March 5, 2003
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS POSTPONED UNTIL MAY 29

Northern Ireland Assembly elections scheduled for 1 May have been postponed until 29 May to allow time for more negotiations.

But lot more work needs to be done before the IRA can be persuaded to disarm, Sinn FÉin president Gerry Adams said today.

Adams, speaking after the marathon round of talks aimed at restoring devolution to Northern Ireland, said that at the moment there was not enough on the table to secure a deal.

The talks ended late last night with the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister announcing elections would be put back by four weeks to allow parties to consult their members. However, the Ulster Unionist leader said he would not bring any document to members until the IRA moved to disarm.

"The question of going to the IRA doesn't even arise at this moment if we can't get David Trimble to stay in one place long enough to find out exactly where he is on all of these issues," Mr Adams said.

He said that while progress had been made with the British government over policing, criminal justice and human rights there was still unfinished business.

"At the moment if there isn't enough to get a doable deal between all of the parties then we'll have to judge all of those other matters in that context," he added.

One of the major stumbling blocks preventing a deal is the Ulster Unionists insistence on sanctions imposed on Sinn Féin if the IRA is deemed to be continuing activity.

The Sinn Féin president repeated his view that this was unacceptable.

"Sinn Féin is not against parties or party members being held to account if they are in breach of commitments or pledges of offers or house rules. We cannot accept and will not accept the Government stepping outside the Good Friday Agreement to bring in sanctions which are aimed at us for something another organization may or may not be responsible for," he added.

In the House of Commons in London, Blair said he believed "we have reached the basis for the final breakthrough".

"It has to be done on the basis of a complete cessation of all paramilitary activity and the implementation of all remaining parts of the agreement, on the part of the governments and the part of the other parties. I think there is real hope for that breakthrough. But obviously discussions over the next few weeks will tell us whether that hope is well founded or not," he said.

Earlier Ireland's deputy leader Mary Harney told the Irish parliament that the Hillsborough talks were "an exercise in optimism and trust". She said the two governments would meet the parties again in early April to put forward a number of proposals.

"There have been difficulties, there is no doubt about that," Harney said.

"But nobody should underestimate the progress that was made and the intention is for the two governments to meet again with the parties in early April to put some proposals to the parties. I think the parties are aware privately of what those proposals are and there is now a period of reflection for the parties to sell those proposals to their members."

Harney said everybody recognized that it was preferable to delay the elections by a month so that parties would have enough time to sell the proposals.

"I think that is understandable and appropriate under the circumstances," she added.

March 6, 2003
SANCTIONS WILL JEOPARDIZE PROCESS - Sinn Féin

Efforts to save the Northern Ireland peace process will not work if the Irish government colludes with British government attempts to impose sanctions, a senior Sinn Féin figure said today. Party chairman Mitchel McLaughlin also said that when Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble broke the Good Friday Agreement Sinn Féin could have taken sanctions against him.

"We envisage a success, we intend to make this process work, it will work," he said. "But it will not work if the British Government attempts to change the Agreement and if the Irish Government colludes
with that."

McLaughlin was speaking as cross-border members of the party pushed for national representation in the Dublin parliament.

He added: "At the time David Trimble was proven in a court of law to have broken the Agreement and to have broken his ministerial code of practice we could have taken sanctions against David Trimble."

He spoke of what he viewed as the "very disappointing position" of the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and his government`s representatives on sanctions, which he said was the `buzz word` that came out of the Hillsborough talks.

Conor Murphy, Sinn Féin leader in the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, said the threat of sanctions presented `grave difficulties`.

"I do think we can work all of this out," he added. "I think there is an imperative on us to work all of this out. I think that regardless of whether people are pro or anti- Agreement in the North the one thing that unites people is the fact that we are better at looking after our own affairs than British ministers flying in two days a week to handle three or four departments. So there`s an imperative right across the political spectrum about getting the institutions back up and running."

Murphy said he didn`t doubt that the talks would succeed, but wanted to make sure that when they were running again the institutions would be stable.

They were speaking in Dublin at the launch of a document calling for citizens in Northern Ireland to be represented in the Oireachtas (Irish parliament).

Sinn Féin leader in the Dail, Caoimhghin O Caolain, said The Ireland of the Future - National Representation was an update of the party`s case originally made five years ago.

"At the time of the Good Friday Agreement the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) asked the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution to consider how the people of the six counties might play a more active role in national political life," O Caolain said.

"It took the committee from 1998 to last year to report on the issue."

He said the committee`s recommendation that MPs should have the right to speak in the Dail should now be acted on.

The party is calling for the right of 18 Westminster MPs elected in Northern Ireland to attend the Dail, and for Northern Ireland citizens to be able to vote in presidential elections.

March 7, 2003
AHERN CRITICIZED BY SINN FÉIN OVER SANCTIONS

Sinn Féin has accused the Irish Government of "colluding" with the British Government over the issue of sanctions against his party.

At the Hillsborough talks earlier this week, Irish premier Bertie Ahern accepted that sanctions against parties in breach of their commitments would be part of any deal to restore devolution.

However, Sinn Féin has stated that any sanctions outside the Agreement would be unacceptable. 

The party's Mitchel McLaughlin said it was very disappointed with the stance taken by Ahern. Northern Secretary of State Paul Murphy said he expected the pro-Agreement parties to agree to restore devolution.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said at the moment there was not enough on the table to secure a deal. Adams said that any sanctions imposed against Sinn Féin beyond the terms of the Good Friday Agreement if the IRA resumed activity would be unacceptable.

 "We will go to our party when we feel these issues have been resolved," he said.

An Loyalist Volunteer Force member who killed a Portadown grandmother was today sentenced to 12 years in prison. Handing down the sentence, the judge branded the killer as cowardly and despicable.

Thirty-seven-year-old Philip Joseph Blaney of Shimna Walk in Lurgan was jailed for the manslaughter of Elizabeth O`Neill. She died in a pipebomb attack on her home in 1999.

Elizabeth O`Neill died trying to save her family after a pipe bomb attack was thrown through the window of her home in Portadown`s Corcrain estate in June 1999. It exploded as she tried to take it outside.

Justice Coghlin today said it had been a planned attack involving the use of explosives carried out by a
paramilitary gang for purely sectarian purposes, directed against families of mixed religion with a view to driving them out of the estate.

Sentencing Blaney to 12 years on the manslaughter charge, Mr Justice Couglin said it was difficult to conceive of more cowardly bigoted or despicable activity and deterrence should play a significant role.

Blaney will serve concurrent sentences for three other terrorist offenses. The judge said these were serious terrorist crimes committed by Blaney in association with members of terrorist organization namely the LVF.

The other members of the gang have yet to be charged. Mrs. O`Neill`s family say they are satisfied with today`s sentence.

Her son Martin said : "We`re happy enough, I wasn`t expecting him to get anywhere near 12 years, the wool wasn`t pulled over the judge`s eyes."

Delivering the verdict Mr Justice Coughin went on to describe Blaney as having limited intellectual and verbal ability but said he was quite satisfied he knew the activity in which he was participating was wrong. 

Also today, a 13-year-old girl escaped injury after finding a pipe bomb outside her house in Northern Ireland. The teenager discovered the device in the driveway of the house at Craigadoo Drive in Ballymena, Co. Antrim.

Army explosives experts later defused the bomb and took it away for forensic tests. Detectives probing the find last night have not ruled out a sectarian motive.

A police spokesman said: "This was an extremely reckless act to plant such an indiscriminate device in a residential area. It highlights the total disregard that these despicable individuals have for the lives of the people of Ballymena. Thankfully on this occasion there were no reports of any injuries."

March 8, 2003
ADAMS SLAMS SANCTIONS PLAN

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams hit out again today at Irish government backing for plans to impose sanctions on parties that contravene the Good Friday agreement. 

Speaking in the face of an overnight defense of Dublin`s position by Irish premier Bertie Ahern, Mr Adams also criticized moves to delay elections for a new Northern Ireland assembly.

He said: "It is unacceptable that the British government have unilaterally suspended political institutions at the behest of (Ulster) unionism on four occasions. It is unacceptable that they have now postponed the elections at the behest of unionism. And it is unacceptable that they are now attempting to make the entire agreement subject to sanctions demanded by unionism."

"This is not just bad for democracy - it is putting in jeopardy much of the work that we have achieved in recent weeks and months. And this should be reflected upon by those parties who have for whatever reason supported the sanctions position or acquiesced to it." Adams made his comments at a Sinn Féin meeting in Dublin.

They followed Ahern`s assertion that there would be no need to resort to non-compliance regulations if there was a permanent end to paramilitary activity.

The Irish premier said proposals due to be advanced next month by the British and Irish governments had to take account of the sensitivities and concerns of all parties, and also stressed the need for the plans to also provide appropriate assurance mechanisms for handling problems in the future.

Adams` remarks also followed a Dublin meeting of Sinn Féin`s policy-directing Ard Comhairle national executive, when the current state of negotiations to put the Northern Ireland peace process back on track were assessed.

He reported that while substantial progress has been made on a range of issues, `substantive gaps` remained.

But he added "Discussions are continuing with the two governments and the other parties in a sustained effort to close these gaps. This is very much work in progress. In the tactical thrust of negotiations, it is crucial to actually remember what all of this is about and what we are trying to achieve - ending conflict and division on this island and building a new Ireland which is inclusive of all."

Adams listed as areas where progress had been made: new
legislation on Policing and Criminal Justice, demilitarization, equality, human rights and Irish language rights.

Adams said his negotiators would continue to meet the Ulster Unionist Party of former Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble to try to resolve issues.

He said "This is not a time to become spectators. It is a time to build alliances and forge new relationships."

March 10, 2003
TRIMBLE SETS PRE-CONDITIONS FOR IRA

Devolution can be rapidly restored in Northern Ireland if Republicans take the necessary steps to increase confidence in the peace process, it was claimed today. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said the IRA must decommission all its weapons, declare that its war is over and cease all paramilitary activity.

He also accused the IRA of hampering the work of General John de Chastelain`s Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

"Republicans know that they have to decommission in an open and verifiable manner. That means that what they do must be seen, and not rely on merely General de Chastelain`s words that they have done the deed," he said.

"And they know that a statement that this so-called war is over is essential to rebuild confidence. They know they will be locked into tough sanctions if their fiends in the IRA wobble and revert to their old ways."

He claimed the absence of any of these three 'political imperatives', and their acts will be ineffectual.

Trimble said decommissioning must be carried out in an open manner before Sinn Féin could be allowed to return to a power sharing executive.

"It`s clear that after General de Chastelain accepted the conditions which the Republican movement imposed on him, they have hampered his role as someone who is there to verify because they have prevented de Chastelain from putting the evidence into the public domain," he said.

"The whole purpose of the de Chastelain commission was there to verify and provide that evidence, if the evidence remains secret, well obviously he`s been hampered in his role. You have to say to republicans that they must stop imposing restrictions on the IICD and allow it to carry out the function it was originally intended to have."

Trimble said he would be traveling to the US this week to spell out what was needed to restore devolution. "It can be restored rapidly if republicans do what is necessary," he said.

However, he added: "There are serious doubts in my mind about whether now that the moment of truth has arrived whether republicans are able or willing to abandon completely the terrorism that has shaped so much of their lives."

Sinn Féin national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin described Mr Trimble`s remarks on sanctions and the US Government`s attitude to republicans as provocative.

"It is very much an open question whether David Trimble believes that we can make politics work and that we can actually have functional political institutions that are generally representative and inclusive," he said.

McLaughlin accused the Ulster Unionist leader of setting out to exclude Sinn Féin from the outset of the talks process.

"He hasn`t succeeded nor will he succeed and those particularly from the American administration recognize the progress and the contribution that my party has made."

He added that he believed that progress towards restoring devolution could be made when the parties meet in Washington later this week for the St. Patrick`s Day celebrations.

"All of these occasions play their part in bringing people together. The first meeting we had with the unionists and, indeed, the loyalist representatives happened in America," he added.

March 13, 2003
NORTH'S LEADERS ATTEND WHITE HOUSE CELEBRATIONS

US President George Bush today pledged to do all he could to help the Northern Ireland peace process during an early St. Patrick's Day celebration in Washington. Bush praised the `tireless` efforts of the British and Irish leaders in working for a lasting settlement as he met Irish premier Bertie Ahern at the White House.

"America has long supported their work and hope that it
continues. We will help in every way we can," the President said. He added that recent years had seen progress `so that the people of Northern Ireland can replace old resentments with new co-operation.`

Ahern said that the `generous support` of the US was a great source of encouragement and that the advances already made in the peace process would not have been possible without this assistance.

The reception took place four days before March 17, in a move that reflects the way the Iraq crisis has overshadowed the issue of Northern Ireland in Washington.

Bush praised Ahern for his support for the first UN resolution and urged him to continue supporting the hard- line US position against Saddam Hussein.

"The responsibilities of freedom are not always easy but Ireland and America are joined by a common commitment to freedom and a defense against tyranny."

Ahern, who opposes an invasion of Iraq without full United Nations backing, had faced calls from Irish anti-war campaigners to boycott the ceremony as a protest against America`s war preparations.

But while praising the US, he made clear his wish for only taking action with the support of the Security Council.

"For the United Nations to be effective, for the United Nations to be respected, it must be united in purpose as well as in name. Even at this late hour, we look to the present members of the Council to work together to ensure that resolutions of the Council are fully implemented. Members of the Council have Ireland`s full support as they seek to carry out their heavy responsibility."

Bush and Ahern both wore green ties for the ceremony, which was also attended by the First Lady Laura Bush and US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The ceremony concluded with Ahern presenting Mr Bush with a shamrock to enthusiastic applause from the audience. Bush and Ahern later met political leaders from Belfast in the Oval Office.

They were joined by Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland, who was the first police chief to attend the White House reception.

Afterwards, Ahern said they had discussed the `big steps` required to push the peace process forward, ahead of the Stormont Assembly elections in May.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who nearly missed the start of the meeting after entering the White House through the wrong entrance, said the discussions had been useful but not led to any breakthrough. "The resolution to the crisis in Ireland will have to be found in Ireland," he said.

Adams had previously met a delegation of US politicians including former First Lady Senator Hilary Clinton. He said the interest shown by American leaders in the Irish peace process in the midst of the crisis over Iraq, showed that the US still considered it an important issue. 

In advance of the ceremony the Bush administration's special envoy on the North, Richard Haass, outlined what he believed the republican movement must do to facilitate a breakthrough in the peace process.

Ambassador Haass said that, in words, the IRA has to communicate the sense that the armed struggle has come to an end.

In deeds, he said, republicans must leave the paramilitary business, give up all their arms and "stop all the activities that have no place in a modern, democratic society".

Ambassador Haass said, in his view, disbandment of the IRA was not central.

March 16, 2003
CHANCE MUST BE SEIZED SAYS DURKAN

All sides in Northern Ireland must seize a 'rare chance' to rescue the Good Friday Agreement in the coming weeks, SDLP leader Mark Durkan said today. 

 With time running out to break the deadlocked peace process and restore devolution, Mr Durkan insisted that unionists and nationalists could not afford to let the opportunity slip away.

He said in a speech in Lowell, Massachusetts, that the power-sharing institutions at Stormont had only been operating on one St. Patrick`s Day since the Belfast accord was signed five years ago.

Even though British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delayed elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly by four weeks
until May 29 in a bid to resolve the outstanding issues, a resolution has yet to be found.

Durkan said: "In these next few weeks, we have the chance to change this: to secure the Agreement, to bed it down in our government and our society, for now and for good. It is a rare chance. It is chance that we must not miss."

He blamed the political turmoil on the failure of all parties to cement the principles of equality, partnership and mutual respect enshrined in the Agreement.

The SDLP leader also told his American hosts that without US political and economic aid the peace process in Northern Ireland would have foundered.

He added: "Nor would we have made the progress that we have particularly in recent weeks in getting it implemented. As nationalists and unionists, we the politicians of Ireland owe it to ourselves to get this Agreement working. We owe it to each other. And we owe it to America, particularly Irish Americans, who have helped us so much."

March 20, 2003
MAN CONVICTED OF McGOLDRICK MURDER

A Co. Armagh man has been convicted of the murder of Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick in 1996.

Clifford McKeown, 44, from Craigavon was said to have confessed to a journalist that he shot the father-of-two. The incident took place at the height of the Drumcree stand-off over an Orange Order March in July, 1996.

The court heard the killing had been a "birthday present" for the then Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, who was later murdered by the INLA in the Maze Prison. McKeown will be sentenced next month. He is already serving 12 years imprisonment for possessing guns.

Justice Weatherup said today he was "satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant made the confession to (journalist) Nick Martin Clark, and that the confession is reliable and that it represents a true account of the defendant's involvement in the murder".

During the trial, the court heard Mr McGoldrick was murdered after plans to kidnap three priests from a parochial house in County Armagh were aborted.

McKeown, from Parkmore in Craigavon, was said to have told the journalist that he, along with Billy Wright and another LVF man, Mark Fulton, discussed the plan to kidnap three Catholic priests and shoot them if Orangemen were not allowed to walk down the Garvaghy Road.

McGoldrick's body was found in his cab in a country lane at Aghagallon, several miles from Lurgan, a day after he had picked up a fare in the town. He had been shot five times in the head.

The court heard McKeown, who had been waiting in another car, opened the back door of the taxi and fired four times into McGoldrick's head. He then fired one final shot to "finish him off", Belfast Crown Court heard. McKeown is a former loyalist "supergrass" (informer).

His brother Trevor was convicted of killing 18-year-old Catholic Bernadette Martin, who was shot in bed at her Protestant boyfriend's home in Aghalee, Co. Antrim in July, 1997.

At that trial in June, 1999, Trevor McKeown was found guilty of possessing the .22 Spanish Star pistol used to murder Martin. It was the same gun used to murder Michael McGoldrick.

March 21, 2003
TRIMBLE REPEATS DECOMMISSIONING CALL

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble today repeated his call for republicans to decommission. Trimble said he hoped the British Prime Minister, despite the war in Iraq, would be able to return to Hillsborough Castle next month to help secure a deal to restore devolution to Northern Ireland.

"Republicans have been given an extra four weeks to do what we all know is necessary," he said. "We hope they do it, and we hope that clears the way for Mr. Blair to come back in April as he said he would. I don`t think anyone can reasonably doubt the extent of the British Prime Minister`s commitment to this," he added.

Talks to secure a deal at Hillsborough failed earlier this month after the parties were unable to agree on issues such as IRA disarmament, demilitarization and freedom for paramilitary on-the-run prisoners. Blair was expected to return to the North next month with a non-negotiable package on the way forward.
 

Both London and Dublin have expressed confidence that a deal to restore devolution to Northern Ireland is possible.

Assembly elections were delayed from May 1 until May 29 in a bid to buy time for the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties to agree to the deal.

March 24, 2003
MURPHY AND COWAN MEET IN DUBLIN

Discussions to follow up on last month's political discussions on the Northern Ireland peace process have taken place in Dublin today.

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Paul Murphy held discussions with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen today to finalize the position of the two governments before their latest initiative is unveiled next month.

British PM Tony Blair and Irish premier Bertie Ahern held intensive talks with the pro-Agreement parties earlier in March, as efforts intensified to end the deadlock in the stalled political process.

Blair said a final breakthrough was possible following the talks. The issue of sanctions against any party deemed to have breached the Good Friday Agreement is believed to be the main obstacle to agreement between all the parties.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said that any sanctions outside of the terms of the Good Friday Agreement would be a "deal-breaker." Adams is meeting with Ahern in Government Buildings in Dublin today.

Assembly elections scheduled for May 1 have been postponed until May 29 to allow time for more negotiations.

Meanwhile, the British government intends to introduce controversial clauses to the Northern Ireland Police Bill in parliament this week, enabling former paramilitary prisoners to sit on the new District Policing Partnerships.

The clauses were published earlier this year in a draft form, but the government said the changes would only be made in the context of acts of completion by paramilitary organizations.

The clauses will be introduced when the bill reaches its report stage in the House of Commons on Wednesday, however they will not come into effect until a parliamentary order is passed recognizing that "acts of completion" have taken place.

Speaking before the talks today, Murphy said a lot of progress had been made towards a deal which it was hoped would be completed next month.

He said he was pleased the two governments and political parties had worked together to resolve a number of difficult issues.

"But acts of completion have to be right across the board," he said.

Cowen said: "What we are also doing as governments is to ensure that we have acts of completion across the board so that we can resolve those issues in the weeks ahead. These discussions are in the context of the Hillsborough discussions and the need to get the political process back up and running in a way in which all parties and all sides can have full and total confidence in their sustainability going into the future."

He added: "We want to get to the point where the political process is paramount. The work we have put into this and the time invested by the taoiseach and the prime minister is something which will be seen when the governments finally publish their documents."

Meanwhile, recent political developments in Northern Ireland are set to be discussed by British and Irish politicians at a conference in the Irish Republic.

They are participating in the twice-yearly plenary conference of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in Kilkenny today.

Cowen is expected to outline the latest Irish and British Government thinking on Northern Ireland at the conference.

The body's Irish co-chairman, Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fail TD Brendan Smith, said the conference was taking place at a crucial time. He said both prime ministers were fine-tuning their planned responses and proposals on Northern Ireland's political future.

Other items tabled for debate include ongoing concerns over the decline and future of tourism and current EU proposals within the Common Fisheries Policy.

The British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body comprises 25 members each from the upper and lower houses of Westminster and Dublin parliaments. It has met twice a year since its formation in 1990 in an effort to improve political links between Britain and
Ireland.

In recent years, the membership of the body has been extended, with representatives from the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

Mach 25, 2003
SANCTIONS COULD WRECK DEAL - SINN Féin

A senior Sinn Féin spokesperson has said that the issue of imposing sanctions outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement against any Northern Ireland party which does not adhere to the Mitchell Principles of non-violence could be a possible deal-breaker.

However, the British and Irish governments have stiffened their position and insisted that the discussions are over and that the British-Irish package for reinstating the Stormont institutions is finalized.

Sinn FÉin opposed the proposed creation of an international monitoring body to deal with sanctions during negotiations earlier this month in Belfast because this would be outside the terms of the agreement.

Sinn Féin contends that the Agreement already contains a mechanism for the exclusion of any party who is deemed to be in breach of the terms of the Agreement.

The two governments and Sinn FÉin now appeared deadlocked on sanctions, a demand which was made by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble. As recently as last Friday, Mr Adams warned sanctions could be a "deal-breaker".

But Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, speaking at the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in Kilkenny yesterday, warned against parties seeking a "concession too far".

Describing a postponement of the assembly elections beyond May 29 as "a non-starter," Cowen said: "I don't see any benefit from deferring in the event of non-agreement."

Urging all parties to act quickly, he said: "Now is not the time to play the process long, to seek to extract one concession too far, to assume that the doors of people who have been endlessly patient and supportive remain as generously open as they have in the past. As in the affairs of men, there is also a tide of opportunity for conflict resolution that inevitably recedes if not taken on the flood," he told the Irish and British parliamentarians.

Insisting that the package will not then be up negotiation, he offered hints that the Irish Government accepts that it may be some further weeks before the final attitude of the parties will be finally known.

However, while significant progress has been made, Sinn FÉin sources insist there is still "no closure" on a number of key issues - including (British) demilitarization, policing and criminal justice reform - and that the existing proposal for sanctions against any party deemed in breach of its commitment to exclusively peaceful means remains the potential "deal breaker".

Specifically, the sources also maintained that Mr Adams and McGuinness have not yet talked to the IRA about its likely response to British proposals, and that they would not do so until they were convinced those proposals were complete and going to be delivered.

In the situation that further changes in policing legislation, to be brought in by the British government later this week, would not be enough to have Mr Adams recommend Sinn FÉin signing-up for the Policing Board in time for next weekend's ardfheis, then:

-A special delegate conference would be required to conclude Sinn FÉin's internal debate on policing.

-There is no certainty the policing issue will be resolved before the Assembly election.

-That publicly-visible IRA weapons decommissioning "is not going to happen", and that decommissioning must remain the responsibility of the International Commission.

With the dissolution of the present Assembly due on April 28th, Sinn FÉin is signaling unease about the tightness of the projected April 3rd deadline for sealing the deal, and suggesting further time for negotiations may be necessary.

The Sinn FÉin sources confirmed that the "representativeness" of the policing dispensation in the North - the establishment of a policing service representative of the communities - remains central to negotiations.

While refusing to give any detail of the timescale they
envisaged, the sources said: "What we are talking about is the introduction of a critical mass of nationalists and republicans into the PSNI and the part-time reserve, and also through lateral entry by officers [from outside forces] at the same level they presently serve in their respective forces."

Sinn FÉin is also still pressing on the role of the PSNI/RUC Special Branch and the "subservience" of all other branches of the PSNI to its needs; the speedy devolution of policing and justice powers; and new procedures providing for transparency and ministerial accountability for the British security establishment.

It is thought Sinn FÉin proposals to change the complexion of the Northern judiciary would impact on the powers of the British Lord Chancellor in appointments to the bench.

While the British government has declared "in principle" in favor of devolving policing and justice powers, Sinn FÉin claims London is seeking to "long-finger" the plan by making its detailed implementation subject to agreement by the Northern Ireland parties.

March 23, 2003
AHERN ON SANCTIONS

Irish premier Bertie Ahern said today he wanted to drop the word 'sanctions' from current efforts to restore the Good Friday Agreement. Although the Taoiseach said he did not like the term, he still believed it was necessary to deal with breaches of the Belfast Agreement.

"I would like to drop the word sanctions," Ahern told the Irish parliament. He said there were certain rules that had to be abided by in the Dail: "I think in Northern Ireland it should be no different. There has to be a system and a procedure where we monitor and where there is accountability and there is examination, and if there is breaches then these things are examined."

He added: "All I`m doing is spelling out that there has to be a system of accountability so that if there is a breach or if there is some difficulty ... there is a system to deal with that."

Ahern said he believed the measures proposed in this area were compliant with the Good Friday Agreement.

March 28, 2003
TIME RUNNING OUT SAYS TRIMBLE

Time is running short in efforts to strike a deal in the Northern Ireland peace process, Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble tonight warned.

Trimble accused Sinn FÉin of delaying recent negotiations and called on the party to give clear signals at its conference this weekend. "Time is short, time is very short," Trimble told reporters in Dublin tonight. "They [Sinn FÉin] have delayed and delayed and delayed. They cannot delay much longer."

Speaking after a meeting with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, he said he could not be tempted into setting deadlines since this would only lead to him being criticized.

"I would be delighted if things could be sorted out today, tomorrow, the day after, time is short," he said. "At the time when we left Hillsborough I would have thought we would have it sorted by now. So things are running on longer than we would like."

Today's talks at Government Buildings in Dublin took place as political parties await a package from the Taoiseach and British Prime Minister Tony Blair next month.

The meeting was one of a series between parties since the crucial talks at Hillsborough Castle earlier this month failed to reach agreement among the pro-Agreement parties. Assembly elections scheduled for May 1 have been postponed until May 29 to allow time for more negotiations.

On Monday, Northern Secretary of State Paul Murphy held discussions with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to finalize the position of the two governments before their latest initiative is unveiled next month.

March 29, 2003
ADAMS ADDRESSES SINN Féin ARD FHEIS

Sinn FÉin president Gerry Adams tonight looked forward to a future without the IRA - and to his party making a controversial move on to the new Northern Ireland policing board.

He told the party's ardfheis (general convention) in Dublin that Sinn FÉin was about making peace. The answer to the question of whether he envisaged a future without the IRA was "an obvious Yes", he said.
 

But he also warned that the IRA would not respond positively to ultimatums from either the British government or Ulster Unionist leader and former Northern Ireland executive First Minister Mr David Trimble.

Adams, delivering his leader's address at the mid-way point in his party's three-day meeting said the logic of the Northern Ireland peace process was that there would be an end to all armed groups.

He stressed: "In the days and weeks ahead, all of us - the British and Irish governments, the unionists and Sinn FÉin - have decisions to make. Those decisions could decide whether the peace process takes a great leap forward or whether it continues at the frustrating and begrudging pace that has marked its progress thus far."

On one of the key questions facing his own party - joining or staying out of the policing board, an issue down for debate, but not decision, by the conference tomorrow - Mr Adams said: "If I am asked can I see a time when it would be appropriate for Sinn FÉin to join the policing board and participate fully in the policing arrangements on a democratic basis, the answer is: Yes."

But he went on: "Are we at that point now? The answer is: No, not yet." The West Belfast MP told 2,000 conference delegates there had been "substantive movement" on policing on the part of the British government.

He said: "We may know at the end of the current negotiations. We want policing under democratic local control and accountability, to be shaped as a community service and not a tool of the 'securocrats'. There is no reason why powers on policing and justice cannot be transferred on the same basis as other key issues, such as health, education and economic development."

"We are arguing for the Good Friday Agreement vision or policing to become a reality. The people we represent are law-abiding. They have a right to be policed by public servants who act on their behalf."

Adams said the commitments made by Britain had been achieved solely by his party's negotiating team. "Irish citizens, victimized and targeted by sectarian violence, have a right to expect effective political protection from the Government in Dublin. And all sections of the electorate have the right to expect that the Irish Government will uphold their rights in the terms of the Good Friday agreement - instead of stepping outside that agreement to bring in sanctions," he said.

The Sinn FÉin president also claimed that the British and Irish establishments' versions of the peace process had failed to allow for his party's growth.

March 30, 2003
McGUINNESS CONFIRMS PROGRESS IN TALKS

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness today confirmed progress on efforts to put the Northern Ireland peace process back on track.

But he said at his party's national convention in Dublin that a final deal had still to emerge from on-going talks with the two governments and other political leaders.

McGuinness, speaking at one of the final sessions of the three-day meeting also issued a strong rallying call to his party ahead of May's elections for a new Northern Ireland Assembly.

He said: "Increased political strength will allow Sinn Féin to deliver further change in the interests of all of the people of this island. In the Assembly elections, as in previous elections across this island, we collectively as a party have the opportunity to increase our political and negotiating strength. That is the challenge we must address. Every Sinn Féin voter has a role to play. The political landscape of the North has changed forever. The degree of change that we can achieve is linked directly to our political strength."

McGuinness repeated Sinn Féin's "obligations" to reach out to Ulster's unionists adding: "We have a responsibility to use our mandate wisely in the interests of a lasting peace."

He spelled out in detail the sessions of negotiating involving both Sinn Féin and the other political parties of Northern Ireland as well as both the Irish and British governments over recent months and stressed: "Throughout we have sought to achieve a plan for the full implementation
of the Good Friday agreement and to counter any attempt to filter this through a unionist prism."

McGuinness again made clear his Sinn Féin's total rejection of any plans to impose sanctions on parties seen to be straying from the terms of the Agreement.

He also underscored the intent to ensure that there would be no more "serial suspensions" of the Northern Ireland and cross-Irish border institutions.

On the issue of policing in Northern Ireland - one of the central obstacles to progress in the continuing negotiations, Mr McGuinness maintained there had been steady progress towards ensuring "that the police service is democratically accountable and representative".

Senior party member Gerry Kelly said there would be no immediate move to decide on the issue of the party's controversial enrollment on the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

He reported to the conference that the stage had not yet been reached where a special meeting of delegates on the policing question could be convened.

Kelly said: "We are not in a position to call such a meeting because we have not yet achieved the threshold for a new beginning to policing. It is work in progress."

Earlier, Sinn Féin delegates rejected a motion which would have linked any decision to support the police in Northern Ireland to ending British jurisdiction in the North.

However, the Sinn Féin executive pledged to hold a special ard fheis on policing when they decide the time is right.

McGuinness said changes to criminal justice legislation will prevent cover ups if police engage in criminal activity, but rejected suggestions that a deal had already been done.

"Let me be clear, despite the claims made by some that the negotiations are closed, there is no deal done," he said.

March 31, 2003
BURNSIDE ON SPECIAL BRANCH

Special Branch police officers in Northern Ireland are to be taken off all counter-terrorist operations as part of a deal to appease republicans, a hardline Ulster Unionist MP claimed tonight. As Sinn Féin leaders confirmed they have moved closer to supporting the police service, David Burnside predicted the British Government was planning to make major concessions to Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

He claimed: "Special Branch will be restricted from anti- terrorist activity to just criminal investigations. The threat to the state from terrorist organizations` intelligence gathering will be transferred to MI5. Adams and McGuinness believe under a weak British Government they will have an easier ride with MI5 than the independent minded and experienced Special Branch."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are due back in Belfast around April 10 to reveal their take-it-or-leave-it blueprint for rescuing the peace process.

Even though Burnside claimed the IRA was coming under intense pressure to empty its secret arms dumps, he claimed the two premiers were set to capitulate to Sinn Féin demands.

Plans by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens to publish his report into alleged collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitary killers around the same time were also being used to destroy Special Branch`s reputation, he said.

The anti-Agreement South Antrim MP said: "The choreography for this deal needs to be made public in the next week before it`s spun in Northern Ireland by Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. No self-respecting unionist should consider taking part in the deal being proposed."

Earlier Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin claimed months of negotiations had left his party closer than ever to endorsing the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

He said: "We are bringing the British Government ever closer to the minimum threshold laid down in the Patten (police) reforms. We hope by April 10 when the Taoiseach and Prime Minister return we will be in a position to announce our concerns have been addressed."

Sinn Féin has boycotted the Northern Ireland Policing Board, claiming Chief Constable Hugh Orde and Secretary of State Paul Murphy retain to much power to veto its
decisions.

But McLaughlin rejected suggestions that party chiefs have briefed their rank and file that any decision to join the policing arrangements would be an infiltration.

"If we can do this it will be with full participation," the Foyle MLA insisted. "It`s the Full Monty as far as we are concerned; you can`t be almost pregnant."

Even though Blair`s energies have been consumed by the war in Iraq, he has pledged to return to Northern Ireland with Ahern in a fresh bid to restore devolution.

The two premiers spent two intensive days negotiating with the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down earlier this month without achieving a breakthrough.

But McLaughlin stressed the new deal must include improved strands around transferring policing and justice powers to the Stormont regime and making the chief constable more accountable before republicans agree to back the police service.

If Sinn Féin is satisfied its demands have been met, including a pledge to transfer policing and justice powers to the Stormont regime, then it will consult party activists before calling a special conference, or Ard Fheis to rubber stamp the move.

However, the party`s policing spokesman Gerry Kelly warned this would not take place before the May 29 Assembly elections. Mark Durkan, leader of the nationalist SDLP, accused Sinn Féin of attempting to hedge its bets for electoral purposes.

He said: "They want to speak with forked tongue on the policing issue. They keep telling one group of people: `Yes, we are nearly there and we are going to do it.` And on the other hand they will be using the fact that they are holding out on policing as the remaining totem of subversion to appeal to another element of support."

April 1, 2003
BLUEPRINT COULD BE UNVEILED NEXT WEEK

The British and Irish governments hope to reveal their blueprint to restore devolution to the Northern Ireland political parties next week. It is understood there are already moves within the Ulster Unionist Party to reject the deal even before it has been published.

The date for the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister`s return to Hillsborough Castle to reveal their plan is not fixed, but could be as early as April 10.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan tonight said that Sinn Féin's delays in joining Northern Ireland's policing board should not rule out new Stormont Assembly elections. He said that although Sinn Féin had not joined the board previously, the nationalist SDLP had still stayed in the executive.

"It has never for us been a question that Sinn Féin holding back on policing should veto everything else," Mr Durkan said.

"Sinn Féin did not go on the policing board before - it did not stop us going on the policing board and doing the business there driving Patten forward. It did not stop us staying in the executive and doing our work there."

There has been speculation among some circles that the elections could be delayed for a second time - this time until October. However, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern have insisted they will go ahead with polls at the end of May as planned.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin as he met Irish foreign affairs minister Brian Cowen, Mr Durkan was positive about the two premiers returning to Belfast and making progress.

"I want to see them come back," Durkan said. "I want to see them go forward and make progress in the terms that they had hoped to do originally at Hillsborough and that`s the way in which we will be encouraging the Government to go forward. We have reservations about some of the things they have been talking about in terms of sanctions or whatever. 

"Notwithstanding reservations we have about some details we believe that underlying progress needs to be made and that can best be confirmed by the two prime ministers coming back in the terms that they said they would come back."

The SDLP leader said he wanted to make sure that all the progress made on issues such as criminal justice during the Hillsborough talks was still there and that there was a platform for making progress.

April 1, 2003
BLAIR UNDER PRESSURE TO MAINTAIN ELECTION DATE

British prime minister Tony Blair was under pressure tonight to stick to his Government's May 29 date for Northern Ireland's Assembly Election. 

 Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds warned the British government any attempt to postpone the election to October would be "scandalous."

And after a meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen in Dublin, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan also opposed any delay.

Dodds said: "As far as the DUP is concerned it would be a scandalous denial of democracy if elections once again were postponed because the Government and pro-Belfast Agreement parties are fearful of the outcome. That would be denying the right of people to express their views through the ballot box. Our forces are fighting a war for democracy in Iraq. It would be disgraceful if in their homeland, in a part of the United Kingdom, people were denied their democratic right."

Last month, the election was postponed from May 1 to May 29 to give Northern Ireland`s parties more time to strike a deal on the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

While the British government has said that 'acts of completion' were required by the IRA for a deal to be successfully concluded this month, the republican movement has demanded that there must be movement on further policing reforms in accordance with the Patten report, the scaling down of British Army watchtowers and operations as well as the implementation of human rights and equality aspects of the Good Friday Agreement if the paramilitary issue is to be successfully addressed.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are due to return to the North on April 10 to unveil a plan for achieving the full implementation of the Agreement.

It is now almost 5 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Since the Agreement's signing, the Assembly has been suspended for over 2/3's of that time.

It is thought by some that Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is willing to change tack and accept a deal on re- instating the Assembly, since his strategy of partial implementation of the Agreement has led to a gradual diminution of unionist support for his party.

If a deal is struck this month, Trimble's party faces a tough battle against the anti-Agreement Democratic Unionist Party who will challenge Mr. Trimble's Ulster Unionists for supremacy among unionism in Northern Ireland, assuming the May 29 date for elections remains firm.

On the nationalist side, recent Westminister and local election results suggest that Sinn Féin will surpass the SDLP to become the largest nationalist grouping in the Assembly. 

April 2, 2003
SMITH BILL ON IFI PASSES HOUSE

The House of Representatives in Washington DC passed legislation on Monday authored by Congressman Chris Smith that would expand the United State's commitment to the peace process in Northern Ireland by authorizing $50 million over two years for the International Fund for Ireland.

 The fund, known as the IFI, supports economic development and helps to advance the peace process in Northern Ireland. 

Smith's bill, HR 1208 - The Northern Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Support Act, is now headed to the United States Senate just two weeks after it cleared the Committee on International Relations, on which Smith sits as Vice Chairman.

"U.S. support of the IFI over the past 20 years has helped create thousands of new jobs, regenerate communities, and by simply bringing people from different communities to the same job site. The IFI has been a consistent and effective medium for fostering reconciliation and building a peaceful future," Smith said.

"Now that the House has acted quickly to pass this important bill, I will do everything I can to work with my colleagues in the Senate so HR 1208 will soon become law."

 Recently, Smith traveled to Northern Ireland on a fact- finding human rights mission. "Much has changed since my last trip to the North in 1997. There are many signs of hope and ensuring a substantial
U.S. contribution to the IFI will help us attain our goal of securing a just and lasting peace," he said.

In addition to authorizing $50 million for the fund, HR 1208 urges the IFI to expand its efforts to focus more on direct reconciliation efforts. 

 "HR 1208 will redouble efforts on direct reconciliation and look more closely at programs aimed at enhancing inter- community relations, citizen relations with the new police services, and programs that promote and protect human rights," Smith said.

April 3, 2003
COLLUSION ALLEGATIONS SURFACE AGAIN

Northern Ireland's chief constable Hugh Orde was yesterday urged to investigate a former British soldier's allegations that loyalist paramilitaries used ammunition smuggled out of a British army camp to shoot dead six Catholic men in a Co. Down pub nine years ago.

The six died and five others were seriously injured when an Ulster Volunteer Force gang raked the Heights bar, in the predominantly nationalist village of Loughinisland, near Downpatrick, with hundreds of bullets.

Eighty-seven-year-old Barney Green, one of the oldest victims of the Troubles, and his nephew, Dan McCreanor, were among those murdered as they crowded around the television to watch Ireland play Italy in the World Cup. Witnesses said the gunmen ran laughing to a waiting car. Police questioned suspects but nobody has ever been charged.

The Manchester Guardian reported today that an ex-member of the Ulster Defense Regiment, who wishes to remain anonymous, has claimed the ammunition used came from the nearby Ballykinler British army base.

He alleged that the bullets were from stores intended for target practice and that some military personnel knew they had been smuggled out of the camp over a six-month period and used in the massacre.

But he claimed this was covered up because of fears the revelations could derail efforts to get an IRA ceasefire, which came just two months later in August 1994, and damage negotiations which led to the 1998 Good Friday agreement.

The ex-soldier said at the time of the Loughinisland killings Ballykinler was a "soft touch" for loyalists wanting security information and other help in planning attacks.

He hoped the new police review team being established by Mr Orde to reinvestigate unsolved murders over the past 30 years had the will to tackle issues such as suspected cooperation between renegade members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries.

Eamonn O'Neill, the SDLP Stormont assembly member for South Down, has written to the chief constable to ask him to look into the matter.

"There was talk of collusion but detectives met a wall of silence," he said. "If there is evidence to back these claims up, whoever is responsible must be brought to justice. Shocking though these allegations are, I hope they will open a line of inquiry that could solve this appalling crime and bring some closure to families who are still grieving."

Shortly after the killings police sources revealed that the gunmen, thought to be east Belfast UVF members, were armed with an AK-47 and a Czech-made rifle. Yesterday, a police spokeswoman said she could not comment on the new allegations.

April 5, 2003
SETTLEMENT IS POSSIBLE SAYS TRIMBLE

The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has said he believes there is "every prospect" of a settlement which would see a return to stable power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland.

However, he warned that so long as the IRA held on to its weapons, the process would remain in crisis.

Trimble was speaking the day after it was announced that US President George Bush would join the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the North next week for a high-profile bid to give renewed impetus to the peace process.

Blair are expected to produce a new formula to bring about the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement, five years after it was signed, and it is thought that Mr Bush's presence may put added pressure on pro-Agreement parties to reach consensus.

Trimble said that the new formula should enable the
republican movement to "take the final steps in the transition" away from violence.

However, he made clear that the UUP would not be prepared to accept an amnesty for IRA fugitives - one of the key demands of Sinn Féin.

But he indicated that the party was ready to accept an arrangement to defuse the issue, by having 'on-the-runs' return to jail only to be freed under the early release scheme. Those who had never been convicted should face "some judicial proceedings", he said.

Trimble suggested that Mr Bush's visit was primarily linked to the war in Iraq, saying that the President and Prime Minister would have only a "brief chat" with the Ulster parties during their talks. But he said that Bush kept himself briefed on developments in Northern Ireland and had met representatives of the parties in the Oval Office recently.

Meanwhile, the SDLP leader Mark Durkan expressed unease at the two leaders discussing the war in Iraq alongside the Northern Ireland peace process.

"Bringing the two issues together in this sort of event- management way is highly questionable. I have registered my deepest misgivings with governments about this," he said.

Mr Durkan said anti-war protesters had the right to voice their opposition when the President visited Northern Ireland.

"It is entirely understandable that people would want to use that to register a protest in a peaceful and dignified manner," he added.

John Fee, also of the SDLP, cautioned President Bush against manipulating the situation: "Let no-one under any circumstances mistake what is a short-term flyover by two political leaders in the middle of a war to take advice from and give advice to people about ending this conflict. Anything less on the agenda than help to end our conflict and end the war in the Middle East is dishonest, dishonorable and deceitful." 
 
 

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world. The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductable contributions to IAIS at the 903 F st NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org.