Ahern to hold talks with SDLP critic
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today meet the SDLP after its leader criticised current peace process negotiations.
As Sinn Féin and Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists considered proposals from the Irish and British governments to revive power sharing at Stormont, SDLP leader Mark Durkan was travelling to Dublin for a meeting with the Taoiseach.
However the Foyle Assembly member has criticised Mr Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s governments for not giving other parties that supported the Good Friday Agreement full sight of their proposals.
“The package needs to be shared with those who originally negotiated the Agreement and not just between two parties if it is going to have credibility,” Mr Durkan argued.
“We know the reason why the SDLP has not been given full sight – not because we cannot be trusted to leak them but because we cannot be relied upon to not speak the truth.
“If there are flaws or problems, we will point it out in an attempt to rectify them.
“That is what we did before the Leeds Castle talks, during them and after them.”
The negotiations are believed to be delicately poised, with Sinn Féin and the DUP still raising some concerns about the two governments’ plan.
If power-sharing is to be restored, it will require a significant move by the IRA on disarmament.
It is believed an IRA weapons decommissioning act could be witnessed by Catholic and Protestant clergy, but the DUP would like a visual aspect to it, with either photographic or video evidence.
Both parties are also understood to have concerns about the operation of political institutions under the deal, and Sinn Féin is keen to pin down Dublin and London on a commitment to transfer policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont within two years.
It is also understood that the DUP has some concerns about the rolling out of any deal and the time frame in which it might take place.
Mr Durkan also hit out at Sinn Féin’s handling of the negotiations, claiming it had appeared to have taken its eye off the ball over what was good for nationalists and supporters of the Good Friday Agreement.
In particular, the SDLP leader expressed concern at a proposal to replace the joint election in the Assembly for First and Deputy First Minister with a vote for the entire cabinet.
Mr Durkan claimed this would give the DUP a chance to veto who nationalists put forward as potential ministers by threatening to withhold support for the executive.
“One of our concerns right now is that a large part of the negotiations in recent weeks have focused on the terms of decommissioning and it appears Sinn Féin has concentrated a lot of their efforts on protecting the self-image of the IRA,” he said.
“We do not think they have spent as much time on protecting the interests of the nationalist people and pro-Agreement supporters generally.”
He continued: “I do not think they (Sinn Féin) have negotiated strongly at all in terms of the institutional aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
“The DUP are in a position where they are able to establish a veto not only over how a nationalist minister exercises power but a veto over the very appointment of certain nationalists as ministers.”
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams confirmed last night the British government was facing demands to pump £1bn (€1.4bn) into Northern Ireland in a bid to bolster a talks deal if it is struck.
The Democratic Unionists have pressed in negotiations for a financial package to accompany a deal to revive devolution but ultimately, it will be Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown’s decision if the peace dividend is to go ahead.
Mr Adams confirmed: “We actually were the party – and we welcome the DUP coming on board – who originally called for a peace dividend.
“We certainly believe that the money that goes into the British war machine should be diverted into an economic dividend, particularly for disadvantaged areas.
“I have some hope – because we talked to Tony Blair about this the last time we met, and we will be talking to Paul Murphy also about the detail of all of this. I have some hope that there will be a peace dividend.
“How much will it be? I don’t know, but I have some hope that we may get it.”
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