Talks hit fever pitch – ISN
November 30th, 2004
DERRY – It has been two weeks since the Irish and British governments handed Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) their revised terms for the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland. Since then, both parties have consulted their grassroots, come up with responses and requests for clarification for the governments, and engaged in a series of talks with relevant policymakers in Belfast, Dublin, and London.
However, their respective dealings have not included face-to-face meetings. The DUP refuse to meet with a party they see as indistinguishable from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). All contacts have been mediated by the Irish and British governments. But the talks are delicately poised. Both parties refer simultaneously to the obstacles remaining and possibility of a deal being forged soon. This morning, DUP leader Reverend Ian Paisley was in London to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair, while a Sinn Féin delegation led by Gerry Adams was in Dublin to meet the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
This follows an intensive few days of activity. Notably, US President George Bush telephoned Paisley and Adams over the weekend to express his support for the current phase of the process. General John de Chastelain, head of the body appointed to oversee decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, is in Northern Ireland in advance of any move by the IRA to hand in its vast arsenal. De Chastelain met with Ian Paisley yesterday, to discuss decommissioning – the major obstacle to a deal according to Paisley.
Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin stated that decommissioning was something that de Chastelain would have to deal directly with the IRA on, as Sinn Féin has no leverage over the paramilitaries. It seems these proposals center around the provision of photographic evidence for substantial acts of decommissioning, to be witnessed by two churchmen whose identity will be agreed by the parties.
Yesterday, Adams met with the Chief Constable of the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI), Hugh Orde. It was the first time that Sinn Féin spoke directly to the head of the police service for Northern Ireland. The previous version of the PSNI – the Royal Ulster Constabulary, was targeted regularly by the IRA, which killed almost 300 force members during the 30-year conflict. The RUC was regarded as a pro-Unionist institution by Northern Ireland nationalists. Adams and Orde discussed the possibilities for demilitarization in Northern Ireland – something Sinn Féin sees as crucial to persuading the IRA to hand in its weapons.
To many in Northern Ireland it was and is unthinkable that the hardline pro-UK element represented by Ian Paisley, and the party that is allegedly the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Féin, could possibly compromise on a deal to govern Northern Ireland. These negotiations follow the near miss of the Leeds Castle talks held in September.
It is thought that any failure this time around would mean no return to devolution for Northern Ireland before general elections in Britain next May and a stagnating peace process in the province. The alternative is an unprecedented deal and the sharing of power between two historically implacable foes
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