Reid denies siding with Trimble
Northern Ireland Secretary of State John Reid tonight denied making IRA decommissioning a precondition of political progress.
Speaking after a meeting with Sinn Fein, which has accused him of supporting First Minister David Trimble, Mr Reid said he wanted to see all the outstanding issues of the peace process resolved.
He said those issues included restoring the rights of Sinn Fein ministers Martin McGuinness and Bairbre De Brun to attend cross-border ministerial meetings.
‘‘I also want to see as much progress as possible on the issue of policing, so that we can get a new police service in Northern Ireland,’’ he said.
Mr Reid said he also wanted to see the military presence diminished and progress on decommissioning.
‘‘I’m somebody who thinks it is more important to get to solutions, rather than to involve ourselves in slanging matches and I hope today’s meeting took that further.’’
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams called on Mr Reid to put pressure on Mr Trimble to reverse the ban on Sinn Fein ministers attending cross-border meetings.
He said the Northern Ireland Secretary must honour his responsibility to promote the Good Friday Agreement.
‘‘He has to be about acting as guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, not renegotiating the agreement, not in some way regurgitating a Unionist version of the Agreement, but of upholding the rights of all the citizens.’’
The row centred on recent statements made by Mr Reid, which Sinn Fein believed supported Mr Trimble’s ban on their ministers in the absence of IRA disarmament.
