Blair: ‘last chance’ for power sharing
Tony Blair has said that Northern Ireland politicians were facing their “last chance” to get a devolved government up and running.
He and Bertie Ahern today travelled to Stormont for a meeting with the Northern Irish parties in an attempt to speed up progress towards power sharing.
The parties have been given a deadline of November 24th to appoint a first minister, deputy first minister and set up a government.
Speaking after meetings with the DUP and Sinn Fein, among others, Mr Blair said: “I think this is the last chance for this generation really to make this process work. We have come a very long way but we have to go the rest of the way now.”
His comments were echoed by the taoiseach, who said failure to meet the deadline would mean “we are off on a totally different track, where none of us want to be”.
Earlier, DUP leader Ian Paisley had said it was “a very relaxed meeting” and “no deadlines were held over our heads”.
The DUP had been angered over the last few days after details of their assembly members’ finances were leaked to the BBC, suggesting that some of them would face financial hardship if their salaries were cancelled as a result of the deadline being missed.
But Mr Paisley said this had not be raised during the meeting, and instead insisted it was time “the government has to either take the side of democracy or full surrender to IRA/Sinn Fein”.
Under the guidance of Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain, a cross-party preparation for government committee has been set up to identify issues that need to be addressed before devolution can return.
But Mr Hain has prevented the assembly from debating policy to the frustration of its members.
Sinn Fein this week announced a review of its role in the assembly, which could result in it pulling out in the autumn.
The party’s president, Gerry Adams, said today: “We listened closely to what Mr Ahern and Mr Blair said today. But they must know that the Hain Assembly is a farce and is undermining public confidence in the process.
“For our part, we told the taoiseach and the British prime minister that they must act to bring about the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Words are not enough.”
He added: “The onus is on shaping the process, firstly to implement the agreement and advance peoples’ rights and entitlements, and secondly to persuade the DUP to come on board. This responsibility rests with the two governments.”
Ahead of the visit by the two prime ministers, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator Martin McGuiness said his party’s continued participation in the process was dependant on the British and Irish government reasserting their control over the process.
“They need to state clearly that they are finally going to reassert their control over this process and press ahead with either putting in place the political institutions or closing down the assembly and moving on before public confidence in the political process is eroded even further,” he said.
Mr Paisley had described it as “D-day” for the prime minister in answering the question of whether Sinn Fein was fit for government.
Members of their assembly took their seats on May 15th for the first time in two years.
Failure of the parties to set up a government would lead to next year’s assembly elections being scrapped and members’ salaries being cancelled.
