Ignore DUP power sharing demands SDLP
The Irish and British governments were urged today to call time on the Democratic Unionist Party's list of preconditions ahead of the November 24 deadline for power sharing in the North.
While visiting New York, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan likened the DUP's approach to the political process to a pub crawl of preconditions and accused the British government of indulging them.
The Foyle MP, who was attending the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, claimed: "The DUP are trying to add precondition after precondition for restoration - like the scrapping of the Parades Commission and undoing the Agreement's protections.
"Instead of ruling these preconditions out, the British Government has indulged them - even promising new legislation to undermine the Agreement.
"So it's no surprise to see that Ian Paisley now raising the bar even higher.
"Paisley demands IRA disbandment. But the key issue is not disbandment. It is that all paramilitary groups cease to act as armies or militias, as police forces, political intelligence services or as crime gangs. That is what really matters.''
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and prime minister Tony Blair have given the Northern Ireland Assembly parties until November 24 to agree to a power sharing executive.
However, despite intensive talks being pencilled in for October 11-13 for St Andrew's in Scotland, there is not a lot of confidence among the North's parties that the deadline will be met.
After a meeting with the four member Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) in Belfast yesterday, which will produce a crucial report on paramilitary activity ahead of the St Andrew's talks, Ian Paisley insisted the DUP were expecting the IRA to disband.
Senior DUP figures have also stressed Sinn Féin must publicly endorse the police if they are to credibly take part in a government.
