Blair warning over devolution deadline
Tony Blair stood by his deadline for striking a deal over devolution in the North after holding talks with Bertie Ahern today.
The British Prime Minister, who met the Taoiseach for breakfast at Chequers, said it would be “difficult” to get an agreement for reinstating the Stormont Assembly after November 24.
Mr Blair’s official spokesman said the British government was approaching the problem in a “methodical way”.
“At the end of the day it will be for the party to decide.
“But we believe they do need to decide before the deadline of November 24."
The spokesman said the meeting with Mr Ahern this morning had been "preparatory'' ahead of intensive private talks with all parties in the peace process, and a peace summit due to be held in Scotland next month.
The two leaders had reviewed “what was the calmest most trouble-free summer since before 1970".
Earlier this week Democratic Unionist leader, Rev Ian Paisley gave a gloomy assessment of the chances for hitting the deadline after meeting Mr Blair in Downing Street.
He also told reporters that the planned summit in Scotland was a “waste of money”, and negotiations should take place in Stormont.
A report by the Independent Monitoring Commission due early next month - before the summit - is expected to show that the IRA is meeting its commitments against paramilitary activity.
The spokesman said negotiations would be “extremely intensive” and there was “a lot of work going on behind the scenes”.
“At the end of the day it will be the parties that make up their minds, but we are very clear that the November 24 deadline sticks and that we believe, for all sorts of reasons that it would be very difficult to see how progress can be made after that if we do not meet that,” he said.
He insisted the deadline was not “arbitrary”, but reflected a “realistic assessment of how possible it would be given the situation in the Irish Republic where they have an election next year”.
With Mr Blair quitting within the next 12 months, the November date is increasingly being seen as the last chance to revive the Northern Ireland Assembly before he goes.
Devolution was suspended in October 2002 over allegations of a republican spy ring.
The court case that followed collapsed and one of those charged, Denis Donaldson, later admitted working as a British agent.
The North’s parties have been back at Stormont since May, sitting in a so-called “virtual assembly” which can meet and debate – but not pass legislation.
The 108 MLAs have been warned that if the deadline is not met, their salaries and benefits will stop and the assembly will be put “in mothballs”.
What happens after that remains unclear, although Dublin and London say they remain committed to implementing the rest of the Good Friday Agreement, with a step-change in north-south cooperation.
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