Trimble to boycott 'sham' talks
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is likely to stay away from round table talks this week to revive devolution in Northern Ireland, party sources indicated today.
As efforts to restore the Assembly, power sharing government and other institutions intensified at Stormont, UUP sources believed Mr Trimble would continue to insist that the meeting on Thursday of the British and Irish Governments and Northern Ireland parties was a “sham process“.
Mr Trimble signalled today to a Sunday newspaper he would “probably not go to the talks,” which his party believed were a distraction from “real negotiations” in Downing Street about the future of the IRA.
“I am probably not going to the talks on Thursday,” the Upper Bann MP said.
“I am getting increasingly fed up with this behaviour.
“There is no value in them. The only important talks are in Downing Street.”
Sources close to the UUP leader were of the opinion that the party should stay away from the discussions focussing on issues other than decommissioning and paramilitaries in the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Trimble and his colleagues walked out of the discussions before Christmas in protest over a leaked Irish Government document which revealed Department of Foreign Affairs officials in Dublin believed the IRA was still rearming, targeting and recruiting.
An Ulster Unionist source said: “Given what he has said to the Sunday Times today and given the party’s position on the talks, it would be unikely we will be at the talks this week.
“Everybody knows what needs to be done. Everybody knows there is a process going on with Downing Street. Everybody knows what is required of the IRA. That’s where the focus should be.”
