Paisley: Hopes of talks with IRA are 'fantasy'

18/09/2005 - 17:02:08
Ian Paisley’s hardline Democratic Unionist Party today dismissed as “fantasy” any idea of it taking part in early negotiations with Sinn Fein over the resumption of power sharing even if the IRA disarms.

The republicans are widely expected to announce the completion of decommissioning within the next week or two.

But the DUP made it clear Tony Blair was very wrong if he thought that would signal a rush from the main voice of unionism to restore the power sharing administration at Stormont.

North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said the British government had decided to do a deal with republicans of which his party was not part.

“They will find short shrift from us if they think they can act in this way and then just expect us to meekly acquiesce in their plans to get Sinn Fein into government,” said Mr Dodds.

He accused the government of caving in to the IRA on the issues surrounding the full verification and transparency of the decommissioning process.

At the same time it had dropped the requirement for the disbandment of the IRA as an organisation.

“In so doing they are deliberately making the process into something that will not build confidence in the community,” he said.

Mr Dodds added: “It has rushed with obscene haste to deliver concessions to Sinn Féin and treated the elected voice of unionism with disdain.”

The Government, he said, would not dictate to the DUP nor would the DUP respond to pressure from those whose aim was to place IRA/Sinn Féin in government.

And he warned: “By doing a side deal with republicans and ignoring unionist demands the Government has set back the prospects for progress.”

While Mr Dodds was standing firm on there being no negotiations, the SDLP asked when the penny was going to drop that only through real dialogue and real partnership would solutions be found to the communities’ problems.

North Antrim Assembly member Sean Farren said the message of the past week of violence was that the political vacuum was filled by paramilitaries and their supporters.

He said to restore the hope which was present during the short period of devolution, the government should immediately set about reconstructing “a real political process to replace the shambles for what passes as a process at present”.

Calling for parties to work together, he said: “Working together, we can tackle the deprivation that affects Catholic and Protestant communities.

“Working the (Good Friday) Agreement we can end the politics of suspension and side deals. Working as partners we can heal the divisions in our society.”

Mr Farren said it must be almost incredible to the outside world that while parts of Belfast and other towns burn, the elected representatives of society had no opportunity to work together to resolve whatever problems lie at the heart of the mayhem.