Power-sharing - Ahern right to call for SF Árd Fheis

THE direct intervention yesterday by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern urging Sinn Féin to hold its special Árd Fheis as soon as possible was important — not dismissing how problematic the issue of policing is for that party.

Sinn Féin and Ian Paisley’s DUP are the two sides of the same coin that can open the door for an agreement on the sensible and peaceful development of Northern Ireland and the further benefits that will accrue.

Both parties have a dilemma rooted in traditional positions they have adopted, but both Gerry Adams, the president of SF, and Ian Paisley, appear willing to address them.

Mr Adams has already stated he is willing to meet Chief Constable Hugh Orde and the DUP, to discuss policing issues.

Mr Paisley has indicated his commitment to assuming the role of First Minister, once the question of policing has been resolved. By so doing, Mr Paisley has acknowledged the constraints of power-sharing.

Whether or not that will be delivered in time to meet the target set by both the Irish and British Governments for the latter end of next March remains to be seen.

However, as implicit in the Taoiseach’s urging of an earlier, rather than a later, Sinn Féin Árd Fheis, such an eventuality is crucial to the possibility of an eventually positive outcome.

He was correct in stating that the path to shared government in Northern Ireland passed through the Árd fheis where the policing issue was “definitely and successfully addressed”.

Without that issue being successfully resolved by the party, there will be no power-sharing. As long as Sinn Féin defers such a decision, and also presuming it is the one the two governments want to hear, the longer they give the DUP a veto over the political course imposed on the North.

What Mr Adams needs is the imprimatur from his party members to pursue the course he has already indicated he is prepared to follow on policing.

Mr Paisley needs to remain steadfast in the face of dissension in his own party by those hardliners who are adamantly opposed to power-sharing.