DUP must not shirk responsibility

THE hope expressed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the weekend that the planned review of the Good Friday Agreement early in the new year will resolve some of the problems created in the aftermath of the Assembly elections is one that must be reinforced by the British Government.

That review must not, indeed cannot, imply a renegotiation of the Agreement as some elements within the Democratic Unionist Party are demanding by virtue of their emergence as the dominant unionist party.

Both governments have previously stated that the Agreement is not for turning, and while there may be elements that may be tweaked, operational rather than fundamental adjustments are possibilities that can only be entertained.