Northern executive prepares for cabinet meeting
Unionists, nationalists and republicans on the Northern Ireland Executive were preparing for a cabinet meeting today which was taking place amid growing concerns for the future of the North’s peace process.
Ministers from the Ulster Unionist Party, SDLP and Sinn Fein were due to sit around the table just days after hard-line unionists and republicans made spectacular gains in the Westminster and Local Government elections.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon and their ministerial team were due to discuss the legislative programme at Stormont.
The meeting was taking place against the backdrop of Mr Trimble’s threat to resign as First Minister on July 1 if there is not enough progress on IRA decommissioning by the end of the month.
Speculation is mounting that Mr Trimble will face a leadership challenge when his party’s 860-member ruling council meets on June 23 in the wake of losses in the General and Local Government Elections.
Anti-Good Friday Agreement MPs, the Rev Martin Smyth and Jeffrey Donaldson are being touted as possible challengers.
Ministers from the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party which increased its Westminster team from two MPs to five and gained an extra 40 councillors, were not attending today’s cabinet meeting.
The party boycotts Executive meetings because of the involvement of Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun.
Mr McGuinness and Ms de Brun will return to the Executive knowing their party has overtaken the second largest party in the Assembly, their nationalist rival, the SDLP.
Mr McGuinness, who was one of four Sinn Fein MPs elected to the House of Commons last week, met the Irish Prime Minister in Dublin yesterday but launched a strong attack on Mr Trimble beforehand for threatening to resign from the Executive on July 1.
‘‘I would regard that as a total and absolute abdication of his responsibility as someone who has signed up to the Good Friday Agreement and a desertion by him of the majority of people within the party that he leads, who clearly support the Good Friday Agreement,’’ the Stormont Education Minister said.
‘‘He needs to sit back and reflect on the reality that there is very clear evidence that there is an overwhelming majority of support coming out of these elections for the agreement.’’
Sinn Fein’s two new MPs, Pat Doherty and Michelle Gildernew were making their first appearance at Westminster today.
The party is lobbying for House of Commons facilities despite refusing to swear the traditional MP’s oath of allegiance to the Queen.
Mr Doherty and Ms Gildernew are also in London for other engagements including the rededication of South Africa House by South African President Thabo Mbeki of the African National Congress.
