Power-sharing deadline - Test ahead for latest ultimatum

IN recent years, the North has been subjected to a series of deadlines - none of which has worked so far - to get the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin talking to each other.

It remains to be seen whether the latest, complete with a series of with carrots and sticks aimed at coaxing both sides, will prove more efficacious, as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair hope it will.

After their summit in Armagh city yesterday, they issued what amounts to an ultimatum aimed at restoring the power-sharing institutions that have been suspended since October 2002.

Into that vacuum the two governments have poured a ‘take it or leave it’ formula, which essentially amounts to the Northern parties - but essentially the DUP - deciding their own fate.

The choice is a simple one: restore devolution by November 24 or have a solution imposed on them by the two governments.

As a precursor to that, the Assembly must meet from the middle of next month to elect a First Minister and a deputy and form an Executive.

The time for brinkmanship would appear to be over, at least if the wishes of the people of the North are to finally be respected and the Good Friday Agreement is to be implemented.