Hain expected to make new appeal to Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin will today be urged to let republican communities in the North engage with the police on tackling day-to-day crime while it debates its participation in policing bodies.
British government sources indicated Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will also in a keynote speech later today in the Republic also offer to take part in talks with Sinn Féin on policing.
The talks would also involve the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Mr Hain is expected to tell the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal: “While we work to resolve the issue of devolution, I would strongly urge the republican leadership to draw a distinction between constitutional endorsement of the structures of policing and support for the practical service of policing in the community.
“There should be no part of Northern Ireland where people are not actively encouraged to report crimes to the police so that they can take action.
“There should be no community where elected representatives do not routinely talk to PSNI officers.”
The comments will fuel the belief in the wake of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s talks last month with the Northern Ireland parties that the British Government in particular believes policing holds the key to breaking the political deadlock in the province.
The Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have flagged up Sinn Féin’s refusal to endorse the PSNI as one of a number of stumbling blocks to restoring a power sharing government featuring republicans.
In recent years, Sinn Féin has also focused on policing as a key issue and have pressed for the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to a future Stormont administration.
In what was interpreted as a significant move last week, Sinn Féin policing spokesperson Gerry Kelly revealed he had held direct talks with senior PSNI officers in advance of last Wednesday’s Protestant Orange Order Twelfth of July marches in Belfast.
As a result, British soldiers did not take part in the security operation around Orange parades for the first time in over 35 years, huge screens were not erected to keep nationalist protesters at bay in the nationalist Ardoyne area in north Belfast and that flashpoint march passed off relatively peacefully.
Mr Hain is delivering the sixth annual John Hume address on the opening night of the week-long MacGill Summer School which will focus on a range of issues affecting society north and south of the border.
His speech is expected to urge Northern Ireland’s politicians to stop focusing on the past and what divides them and, instead, focus on carving out a shared future between unionists and nationalists.
Sources said he will also stress the need for a more outward looking economy aware of the emergence of countries like India and China, with a more canny use of resources.
It is understood the Northern Ireland Secretary will argue for more integrated education in the province as opposed to segregated schools for Protestant and Catholic children.
