governments had asked the parties to consider the proposals and to consult with their memberships on them and to indicate their acceptance of them by yesterday.

The day passed without any such confirmation but that did not deter Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain from being less than optimistic about the eventual outcome.

They were adamant, in a joint statement, that having consulted with the parties, the proposals put to the parties at St Andrews represents the basis for a political settlement. What remains as their priority is to secure the objectives of support for power-sharing and the political institutions, as well as support for policing and rule of law.

This means the DUP accepting the former and Sinn Féin committing to the latter, and it may come down to a question of who moves first, or some prescription whereby they both move together.

Although initially both parties reacted positively to the power-sharing proposals, Mr Paisley is insisting Sinn Féin publicly endorse the PSNI. Conversely, Gerry Adams, while stating his party supports law and order, points to issues with policing to be resolved before he could seek a special Árd Fheis to resolve the matter.

In the meantime, the November 24 deadline for Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness to be appointed shadow first minister and deputy respectively, may go the way of previous Northern deadlines.