PRC-UTE
21st September 2004, 20:55
Financial Times
Adams signals IRA ready to do deal
By John Murray Brown at Leeds Castle, Kent
Gerry Adams signalled that the IRA was ready to do a deal to end its
activities as Northern Ireland parties gathered at Leeds Castle in Kent for
crucial talks aimed at restoring the province's power sharing government.
Arriving for the negotiations on Thursday, Mr Adams said a deal between his
Sinn F?n party and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists was "inevitable".
He added: "Will it happen this weekend? We're here to make it happen."
Tony Blair, who is co-chairing the talks with Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime
minister, said: "We've been through these issues many times. They haven't
changed but now is the time we've got to decide. We can't go out of this and
have another set of elongated negotiations. This really is the moment of
decision for us."
In remarks apparently aimed at Mr Adams and the veteran DUP leader, he said
it was "a test of leadership" to achieve a breakthrough.
The prime minister's official spokesman indicated that, if the talks failed,
the governments would have to look at alternative arrangements for the
government of Northern Ireland, including the possibility of continuing
direct rule by ministers from Westminster.
The spokesman said the agenda was well known by the parties and centred on
four issues - the need for "a complete end to paramilitarism, a complete
process of decommissioning, a commitment by the parties to share power and a
resolution of policing".
The four-party executive and assembly were suspended in October 2002 after
unionists threatened to pull out their ministers in protest at police
allegations the IRA had been spying on the office of the Northern Ireland
Office.
The last attempt to find agreement broke down in October with unionists
demanding more details on what the IRA had decommissioned.
The DUP has demanded that any decommissioning of the IRA's arms would have
to be transparent, to provide confidence to the unionist community that its
so-called war was over.
Mr Paisley, who travelled to the talks by car on the advice of doctors after
a short spell in hospital last month, is insisting on changes to the way
power-sharing would work before his party - which boycotted the 1998 Good
Friday negotiations - would agree to sit in cabinet with Sinn F?n.
The Ulster Unionists called on John de Chastelain, the Canadian general
appointed by the British and Irish governments to provide an independent
assessment of any paramilitary disarmament, to release details of what had
already been decommissioned and what time would be needed to dispose of the
remainder of the IRA's arsenal of guns and Semtex explosive.
The UUP also released the text of a statement, tabled in October, that it
proposed the IRA should release. The UUP suggested that the IRA should get
"a positive response from unionists" if it were to state that "the armed
struggle is completed and will not be resumed".
The talks look set to run into the weekend. The two prime ministers have
issued deadlines before but Mr Ahern appeared less definitive about what
would happen if there were no agreement. The Irish taoiseach said: "I do
hope we leave Leeds Castle with success not failure. I hope we end it with
finality and not just a parking spot on the way."
A deal would see Sinn F?n abandon its boycott of the province's new
policing structures, in exchange for a commitment from the British
government to devolve responsibility for police and justice matters to local
ministers.
The government has also indicated it is ready to move to reduce the army's
presence in the province and make arrangements for an effective amnesty for
IRA fugitives as part of an agreement.
Adams signals IRA ready to do deal
By John Murray Brown at Leeds Castle, Kent
Gerry Adams signalled that the IRA was ready to do a deal to end its
activities as Northern Ireland parties gathered at Leeds Castle in Kent for
crucial talks aimed at restoring the province's power sharing government.
Arriving for the negotiations on Thursday, Mr Adams said a deal between his
Sinn F?n party and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists was "inevitable".
He added: "Will it happen this weekend? We're here to make it happen."
Tony Blair, who is co-chairing the talks with Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime
minister, said: "We've been through these issues many times. They haven't
changed but now is the time we've got to decide. We can't go out of this and
have another set of elongated negotiations. This really is the moment of
decision for us."
In remarks apparently aimed at Mr Adams and the veteran DUP leader, he said
it was "a test of leadership" to achieve a breakthrough.
The prime minister's official spokesman indicated that, if the talks failed,
the governments would have to look at alternative arrangements for the
government of Northern Ireland, including the possibility of continuing
direct rule by ministers from Westminster.
The spokesman said the agenda was well known by the parties and centred on
four issues - the need for "a complete end to paramilitarism, a complete
process of decommissioning, a commitment by the parties to share power and a
resolution of policing".
The four-party executive and assembly were suspended in October 2002 after
unionists threatened to pull out their ministers in protest at police
allegations the IRA had been spying on the office of the Northern Ireland
Office.
The last attempt to find agreement broke down in October with unionists
demanding more details on what the IRA had decommissioned.
The DUP has demanded that any decommissioning of the IRA's arms would have
to be transparent, to provide confidence to the unionist community that its
so-called war was over.
Mr Paisley, who travelled to the talks by car on the advice of doctors after
a short spell in hospital last month, is insisting on changes to the way
power-sharing would work before his party - which boycotted the 1998 Good
Friday negotiations - would agree to sit in cabinet with Sinn F?n.
The Ulster Unionists called on John de Chastelain, the Canadian general
appointed by the British and Irish governments to provide an independent
assessment of any paramilitary disarmament, to release details of what had
already been decommissioned and what time would be needed to dispose of the
remainder of the IRA's arsenal of guns and Semtex explosive.
The UUP also released the text of a statement, tabled in October, that it
proposed the IRA should release. The UUP suggested that the IRA should get
"a positive response from unionists" if it were to state that "the armed
struggle is completed and will not be resumed".
The talks look set to run into the weekend. The two prime ministers have
issued deadlines before but Mr Ahern appeared less definitive about what
would happen if there were no agreement. The Irish taoiseach said: "I do
hope we leave Leeds Castle with success not failure. I hope we end it with
finality and not just a parking spot on the way."
A deal would see Sinn F?n abandon its boycott of the province's new
policing structures, in exchange for a commitment from the British
government to devolve responsibility for police and justice matters to local
ministers.
The government has also indicated it is ready to move to reduce the army's
presence in the province and make arrangements for an effective amnesty for
IRA fugitives as part of an agreement.