DUP delegation meets Blair in London
Ian Paisley today insisted there was “no way” his Democratic Unionist Party would ever sit in government with Sinn Féin.
Mr Paisley said Sinn Féin was still “inextricably tied up” with paramilitarism. He urged British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to let them into government.
Speaking after talks with Mr Blair and Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy at Downing Street, Mr Paisley said: “There will never be any conditions when we will sit in government with any body of people, loyalist or nationalist, who have an army, and that army is being used against democracy.”
The meeting, which lasted a little over one hour, was the first time Mr Paisley has held face-to-face talks with Mr Blair for a year.
They were aimed at breaking the deadlock after last month’s Assembly elections which saw his party overtake the Ulster Unionists.
Mr Paisley described the meeting as “extremely useful”. He insisted there were no issues his party was not prepared to discuss in an attempt to restore democracy to Northern Ireland.
He said Northern Ireland must remain within the UK as long as its people wanted it to and any new government must not contain groups “who are tied up with violence”.
The DUP leader said he would provide Mr Murphy with a complete record of all the issues he wanted to be addressed.
Mr Paisley said the election result was “a victory for the ballot box over the bomb and the bullet” and for democracy over dictatorship.
He said Mr Blair must stick to his promise to exclude groups tied to violence from government.
Mr Blair will tomorrow hold talks with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s other main parties in a bid to map out plans for a New Year review of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is also due at Downing Street for talks.
British government sources have described the discussions as a stock-taking exercise after last month’s poll which left the prospect of devolution returning in the near future even more remote.
The DUP, which has refused to negotiate with Sinn Féin, has said it would wait to see the review agenda before agreeing to take part in talks.
