Ministers meet ahead of vital Assembly talks

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will today meet Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern in the North as preparations continue for top-level talks later this week.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will today meet Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern in the North as preparations continue for top-level talks later this week.

The two ministers’ talks will help set the scene for Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair's’ stock-taking meeting with the Northern Ireland parties on Thursday in Belfast.

However, Mr Hain and Mr Ahern are also expected to make a significant announcement on plans to enable senior citizens in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic to make use of free public transport in either jurisdiction.

It is understood both governments hope to have a scheme in place by next April enabling pensioners in Northern Ireland to travel at no cost on buses and trains in the Republic and vice versa.

The initiative, which is subject to an eight-week public consultation in Northern Ireland, will very much be interpreted as the kind of cross-border work London and Dublin would like to see Stormont’s devolved ministers undertake with their Irish government counterparts.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern have given Northern Ireland Assembly parties until November 24 to try and form a power-sharing executive.

They are expected to tell the parties that November 24 is a very real deadline for political progress and that they will have to consider alternatives if the target date is not met.

The recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly has seen the North’s 108 MLAs fail to elect Democratic Unionist leader, the Reverend Ian Paisley, and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness as the leaders of a new power-sharing government.

Assembly debates have also been marred by a boycott by Sinn Féin, who have claimed they are meaningless because there is no devolved government.

A special committee set up in the Assembly to identify key issues ahead of the formation of a power-sharing government has also been marked by bitter rows between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Senior DUP negotiator Nigel Dodds yesterday also criticised Mr Hain, accusing him of boycotting Assembly business by refusing any more debates.

The North Belfast MP said: “There are now two boycotts of the Assembly going on: first Sinn Féin/IRA’s refusal to attend, and secondly Peter Hain’s refusal to permit business to take place.

“This shoddy double act is extremely counterproductive to creating circumstances where confidence can be built towards the establishment of devolution.

“If the Secretary for State and Sinn Féin/IRA continue to operate in this way, then they are in no condition to criticise others.”

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams also warned on Saturday that the political process would be in serious trouble unless Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern took decisive action this week.

With his party set to review its involvement in the Assembly, Mr Adams told Sinn Féin activists in Dublin that no progress had been made over the past six weeks, with the DUP showing no interest in sharing power.

The West Belfast MP said: “If there is to be any possibility of the power-sharing institutions being restored in the coming months, there is a need for them to take decisive action.

“There is no point in them coming to Belfast to give the parties a pep talk or to pretend that progress has been made in recent weeks.

“They need to acknowledge that the current situation is totally unacceptable and is dangerously undermining the public’s confidence.”

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