SF welcomes Hain’s latest comments on power-sharing
Sinn Féin has welcomed the Northern Secretary's statement that the DUP will have to speak to republicans "sooner rather than later".
The peace process in the North is currently stalled due to the hardline unionist party's refusal to negotiate a return to power-sharing government with Sinn Féin.
The IRA completed the decommissioning process and declared an end to its armed struggle in an effort to secure a return to power-sharing, but the DUP refuses to accept that the republican movement is committed solely to peaceful means.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Northern Secretary Peter Hain rejected a suggestion from DUP leader Ian Paisley that he should exclude Sinn Féin from a future devolved government.
Mr Hain said Sinn Féin had committed itself to a democratic, peaceful and political path for many years and said the DUP would have to talk the party "sooner rather than later".
Sinn Féin vice-president Pat Doherty has welcomed the comments, saying he hoped they would mark an end to the Irish and British governments' pandering to the DUP.
