Paisley told 'you'll have to talk to SF'
The Rev Ian Paisley will have to talk directly to Sinn Féin sooner or later, he was told today.
During exchanges in the UK's House of Commons, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain told the Democratic Unionist leader he was not prepared to freeze Sinn Féin out of the Assembly or a power sharing government because republicans had committed themselves to a democratic, peaceful political path.
Mr Paisley asked the minister during Northern Ireland Questions why he would not face up to the fact that there was one party that would not agree that all parties should be totally committed to peaceful and democratic means.
The North Antrim MP suggested the British government needed to tell republicans: “There’s only one way in and that way is for everyone.
“You have not kept that way, therefore you have to be excluded.
“The time has come when you have to make that decision, whether you are going to say to those that agree with terrorism, they can’t be in the government.”
Northern Ireland’s political process has been stalled for almost three and a half years, with the North's Assembly and power sharing executive suspended.
There have been three failed bids to revive the Assembly.
The last talks in December 2004 involving Sinn Féin, the DUP, the Irish and British governments broke down when the IRA refused to give in to Mr Paisley’s demand for photographic evidence of weapons decommissioning.
During those negotiations, the DUP refused to engage Sinn Féin directly in talks and there was no one-on-one meetings between the parties.
Recent efforts by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to inject some urgency into attempts to revive devolution have been frustrated by Sinn Féin and the SDLP’s refusal to sign up to the idea of a Shadow Assembly floated by the DUP.
Under the DUP’s plan, the Assembly could sit and scrutinise the work of British ministers running Northern Ireland government departments until the province is ready for full blown devolution.
Mr Hain rejected any suggestion today that Sinn Féin had not committed itself to peaceful and democratic means before and after last year’s IRA statement declaring an end to its armed campaign.
“If you are saying that I don’t think you are actually judging the evidence that’s been presented to us,” the Northern Ireland Secretary responded to Mr Paisley.
“If you are asking me to bar a very important part of the Northern Ireland political constituency from representation in the Assembly or a power sharing government, then I can’t agree with you on that.
“We have got to make progress.
“Your party needs to talk to the other parties and I would say at some point, sooner or later, your party needs to talk to Sinn Féin since they are the second largest party in Northern Ireland.”
