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.

At the end of the day, despite the electoral success of the DUP, the majority of those elected to the Assembly are pro-Agreement, which means that the will of the people in Northern Ireland consider it the best vehicle to achieve ultimate normality.

Yesterday, in an interview on RTÉ radio, Mr Ahern said he had no difficulty with the DUP’s model for stability in the North if they embraced inclusivity as well. That is a crucial element of the Agreement, because the governance of Northern Ireland is not the gift of either community exclusively.

The DUP must realise that with their electoral success comes responsibility. If, as deputy leader Peter Robinson has stated, they want to work towards political stability, then they, too, must be prepared to move from their position of intransigence.

They have an opportunity to indicate that willingness to move forward when the party meets with Northern Secretary Paul Murphy today. He has already met with Sinn Féin; the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party separately, all of whom are determined to have the peace process progressed.

Mr Ahern has also indicated that he is prepared to meet with the DUP party either with British Prime Minister Tony Blair or separately, and it is inevitable for any semblance of progress that both sides talk.

The message going out from Dublin is that there is room, within the review, to find an exit from the impasse which has dogged the North for months.

The view by some DUP representatives, that the Agreement is “dead in the water,” is simply a vista which cannot be entertained.

It is the only viable vehicle which the people of Northern Ireland have to ultimately achieve peace and stability.