Political gap widens over NI elections
The gap between republicans and unionists widened tonight over whether Assembly elections should take place in Northern Ireland without any breakthrough in the peace process.
As Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness warned his party would not go to the IRA without a date for an Assembly election, senior Ulster Unionists urged the British government not to give in to republican demands.
Senior negotiator Michael McGimpsey claimed after a meeting between the two parties in London that “nobody should be under any illusion that there is a mountain to climb before we even get elections”.
His party colleague Sir Reg Empey also insisted the British government must not “capitulate” to Sinn Féin’s demands for an election before acts of completion.
The former UUP Economy Minister said: “Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness’s call for an election date to be set now is the usual bluster from Sinn Féin - making demands upfront and then deciding what their next step is going to be.
“What republicans collectively have to realise, and what the (British) government must remain rock solid on, is the need for acts of completion before any election is called.
“We need to have an end to republican terrorism once and for all. We need them to say it, we need them to do it and we need them to abide by it.
“There can be no capitulation on this whatsoever. The people of Northern Ireland will not tolerate it. The (British) government must decide the date of an election and not Sinn Féin.
“It would be foolish for the (British) government to throw its cards away before we have witnessed acts of completion.”
Assembly elections scheduled for May this year were cancelled four days into the campaign as the peace process stumbled over the issue of paramilitary activity.
Devolution in Northern Ireland was suspended last October over allegations that the IRA was intelligence gathering.
Republicans have faced demands for an historic declaration from the IRA that it is ending all paramilitary activity.
In particular, republicans are being urged to sign up to paragraph 13 of the British and Irish Governments’ joint declaration which was released in May.
The paragraph calls for an end to all recruiting, training, intelligence gathering, targeting, weapons procurement and involvement in all violence.
Talk sources have insisted that it is still not yet clear whether republicans are willing or able to sign up to paragraph 13.
Today’s meeting between Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin and the Ulster unionist leader David Trimble is the fifth face-to-face talks to have taken place over the past three weeks.
Efforts have intensified to secure a deal to restore the Assembly and power-sharing Government at Stormont.
Mr McGuinness said he expected more meetings to take place and he claimed “the atmosphere is good” between the parties.
He told PA News after the meeting in London: “There is a recognition that we are all in this together and that we all have a responsibility to resolve the impasse.
“We in Sinn Féin hope the unionists are taking us in good faith and we are certainly taking them in good faith.
“Obviously the British and Irish Governments also have a role in all of this.
“But may I say we in Sinn Féin believe that elections need to take place because they are a basic right.
“From our point of view we see the election as an accelerator in the process and certainly we will not be going to the IRA without an election date.
“The election is crucial from our perspective.”
