03/10/04 09:02 EST

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy was today challenged to a public debate with Sinn Féin about paramilitary activity as talks to restore the Stormont Assembly remained in crisis.

Sinn Féin national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin issued the challenge as British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared to meet the nationalist SDLP in London today.

McLaughlin accused the British Government of focusing in recent weeks only on alleged IRA activity, ignoring loyalist violence and running away from a comprehensive debate on paramilitarism.

The Foyle MLA said: "I would challenge Paul Murphy to a public debate on the issues of paramilitarism and the politics of exclusion. We tried to have this discussion within the parameters of the review but the British government ran away from the debate and canceled a planned plenary meeting on these important matters."

"It is ironic that on the very day that the British government claimed that unionist paramilitaries had killed seven people, carried out 135 shootings and 41 bombings in the past 12 months Mr. Murphy appeared on the media threatening the rights and entitlements of the majority of nationalist voters in the six counties. The politics of exclusion failed us in the past and they will fail again if tried in the future."

Unionists have in recent weeks demanded sanctions be imposed on Sinn Féin in the review of the Good Friday Agreement at Stormont following the alleged kidnapping of dissident republican Bobby Tohill from a Belfast city center bar.

The IRA leadership has denied it authorized the incident and Tohill has also denied the IRA's involvement but that has not satisfied unionists who claimed it proved Sinn Féin was unfit to serve in any restored devolved government.

The Independent Monitoring Commission, which was set up last year to assess the state of paramilitary ceasefires and the implementation of peace process pledges, has been asked by British and Irish ministers to bring forward its first report on terror group activity to May.

The commissioners also revealed yesterday they were considering a report specifically on the attempted abduction of Tohill.

In recent days, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell has infuriated republicans with a series of attacks on Sinn Féin, accusing its members of playing a major role in the IRA and in criminal activity in Dublin.

McLaughlin said today the British Government appeared "to be scared to have the real debate around paramilitarism and the obligations we all have regarding this under the Agreement."

The Sinn Féin chairman said: "The British government does not want to discuss unionist paramilitary violence. They do not want to discuss the role of their agents in this violence. They do not want to discuss collusion. They do not want to discuss the ongoing paramilitary activities of the Special Branch or the British Army. People will not tolerate a one-sided approach to this issue. Either Mr. Murphy is up for the debate or he is not. So I would repeat my challenge to Mr. Murphy, is he up for an open and frank debate on these issues or is he going to continue to hide behind the IMC or the constraints of the Review?"

Mr. Murphy said during a House of Commons debate that paramilitarism must be prevented from paralyzing politics in Northern Ireland.

But while the Northern Ireland Secretary argued during the second reading of a criminal justice bill that paramilitary groups have been undermining confidence in the Good Friday Agreement, he remained hopeful it would be realized.

"Each corrosive act of paramilitary crime or violence eats into the hope which the Agreement gave rise," he said.

"But I remain confident that the vision set out in the Agreement, which all those who were party to the Agreement signed up to nearly six years ago, will be realized. For the Government`s part, I challenge anyone to show that we have not made huge efforts to realize that vision."

Mr. Murphy condemned the spate of threats and attacks against members of district policing partnerships, branding them `cowardly`.

But he also said with real progress being made on human rights and equality, Northern Ireland was "no longer a by- word for a falling economy and growing unemployment."

The minister said: "Towns and cities are vibrant and we are no longer exporting our young people. We have the lowest level of troops since 1970 and while every violent death is a dreadful tragedy, not so long ago we measured the toll in hundreds and now they are counted in single figures. So much has been achieved, so much progress has been made and there is more to do to build the kind of society that the people of Northern Ireland deserve. Paramilitarism has no place in it."

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was under fire today after he criticized DUP devolution proposals which would see all 108 Assembly members running government departments in Northern Ireland.

In a speech to the reformed UUP Kilkeel and Ballinran branch in South Down, Mr. Trimble challenged his unionist rivals last night to flesh out their proposal and accused them of trying to disguise that it "ditches the requirement for IRA decommissioning."

The Upper Bann MP said: "Their paper hints they want to replicate what happens in the National Assembly for Wales. But are they aware that the Welsh Assembly has moved from a corporate structure to a much more traditional parliamentary one, because they found that the corporate model could not be made to work effectively, even when there was a clear Labour majority?"

"In Wales there is a First Minister elected by the Assembly and a Cabinet chosen by him. Is it not the case that we would find such a structure unworkable also and slide into a cabinet style of government, leaving the issue of decommissioning unresolved?"

"Perhaps, though, the DUP are talking about a committee system, in which case, Sinn Féin committee chairmen would be the equivalent to Ministers. Is the DUP suggesting that we simply replace Minister McGuinness with Chairman McGuinness and, moreover, do so regardless of the state of the IRA ceasefire and regardless of progress on decommissioning? Is that what DUP voters voted for? Or are the DUP talking about creating a 108-member Executive? Who believes that decisions could ever be made effectively by such a large group?"

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson claimed today Mr. Trimble`s interest was a U-turn on his policy of focusing solely on the issue of paramilitary activity in the review.

He also accused the UUP leader of "hypocrisy and cheek," claiming Mr. Trimble enabled Sinn Féin`s Martin McGuinness to take charge of education in the last devolved executive.

"David Trimble engaged in secret deals with Sinn Féin/IRA and in many cases refused to consult his own colleagues," the East Belfast MP said.

"We have engaged in an open and transparent round of consultation. This is, of course, an alien concept to David Trimble. The DUP has published its proposals and presented them to people across the province. We would welcome David Trimble`s attendance at our next meeting where he might learn something."

DUBLIN CONSIDERING SINN Féin'S EXCLUSION SAYS ADAMS 

03/10/04 15:53 EST

The Irish Government is "actively considering" the exclusion of Sinn Féin from the Northern Ireland political process, according to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

Adams said in a speech in Dublin this afternoon that Irish Government ministers were "considering going back to the old agenda, the failed policies and attitudes of the past."

Adams called on supporters of the biggest party in Dublin's coalition government, Fianna Fail, to reassert the "primacy of the peace process."

Adams' latest comments came against a backdrop of sharp criticisms of alleged IRA activity from both Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Ahern told the Dail today that he believed the recent criticism of Sinn Féin was "sinking in."

Earlier this week, Mr. McDowell likened Sinn Féin's relationship with the IRA to that of the Nazis and the Brownshirts.

McDowell said that some senior members of the party were members of the IRA army council.

On Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, and the Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, met at Stormont.

British Government sources said they considered whether the review should be adjourned, but decided against such a move.

Instead, the review will continue and may move on to consider north-south and east-west issues.

The meeting prepared the ground for discussions which will take place between British prime minister Tony Blair and Mr. Ahern in Dublin on Thursday.

They will assess how the review can be moved forward following Mr. Trimble's decision to walk out of the talks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Blair told an SDLP delegation led by Mark Durkan today that retired Canadian judge Peter Cory's report into collusion allegations would be published "with some editing" by the end of the month or before Easter.

Judge Cory examined allegations of collusion surrounding some of the most controversial killings of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, including the murders of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, Catholic man Robert Hamill and Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright.

Assembly members Alex Attwood and John Dallat and the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Martin Morgan, were also part of the SDLP delegation at the Downing Street talks.

Mr. Durkan said he was not satisfied with the government's response that it would meet its commitment to a public independent inquiry following Cory's publication.

He said: "We were not able to get satisfaction from the government as to what their full response would be and we made clear to the government that we will be holding them to the commitments and promises that they made. We are not in the business of negotiating anything short of the clear promises they made. After all, the prime minister was the man who told us that clarity was our friend and ambiguity was our enemy. The commitment he made on Cory was clear and unambiguous and we want it published in a clear and unambiguous way."

Durkan was asked whether he would be willing to go into government without Sinn Féin. He said he "would not allow the people of Ireland to be frustrated indefinitely by the refusal of paramilitaries to meet the requirements."

Durkan accused the British government of asking for clarity and certainty on the paramilitary issue one day and then engaging in spin days later.

However, he added that he believed Mr. Blair was determined "not to fudge the issue in future."

MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH POLICE REFORM SAYS ADAMS 

03/11/04 09:13 EST

Police reform in Northern Ireland still has some distance to travel before Sinn Féin can sign up to new policing structures, Gerry Adams warned the British government today.

As he prepared to leave tomorrow for his annual St Patrick's week tour of the United States, the Sinn Féin leader said he expected the White House to "strongly row in" during the celebrations behind British and Irish government calls for republicans to endorse policing.

But Adams said there were still a number of hurdles which needed to be overcome if his party was to participate in policing.

"We can expect the US administration to follow the Dublin and London line on the current policing arrangements," he said.

"I disagree with that line, as do the majority of nationalists in the north. It has to be remembered that during the worst years of collusion, torture and human rights abuses these governments actively defended and praised the RUC, authorized co-operation with it and urged nationalists to join it. People have a right to a first class policing service. This does not exist at this time."

The party has also rejected seats on policing boards which are designed to hold the Police Service of Northern Ireland accountable.

In November 2001, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland in an effort to make policing more attractive to Catholics and nationalists.

However, Sinn Féin has insisted that the Patten Report's recommendations on the future of policing be fully implemented before they support the new police service.

President George Bush`s St Patrick`s Day celebrations next Wednesday in the White House are expected to focus on the issue of policing.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Hugh Orde will travel to Washington for the event, as will members of policing boards.

Adams said today that Sinn Féin had raised a number of concerns on policing with the British and Irish Governments in recent weeks.

"Six years on from the Good Friday Agreement, we are still some distance from achieving a democratically accountable and representative, civic policing service which is free from partisan political control," he said.

"While we have made considerable progress in the negotiations of recent years, we have also seen a failure on the part of the British Government to implement what has been agreed and increased resistance to change from within the PSNI, particularly the Special Branch."

Adams identified a number of problems with policing.

These were:

:: The `partisan political control` of policing and justice by `British securocrats` in the Northern Ireland Office, the Northern Ireland Secretary and PSNI. This could be rectified by transferring policing and justice powers from Westminster to the Stormont Assembly.

:: The failure to produce a `coherent strategy` for ensuring nationalists and republicans are properly represented in the PSNI and its policies.

:: The continued use in Northern Ireland of plastic bullets.

:: The use of repressive legislation by the PSNI.

:: Heavily fortified police stations and vehicles.

:: The existence in the PSNI of those allegedly involved in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries.

:: Criticism by the chief constable and senior Policing Board members of calls for public inquiries into controversial killings such as the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

:: The failure of Mr. Orde to produce vital inquest evidence on controversial killings which has prevented the inquests of 76-year-old Roseanne Mallon and nine other people from Co Tyrone going ahead on more than 12 occasions.

:: The retention of RUC Special Branch officers in the PSNI who Sinn Féin believes have deliberately destabilized the peace process with media briefings and who were involved in collusion with loyalist terror gangs.

:: The prevention of prosecutions by the Director of Public Prosecutions against human rights abusers in the police.

:: The interference of the DPP and Special Branch with forensic evidence and the activities of the Forensic Science Agency in `politically motivated prosecutions`.

:: The failure of the Policing Board to use its own powers to instigate an inquiry.

Adams said Sinn Féin was still working to achieve a new beginning.

"Resistance to change has to be overcome and these problems need to be solved if nationalists and republicans are to endorse policing," he said.

PREMIERS TO STEP UP TALKS PACE 

03/11/04 12:53 EST

British prime minister Tony Blair and Irish premier Bertie Ahern are hoping to step up the pace of progress in talks to try to break the current political deadlock in Northern Ireland.

After the St Patrick's Day celebrations have ended later this month, the British and Irish premiers hope to meet the political parties to make progress as quickly as possible.

The leaders also renewed their call for an end to paramilitary activity following a meeting in Dublin this evening.

Mr. Blair and Mr. Ahern assessed how the review of the workings of the Good Friday Agreement could be moved forward following Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble's decision to walk out.

Both leaders said the two issues of paramilitary activity and getting an inclusive government had to be addressed.

On Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, and the Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, met at Stormont to prepare the ground for the meeting between the two prime ministers.

British Government sources said they considered whether the review should be adjourned, but decided against such a move.

Instead, the review will continue and may move on to consider north-south and east-west issues.

On Wednesday, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said the Irish Government was "actively considering" the exclusion of his party from the Northern Ireland political process.

Adams' latest comments came against a backdrop of sharp criticisms of alleged IRA activity from both Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Mr. Ahern. Sinn Féin has said they believe the attacks are related to the impending European elections where Sinn Féin hopes to win at least two seats.

Ahern told the Dail on Wednesday that he believed the recent criticism of Sinn Féin was "sinking in."

SINN Féin CALLS ON McDOWELL TO CALM DOWN 

03/12/04 14:22 EST

Sinn Féin has said it is time for the Ireland's Minister for Justice to "calm down" after he again attacked republicans in a speech delivered to the Progressive Democrats in Dublin today.

McDowell said the Provisional movement had "stolen and abused the language of republicanism to justify a savage, anti-democratic, crime-ridden, and shameful campaign" that "does violence" to the 1916 Proclamation.

He also said the time has come for "genuine republicans" to reclaim the language of their beliefs from "those who have hijacked and perverted it for base, discredited, destructive and shameful ends."

Although he did not name senior Sinn Féin figures, the Minister said "no true republican" would "lie and lie again" about his involvement in violence. Mr. McDowell earlier this week said senior Sinn Féin figures were members of the IRA Army Council, a statement denied emphatically by that party.

McDowell said his recent remarks concerning the activities of the Provisional movement have been criticized by that movement as "anti-republican" and that he could not "allow that further usurpation of the language of republicanism to go unchallenged."

"Republicanism does not speak in muffled voice through a balaclava; Republicans don't break drug-addicts' legs with baseball bats; Republicans do not finance their political campaigns by organizing major crimes: Republicans do not shoot car-thieves in their knees and ankles: Republicans could not plant bombs to kill civilians at Enniskillen, Omagh, the La Mon hotel, or Manchester, Birmingham and Canary Wharf. No true republican could have looked through binoculars at the children on a boat at Mullaghmore before deliberately blowing them to pieces. And no true republican could publicly lie and lie again about his involvement with all of those matters."

"The truth is that the Provisionals are the embodiment of all that is anti-Republican. Their ideology, methods, and values would have disgusted the founders of our State," Mr. McDowell said.

Responding to the remarks, Sinn FÈin's spokesman on justice, equality and human rights Mr. Aengus " Snodaigh said this evening: "It is time for Justice Minister Michael McDowell to calm down."

"Earlier this week Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called for an end to the frenzy of spin and invective and for a calm debate on these and other matters. But instead Michael McDowell has engaged in another vicious attack on our party. We certainly need a full debate on the future of Irish republicanism but today's tirade of abuse will do little other than keep the minister in the headlines."

"In relation to today's comments, republicanism is not owned by any party. It is a political philosophy which many people support in different forms. The republicanism which Sinn Féin stands for is the exact opposite of that of Mr. McDowell's and the PDs'. He would see undone the rights and equalities people have won after many years of campaigning. We in Sinn Féin are, and have been for years, embracing equality and trying to build an equal society in Ireland."

"A look at Mr. McDowell's record makes his position clear - negative on rights for immigrants, on rights for travelers, on rights for prisoners, on rights for refugees and even reluctant to formulate a proper Immigration policy. I would say that his values are the antithesis of those values enshrined in the 1916 Proclamation - a Constitution that he would envisage would not cherish all the children of the nation when he wants to deny citizenship to those born here."

Snodaigh said it was very important to "keep an eye on the bigger picture," which he did not think the minister did and "certainly not" with the peace process in Northern Ireland.

"I wonder if we would have gotten as far as the Good Friday Agreement if he were Minister for Justice at the time. He was one of the most ardent critics, in the early 1990s, when John Hume was engaging in talks with Gerry Adams, which launched the peace process. I am all in favor of discussing Irish republicanism but I think it would be better conducted in a calm atmosphere," said Snodaigh.

ORDE WARNS OF DISORDER DURING MARCHING SEASON 

03/13/04 06:16 EST

Northern Ireland could be facing a more difficult marching season this summer than last year, PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde warned today.

He told the Alliance Party at their annual conference he was picking up signals that there may not be a repeat of last year's relatively peaceful season of parades.

Mr. Orde said it was vital that community workers and police started now to lay the groundwork for a quiet summer.

"I have some concerns because a few community players are already saying they are not sure that it is going to be as peaceful as last year," he said.

"Whether that is sabre rattling, I don't know. But I think if you look in the context of the political environment, I think it would be a reasonable assumption to say if we can't get the politics sorted out people will get frustrated. One of the ways of showing that frustration in perhaps a low key way is through street disorder."

The chief constable said politicians, community workers and security chiefs needed to be realistic about the possibility of trouble.

He added: "I think we need to start engaging communities now."

Orde paid tribute to those in the loyalist and nationalist communities that helped deliver a more peaceful summer on Northern Ireland's streets last year. A huge amount of work, he said, was already taking place on the ground but some groups were beginning to express concern about the potential for trouble.

Northern Ireland has for many years witnessed disturbances around Protestant Orange Order parades in Belfast, Derry and Drumcree in Portadown which have offended nationalist communities.

In 2002, there were serious disturbances along sectarian flashpoint areas of north and east Belfast. However, last year community workers in loyalism and nationalism worked hard to avoid clashes on the ground.

WALSH WARNS AGAINST EXCLUDING SINN Féin 

03/13/04 15:41 EST

A senior US politician has warned against excluding Sinn Féin from the review of the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking on Radio Ulster today, Congressman Jim Walsh (NY- R) said he did not believe the recent alleged abduction bid in Belfast city center was ordered by the IRA leadership.

He argued that expelling parties from talks was not the way forward. "The people who have been elected to lead Northern Ireland need to get together and address these issues themselves, face to face, mano-a-mano and work them out," he said.

The latest crisis in the political process follows claims of IRA involvement in the alleged false imprisonment of a dissident republican in Belfast.

Congressman Walsh has been chairman of the Friends of Ireland since 1995 and also serves as co-chair of the US- Irish Interparliamentary Group. Walsh chaired a historic congressional delegation in 1995, accompanying President Clinton to Northern Ireland for the first such visit by a sitting US President.

Subsequently, he has led other delegations and accompanied President Clinton to Ireland in 1998 following ratification of the Good Friday Agreement. He led a delegation again in February 2003.

For his work in promoting the Irish Peace Process, Mr. Walsh was presented with a 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.

McGUINNESS BRIEFS KERRY ON PEACE PROCESS 

03/15/04 08:48 EST

US Presidential hopeful, Sen. John Kerry has been briefed on the Northern Ireland peace process by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, it emerged today.

The Democrats` candidate for the White House met Mr. McGuinness in Boston last Friday where the Sinn Féin MP discussed the deadlock over devolution with opinion formers and political allies.

McGuinness confirmed: "During the short encounter I took the opportunity to brief the Sen. on the present state of the peace process and bring him up to date on Sinn Féin`s efforts to get the process back on track and have the Agreement implemented in full. I also thanked him for his recent statement in support of the Agreement and the need for inclusivity."

Sen. Kerry angered the Rev. Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionists when his campaign attacked them for "refusing to form a government with Sinn Féin" in a strongly worded statement to Irish American groups on the peace process.

The Massachusetts Sen. also urged the IRA and loyalists to get rid of all their weapons and end all paramilitary activity.

But his campaign team was also highly critical of US President George W Bush`s handling of the peace process.

Sen. Kerry`s statement claimed the Bush administration had failed to build on former President Bill Clinton`s efforts to promote the peace process when he was in the White House.

They vowed: "John Kerry will put the Northern Ireland peace process high on America`s foreign policy agenda. On this issue, he will continue to follow the path set by Sen. (Edward) Kennedy, President Clinton and Sen. (George) Mitchell. John Kerry believes that President Bush has failed to recognize the importance of building on the work of President Clinton in facilitating the peace process. There was not a US Ambassador in Ireland in more than a year. President Bush`s lack of urgency in naming a new Ambassador to Ireland and the absence of Presidential involvement in efforts to further the peace process are clear evidence that Ireland is not a high priority for the Bush administration."

Sinn Féin has been anticipating a difficult week in the United States when its leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness head to the White House for President George W Bush`s St Patrick`s Day celebrations on Wednesday.

President Bush is expected to back British and Irish Government calls for republicans to wind down the IRA and get involved in policing.

Northern Ireland police chief Hugh Orde will also join the White House celebrations along with politicians from the North.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are expected to travel to Northern Ireland on March 23 for talks with the North`s politicians.

They have also asked the four member Independent Monitoring Commission, which monitors whether the parties and governments are sticking to their pledges under the Good Friday Agreement, to produce its first report on paramilitary activity early.

British government sources last Thursday confirmed the IMC would be bringing forward its first report to Easter.

MURPHY ACKNOWLEDGES PROCESS HAS BEEN UNDERMINED 

03/16/04 07:39 EST

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy has acknowledged that confidence in the peace process had been "undermined." But he insisted he remained hopeful that a forthcoming review would help restore faith in the battered agreement.

Murphy said the key to restoring confidence in the Good Friday Agreement lay in reducing paramilitary activity on both the republican and loyalist sides.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish premier Bertie Ahern are due to meet in Belfast next week to review the peace process.

Murphy was speaking in New York after visiting a memorial to those who died in the Irish famines of the 19th Century.

He told said: "When we return, the two prime ministers will see all the parties at Hillsborough Castle to see how we can revive the process and also address the issues which are undermining confidence. The issues, of course, are continued paramilitary activity and also the stability of the institutions. I`ve got no doubt that people want to see progress in Northern Ireland and not go backwards."

He went on: "But at the same time we have to be realistic that confidence has been undermined over the last couple of years and we have to restore that. Crucial to that is that we have to reduce paramilitary activity, both on the part of the IRA and also, of course, on the part of loyalist organizations."

Blair announced on Sunday that both the British and Irish governments would use the launch of a new campaign to push for de-commissioning and for the IRA to stand down. After meeting Ahern in Dublin last week, Blair said all parties knew exactly what had to be done to create stable power-sharing institutions at Stormont.

Both leaders called on all those involved to redouble their efforts to end all paramilitarism and set up inclusive government and insisted a new sense of urgency had to be injected into the process.

Blair said a new phase of intensive talks involving all the parties would begin after the St Patrick`s Day break.

Ahern travels to the US today for the start of a series of engagements to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

He will attend the American Ireland Fund dinner in Washington tonight, where he will present the charity`s 2004 Peace Award to the Prime Minister Blair.

The award will be accepted on behalf of Mr. Blair by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Paul Murphy.

WASHINGTON HEARS ABOUT NORTH'S POLICING 

03/16/04 18:50 EST

US Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) today chaired a hearing on Capitol Hill focused specifically on policing reform in Northern Ireland.

Witnesses who testified at today's hearings included:

-Dr. Mitchell Reiss, Director of Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State;

-Nuala O'Loan, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland;

-Jane Winter, Director, British Irish Rights Watch;

-Paul Mageean, Legal Officer, Committee on the Administration of Justice;

-Brendan McAllister, Director of Mediation Northern Ireland;

-Elisa Massimino, Director of the Washington, D.C. Office, Human Rights.

Rep. Smith said the purpose of the hearing was to examine progress made in establishing a 'human rights-based approach' in policing in Northern Ireland and to explore remaining problems that should be addressed 'in order to secure maximum accountability and public confidence' in policing in the North.

He pointed out that the lack of significant progress on some of these important recommendations of the Patten Report, four years after the release of the Patten report, as being a "serious concern."

Rep. Smith also noted that the Patten Commission's inability to address the so-called "bad apples" within the PSNI underscored the continued reluctance on the part of some "to be enthusiastic or confident about a sustained change in policing in Northern Ireland." T

He called on the British government to release and fully implement the recommendations of Judge Peter Cory who led a recent investigation into the question of police collusion in six murders, including those of Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane.

The Cory investigation was mandated by the Weston Park agreement between the Irish and British governments as a means to resuscitate the stalled peace process in Northern Ireland. The Irish government has already released the two reports addressed to them and announced it would, in accordance with Judge Cory's recommendation, establish an inquiry into one of those cases.

Rep. Smith expressed his surprise that the British government has not yet published the four cases released to them.

Noting that the British government will release the Cory report before the end of the month, Rep. Smith called for "timely implementation and compliance" by the British government to establish public inquiries where recommended by Judge Cory.

"Anything less will surely undercut any progress made in convincing the public that their new institutions are better equipped than those of the past to hold human rights abusers accountable and to secure justice and the rule of law," he said.

Rep. Smith said "unchecked Special Branch powers and unpunished collusion -- hover like a storm cloud threatening a bright future."

"These problems must be forcefully addressed so that real policing reform can take hold - and maybe even lead the way - regardless of the delays or setbacks in the political developments in the north of Ireland," said Smith.

Meanwhile, the PSNI Chief Constable, Mr. Hugh Orde, who is also in Washington, said he believed the Bush administration had noted "the substantial changes" that have taken place in NI policing.

Referring to the fallen Northern Ireland crime rate, he claimed: "You don't achieve those sorts of crime reductions without community support. This is a recognition of our determination to deliver first-class policing."

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness has said it is not under pressure from the White House to sign up to policing. McGuinness was speaking after meeting the US special envoy Mitchell Reiss in Washington. "We haven't been under any pressure at all," he said.

"I have been with Mitchell Reiss this morning and had a very cordial meeting and I have no doubt whatsoever that he will have a very useful contribution to make in the course of the coming period. But there was no sense whatsoever of being under pressure. Gerry Adams and I will be in the White House tomorrow and we will continue with our engagements."

"I think we are speaking to an administration that understands the vital importance of getting the Good Friday Agreement implemented," he said.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, speaking earlier this week, said that he expects the US government will strongly row in behind the British and Irish governments on the issue of policing.

Adams said: "We can expect the US administration to follow the Dublin and London line on the current policing arrangements. I disagree with that line, as do the majority of nationalists in the north. It has to be remembered that during the worst years of collusion, torture and human rights abuses these governments actively defended and praised the RUC, authorized co-operation with it and urged nationalists to join it."

People had a right to a first class policing service. "This does not exist at this time. Sinn Féin will continue to work towards an acceptable, accountable police service and I will lobby in the US for support for a policing policy in line with the Good Friday Agreement," he said.

He said that, to achieve the new beginning to policing promised by the Agreement six years ago, "resistance to change" had to be overcome.

Adams revealed that Sinn Féin has raised a series of major problems on policing with the British and Irish governments in recent weeks. He said "these problems need to be solved if nationalists and republicans are to endorse policing."

Adams said: "Six years on from the Good Friday Agreement we are still some distance from achieving a democratically accountable and representative, civic policing service which is free from partisan political control"

While acknowledging that, while considerable progress had been made in the negotiations of recent years, there has also been a failure on the part of the British government to implement what has been agreed and increased resistance to change from within the PSNI, "particularly the Special Branch."

He listed what he saw as being the main obstacles to a new beginning in policing from being achieved:

-British securocrats still control policing;

-Partisan political control of policing remains intact;

-British securocrats still retain ultimate control of policing and justice through the NIO, the British Secretary of State and PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde;

-the transfer of powers on policing and justice to the Assembly;

-The PSNI remains unrepresentative of the community it polices and is unacceptable to nationalists.

-The British government has yet to produce a coherent strategy for ensuring representation of nationalists and republicans;

-Military policing and repressive legislation continues;

-Plastic bullets need to be withdrawn from use;

-Repressive legislation continues to be used by the PSNI, as it was by the RUC;

-PSNI stations and vehicles have not been demilitarized;

-Human Rights Abusers transferred en masse to PSNI;

-Key positions in the PSNI are held by human rights abusers involved in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries to kill citizens;

-Ongoing interference and opposition to inquiries and inquests;

-The PSNI Chief Constable continues to withhold vital inquest evidence on controversial killings involving British state forces - ;

-The Special Branch has transferred unhindered from the RUC into the PSNI.

-Political destabilization at key points in the peace process, has been effected by the police Special Branch, which has been at the center of politically damaging leaks and briefings to the media or actions by PSNI;

-The families of a number of Protestants killed recently by loyalist paramilitaries have publicly stated that Special Branch agents were involved in the killings and have been given immunity;

-DPP failing to act;

-The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), a branch of the failed status quo in policing and justice, continues to prevent prosecutions against human rights abusers in the PSNI;

-The DPP and Special Branch continue to interfere with forensic evidence and the activities of the Forensic Science Agency, particularly in politically motivated prosecutions;

-Policing Board not holding PSNI to account;

-and The Policing Board has failed to use its own powers to instigate an inquiry. The Policing Board is failing to fulfill its primary function - to hold members of the PSNI fully to account.

Adams said resistance to change has to be overcome and these problems need to be solved if nationalists and republicans were to endorse policing.

AGREEMENT'S POTENTIAL MUST BE ACHIEVED - AHERN 

03/17/04 12:36 EST

All sides in the Northern Ireland peace process need to finish the job of realizing the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement, Irish premier Bertie Ahern said today.

During St Patrick`s Day celebrations in the White House the Taoiseach paid tribute to the support and encouragement given by President Bush`s administration and by members of Congress during the peace process.

He told the President during the traditional handing over of shamrock in the White House: "When I signed the Good Friday Agreement some six years ago, I believed that we had the potential to transform relationships on the island of Ireland. Today, based on the progress that we have seen at first hand, I`m more convinced than ever of this."

"The priority now is to overcome the remaining challenges and finish the job once and for all. Prime Minister Tony Blair and I are, therefore, redoubling our efforts to resolve those issues that remain outstanding so that the promise and the potential of the agreement can be fully realized."

Mr. Blair and Mr. Ahern are due in Northern Ireland on March 23 for talks with the North`s parties in a bid to inject fresh momentum into the effort to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr. Ahern today told President Bush that the United States had been "a stalwart supporter of Ireland in good times and in bad."

The United States, he said, was a "key partner" in the economic strides made by Ireland in recent years.

"America is Ireland`s biggest foreign investor and we share a common approach to the values of enterprise and we work well with each other," he declared.

"Because of this partnership, Ireland`s future looks brighter and more prosperous than ever. The opportunities that Irish immigrants once sought abroad are now to be found in Ireland and for the first time in over 150 years, the number of those emigrating from our country has slowed to little more than a trickle."

The Taoiseach said the Irish Republic was proud to be the president of the European Union at this time and looked forward to hosting a visit from President Bush for a joint EU-US summit at the end of June.

He said he was also proud that 10 new countries, eight of them from Eastern Europe, would be joining the union on May 1 - many of them enjoying historic ties with the United States.

The Irish premier said the European Union and the US Government shared a common determination to defeat terrorism.

In a reference to the Madrid bombings, Mr. Ahern said the images recalled the horrors of September 11 in the United States.

"Terrorism is an affront to our democracies," he said.

"It strikes at the heart of all the values of which the United States and the European Union are founded. And we are determined to ensure that our peoples are protected from this despicable scourge. As we celebrate here today, our thoughts and our prayers are also with the people of Spain."

In his remarks, President Bush joined the Taoiseach in sending condolences to the people of Spain and thanked him for Ireland's support in "our common struggle."

"Our nations are also standing for peace and justice in places like the Balkans and Afghanistan and beyond. We share a common vision for Northern Ireland. We seek a lasting peace for the people of Northern Ireland, a peace that will allow people to live free of terror and intimidation," he said.

"We seek a region that is stable and prosperous and tolerant and locally governed. I commend Prime Minister Ahern and Prime Minister Blair and all of those who are working so hard to implement the Good Friday Agreement. I call for a permanent end to all political violence. There's no place for paramilitaries in a democratic society. The partnership of America and Ireland is close, it is lasting, and it is important to the peace of the world."

President Bush said he looked forward to this summer's planned trip to Ireland for the EU and U.S. Summit, and to strengthening the "essential partnership between the United States and Europe."

TRIMBLE FACES ANOTHER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

03/19/04 10:24 EST

David Trimble's internal critics in the Ulster Unionist Party lack the courage to face him in a head to head contest for the leadership, it was claimed tonight.

Assembly member David McClarty dismissed the announcement by management and marketing consultant David Hoey that he would stand against Mr. Trimble when the Ulster Unionists` ruling council gathers in eight days time.

The East Londonderry MLA accused Mr. Hoey of being `a pawn` for others who were afraid to take the Nobel Peace prize laureate on directly in a leadership battle.

"There is real disbelief about this," McClarty said.

"Is the Ulster Unionist Council really being asked to replace David Trimble, an internationally recognized figure, with a person who is not even known within his own constituency? David Hoey is being used as a pawn and is obviously quite willing to be used by those who do not have the courage to come out into the open and challenge for this themselves."

Mr. Hoey has been a member of the party for 24 years and is a member of the same branch as Mr. McClarty in Coleraine.

He first joined the Ulster Unionist Party while studying at Queen`s University in Belfast and has had a prominent role in the Protestant marching organization, the Apprentice Boys.

Earlier today he said UUP Council delegates were being offered a chance to change the direction of the party.

But he also signaled if he won the contest on March 27, he would immediately stand aside to let a new leadership to take over.

"Ulster Unionist Council delegates face a simple choice - do they want to vote for change or will they back a leadership which has presided over the decline of the party?," he said.

"In the event of the UUC accepting the need for change and positively voting for change, I would stand aside and allow people to nominate themselves for the leadership from the floor."

Under party rules, Mr. Trimble must seek the backing of his ruling council every year at its annual general meeting to remain as leader.

Mr. Trimble has been challenged only once before, by South Belfast MP the Rev Martin Smyth in March 2000. He secured 43% of the vote.

Last month, South Antrim MP David Burnside ruled himself out as a challenger but insisted a new leadership team was needed following a year of in-fighting, electoral and political setbacks.

Trimble`s critics had hoped former Stormont Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey would challenge him for the leadership. However earlier this week, the East Belfast MLA said he would only seek the leadership should it become vacant.

Senior Ulster Unionist Michael McGimpsey tonight claimed the leadership challenge against Mr. Trimble was not about personality but about changing policies.

The South Belfast MLA said: "This is about some people in the party trying to take the UUP back to the failed policies over 20 years ago of integrationism. I really wish those people who are manipulating David Hoey would have the courage to come out from behind him. There is nothing dishonorable about wanting to lead the Ulster Unionist Party but their challenge is dishonest and underhand."

The former Stormont Culture Minister attacked those members who he claimed were pulling the strings in the leadership challenge.

Senior Ulster Unionist Michael McGimpsey tonight claimed the leadership challenge against Mr. Trimble was not about personality but about changing policies.

The South Belfast MLA said: "This is about some people in the party trying to take the UUP back to the failed policies over 20 years ago of integrationism. I really wish those people who are manipulating David Hoey would have the courage to come out from behind him. There is nothing dishonorable about wanting to lead the Ulster Unionist Party but their challenge is dishonest and underhand."

KERRY URGES BLAIR TO PUBLISH CORY REPORTS 

03/21/04 22:59 EST

The Irish American Information Service

United States presidential candidate John Kerry has accused the British Government of threatening police reforms in Northern Ireland over delays in publishing a dossier on four controversial murders.

The leading Democrat was one of seven powerful American senators who demanded British Prime Minister Tony Blair immediately discloses the long-awaited Cory report into killings dogged by allegations of security force collusion.

In a letter to Downing Street, they hit out at the continued secrecy over the findings in the cases which include the shooting of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane.

Even though the British Government has confirmed the report will be released by the end of the month, the senators, who also include Ted Kennedy, expressed dismay at the six month lapse since retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory handed his findings to the British Government.

With each of the cases involving claims that police or soldiers were involved in the killings, they claimed efforts to transform security arrangements in Northern Ireland could be endangered.

Blair was told: "It is of grave concern that your Government`s handling of this matter is jeopardizing much of the progress made to date in achieving a new beginning for policing in Northern Ireland."

The US intervention has put new pressure on Mr. Blair.

Although details of his reports have yet to be published, Judge Cory is known to have recommended public inquiries into all four killings.

These include the the 1989 Ulster Defence Association shooting of Pat Finucane by the Ulster Defence. A major investigation by Scotland Yard chief Sir John Stevens has already concluded that military and police units aided the loyalist gunmen.

The other cases involve the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson by Protestant paramilitaries in 1999, Loyalist Volunteer Force chief Billy Wright`s assassination inside the Maze Prison in 1997 and the mob beating which left Catholic man Robert Hamill dead the same year.

Blair has already pledged to hold public inquiries if recommended.

But the senators claimed: "There has been no clear confirmation that public inquiries will be held into all cases where Judge Cory as recommended them. Further, your Government has refused to confirm that Judge Cory has recommended public inquiries into these cases - even though he himself has gone on record to do so."

They also refused to accept concerns over compromising any criminal investigations as a reason for stalling.

"While we understand that your Government has national security concerns, we also note that Judge Cory is clear that he took these concerns into account when drafting his report," the letter said.

"It is also difficult to accept fear of prejudice to prosecutions as a reason for delay. We share the continuing concern of the families that justice has already been delayed for far too long in this case. In the Finucane case, there have been no prosecutions of security force personnel relating to his murder despite 15 years of police investigations."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan warned Mr. Blair he risks alienating America if he does not comply with the demands from senators Kerry, Kennedy, Christopher Dodd, Patrick Leahy, Charles Schumer, Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg.

He said: "If the Prime Minister does not live up to his commitments, how can he expect others to live up to theirs? Tony Blair must now know that if he does not do so, he will face the disapproval not only of people in the North, but also of a broad spectrum of American opinion."

LOYALISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR 7 DEATHS LAST YEAR 

03/09/04 11:47 EST

Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for seven deaths and carried out 135 shootings in Northern Ireland in the last year, the British government revealed today.

The North's Security Minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, said they were also behind 41 bombing incidents involving devices which either exploded or were defused.

The number of casualties as a result of paramilitary-style shootings was 107 and the number from paramilitary style beatings was 110, she added.

The details, based on figures provided to her by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, cover the 12 months to the end of January.

They were given by the minister in a written Parliamentary answer to Liberal democrat MP Mike Hancock.

REISS CRITICIZES SINN Féin POLICING POSITION 

03/20/04 08:06 EST

President Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss has accused Sinn Féin of "massive untruthfulness" in its portrayal of policing in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin took out an advertisement in the New York Times on Monday highlighting the issues it had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Mitchell Reiss called on republicans to back the police and criticized the Sinn Féin advert.

He said: "At best it was enormously misleading and at worst it was untruthful. I'd be happy to go down point by point with a rebuttal to each of the allegations and justifications that Sinn Féin have for not joining the Policing Board. The bottom line is that there are massive untruths there, and they need to reconsider their position as soon as possible."

On Thursday, Mr. Reiss met the DUP and Ulster Unionist Party in Washington DC to explore how to move forward the Northern Ireland political process.

Speaking afterwards, Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds said republicans must demonstrate clear acts of completion in decommissioning weapons.

"We have made it very clear that it's an absolute necessity for Sinn Féin-IRA to deliver in terms of commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means," he said.

"Unlike David Trimble and the Ulster Unionists, we made it clear we are not in favor of installments or constructive ambiguity on the issue."

The discussions came as the British and Irish prime ministers prepare to meet in Northern Ireland next week.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he hoped more progress could be made to resolve the political stalemate.

BLAIR HOPES TO INJECT MOMENTUM INTO PROCESS 

03/22/04 15:46 EST

British Prime Minister Tony Blair hopes to "inject some momentum" into the Northern Ireland peace process during talks with the North's political parties in Belfast tomorrow, his spokesman said today.

Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced earlier this month that they would both meet the parties at Hillsborough Castle to assess progress in the review of the stalled process.

But there appeared to be little optimism that any agreement on the restoration of the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive would be reached tomorrow.

Downing Street officials indicated that it was unlikely that talks would be extended into the evening in the hope of reaching an accord.

Blair`s official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will be there for the afternoon and will see the parties. Essentially, what both leaders are wanting to do is to inject some momentum into the process, based on the clear need to end paramilitarism and a commitment to share power, if that is achieved."

"What is clear is that there is a desire from both leaders to inject some urgency into the process. The review has been going on for some weeks. The Prime Minister has seen all the parties in Downing Street. He has seen the Taoiseach and they both want to get together with the parties and see how we move forward. One would hope that there will be a clearer view at the end of tomorrow, as to how that can be achieved," he said.

SINN Féin ATTACKS BRITISH EMBASSY OVER RELEASE 

03/22/04 15:57 EST

Sinn Féin Chairperson Mitchel McLaughlin has accused the British government of "being in denial over their Good Friday Agreement commitments and responsibilities."

McLaughlin's remarks came after the publication of a letter sent to journalists in the US by the British Embassy in Washington.

McLaughlin said: "In this communication to journalists in the US from the British Embassy there is an attempt to narrow the entire crisis in the peace process to the single issue of what they describe as 'republican paramilitaries'. No mention is made of ongoing unionist paramilitary violence and the letter claims that there are indications that both unionist parties, the DUP included, are ready to share power. No evidence of course exists to support this."

"The most telling part of the document is of course the omission of any responsibility for the current crisis in the peace process being laid at the door of Tony Blair or his government. Attempts to reduce the crisis in the peace process to the single issue firstly of 'paramilitarism' and now on 'republican paramilitarism' will not work," said McLaughlin.

"It is dishonest and it ignores the effect which the continuing failure of the two governments, but particularly the British government to honor pledges and commitments has on confidence in the process. Sinn Féin are willing to discuss in a constructive and open fashion all of the outstanding problems in the peace process. But this must be done in the round and not through pretending that only one obstacle remains."

AHERN AND BLAIR IN BELFAST FOR TALKS 

03/23/04 08:31 EST

The Irish premier and the British prime minister have begun talks in Northern Ireland today in an attempt to put the peace process and devolution back on track.

Ahern and Blair traveled to Hillsborough Castle outside Belfast for meetings with the Northern Ireland Assembly parties.

According to a Dublin source, the Taoiseach, in particular, will warn about the dangers of a political vacuum coming into the summer if there is no progress in the process.

Ahern will be joined by Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Cowen, and the Minister of Justice, Mr. McDowell, who has been harshly critical of republicans, alleging that the IRA is involved in various kinds of criminality and that some of these proceeds are funding Sinn Féin.

But it is not clear if McDowell will attend the Ahern- Blair trilateral meeting with Sinn Féin, although the layout of Hillsborough Castle means the Minister may come into contact with the Sinn Féin president, Mr. Gerry Adams, and Mr. McGuinness.

McGuinness indicated Sinn Féin would challenge the governments' attempt to chiefly blame republicans for the deadlock. "I reject absolutely their assertions that the greatest problem in terms of paramilitarism is from the IRA. The IRA is no threat to the peace process in my view," said Mr. McGuinness.

As their cars entered Hillsborough Castle, a group protesting against alleged collusion between British security forces in Northern Ireland and loyalist paramilitaries arrived.

They unfurled banners from Sinn Féin asking "who sanctioned the loyalist death squads?" and described collusion as "state murder."

Spokesman for the victims` group Mark Sykes, who was among those wounded in the 1992 Ormeau Road bookmaker`s massacre which claimed the lives of five Catholics, said they wanted to get to the truth about the deaths of their relatives.

They also called for the publication of the Cory Report on four controversial killings.

Sykes said: "The British government has never accepted its responsibility for the deaths which resulted from this policy. Enormous efforts are being made to conceal the truth about collusion. The truth needs now to be told and the structures which operated this policy needs to be dismantled. That is our message to Tony Blair here today."

Among those who joined the crowd of around 30 protesters was Sinn Féin Assembly member for West Belfast Michael Ferguson.

After his meeting with the two Premiers, Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley said they were now looking to both governments to make it plain to Sinn Féin that all paramilitary activity must end.

The North Antrim MP said: "We want what the (British) Prime Minister said in the House of Commons that there would be decommissioning and an abandoning of terrorism so complete that everybody would be satisfied. The Prime Minister cannot speak for the IRA. Neither can Bertie Ahern, nor can you or anyone else. It`s not speech that we need now. It is action. Until the people of Northern Ireland see action, they are not going to be satisfied."

Democratic Unionist deputy leader Peter Robinson said the only way to achieve movement by republicans on decommissioning and winding down the IRA was to tell them they would not be part of governmental structures until those issues were addressed.

The East Belfast MP said: "There are three areas. There is decommissioning, there is paramilitary activity and there is criminal activity. As far as this party is concerned, as far as Sinn Féin getting into government is concerned, it is completion, completion, completion."

Robinson also said there needed to be greater transparency about IRA actions.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said on his arrival in Hillsborough that his party welcomed the chance to discuss the deadlock in the peace process with the two governments.

The West Belfast MP, however, said they were concerned that the two governments were focusing only on the issues of the IRA and the unionists` willingness to share power.

"They have omitted any mention of the governments` responsibilities and their failure to implement their obligations under the Agreement," he said.

Adams revealed they had also requested a meeting with the Irish government about its Minister of Justice Michael McDowell`s comments linking Sinn Féin with criminal activity.

"We have requested a meeting with the full Irish delegation because of our concerns about its strategy of undermining Sinn Féin by criminalizing our party, our party leadership and our constituency," he said.

"You will all recall the criminalization policy failed Margaret Thatcher 20 years ago. We want to point out the shortcomings of such an approach because not only does it undermine the peace process but it undermines efforts to rebuild the political process by unsettling republicans and it also puts words into the mouths of rejectionist unionism and fuels their opposition to this process."

BLAIR WANTS PROGRESS BEFORE JUNE EU ELECTIONS 

03/23/04 13:00 EST

Northern Ireland's paramilitaries should move within months to bring all violence to an end to halt a dangerous drift in the peace process, the Irish and British governments said today.

Emerging from talks with the North's main political parties, Irish premier Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Mr. Tony Blair said the deadlock should not be allowed to drag on through the traditionally tense summer months.

"If we leave this to drift it creates a vacuum, and the present vacuum is not a satisfactory situation, it cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely," Mr. Ahern told a news conference at the end of the summit at Hillsborough Castle.

Echoing Mr. Ahern's comments on the need for a speedy end to the impasse, Mr. Blair said there should be progress by June, when voters on both sides of the Irish border go to the polls in European elections and local elections are held in the Republic.

"What we have got to try and do is to make sure we get a way forward set out before the June elections," he said. "I don't think we can wait and let this drift until the summer."

Earlier, Sinn Féin warned that the British and Irish governments would be making a mistake if they think they can operate a form of political apartheid against their party.

MLA for Folye, Mitchell McLaughlin said premiers Blair and Ahern both had to face up to the failure of their governments to implement key aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Sinn Féin chairman said: "I have been listening again to the briefings coming out of both governments and they seem to be persisting with this line that there are just two problems which need to be addressed. They are still saying it is down to the IRA and to whether unionists are willing to share power."

"But this totally ignores the impact of the two governments failing to implement commitments made six years ago and at several talks set pieces since on achieving a new beginning to policing, demilitarization, equality, human rights, on- the-runs and on the Cory report. Bouncing the ball constantly between the unionists and republicans does not work. What is needed is for the two governments to take a lead by showing they are big enough to press ahead with the implementation of their commitments."

"If they are prepared to work with republicans to enhance this process by honoring their commitments, they will find republicans will not be wanting," McLaughlin said.

FEARS MOUNT THAT CORY REPORT WILL BE EDITED 

03/24/04 08:38 EST

Sinn Féin MLA for North Belfast Gerry Kelly, commenting on speculation that the Cory Report into four controversial killings in Northern Ireland will be published on April 1st, has said that these reports 'should fool no-one'.

Kelly said that the British government had come under sustained pressure, including legal pressure, to publish the Cory Report from the Finucane family and Sinn Féin among others and from influential US politicians.

"Despite speculation that the report will be published on April Fools Day no-one should be fooled. The British government have not given any commitment to publish the report in full. Anything less than the full report is unacceptable, said Kelly.

"It is more important for the British government to act on the recommendations of the Cory Report. We already know that Peter Cory has recommended inquiries in a number of the cases he investigated. The challenge now for the British government is to act on the commitments it gave following the Weston Park talks in 2001 and initiate these inquires into collusion," said Kelly who is Sinn Féin's Policing and Justice Spokesperson.

ORDE REFUSES TO RECOMMEND REDUCED TROOP LEVEL 

03/24/04 16:31 EST

Sinn Féin has accused the PSNI chief constable of being rooted in a "failed military agenda" because of his refusal to recommend cutting troop levels in the North.

But the SDLP claimed Hugh Orde's security assessment posed major questions for the republican Movement.

Orde said he is not ready to endorse pulling down any military watchtowers or dismantling army bases, even though he believes the IRA is not planning to restart its campaign.

But the Police Service of Northern Ireland chief insisted its continued capabilities meant the time was not right for cutting troop numbers.

He said: "We need to be convinced they've gone away for ever, certainly before the normalization agenda kicks in. My advice to the [British] government at the moment is that we don't see those conditions. Therefore, I don't see normalization as a debating point."

His verdict provoked anger among republicans who want all army installations scattered across border areas of Co Armagh and Co Tyrone scrapped. Ms Michelle Gildernew, the Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, claimed he did not know what he was talking about.

She said: "If he had to deal with hundreds of complaints from young people being harassed by members of the PSNI and British army then he might begin to grasp the seriousness of this situation. Demilitarization is not an option for Mr. Orde or his political masters in Whitehall. It is a central component of the Good Friday Agreement. Nationalists and republicans see demilitarization as a touchstone issue for the British commitment to this process."

Gildernew added: "He appears wedded to the old failed military agenda which has dominated policing in the six counties for so long."

But Alex Attwood, the SDLP's policing spokesman, said Mr. Orde's assessment put more pressure on the paramilitaries to disband.

"The comments of the chief constable are further confirmation that private armies must be gone and gone for good," he said.

"It is clear that be it the UDA or the IRA, in their actions or preparedness, they are not fully signed up to democratic practice."

The West Belfast Assembly member claimed republicans may be using the threat of renewed paramilitary violence for political leverage.

"The IRA have more explaining to do," he added.

"Ultimately in and around government and out in the community people are asking if IRA preparedness is a clear strategy to pressurize government. Whatever such an approach is, it is not politics."

SINN Féin DELEGATION MEETS WITH MONITORING BODY

03/25/04 07:19 EST

A Sinn Féin delegation including North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly and South Belfast MLA Alex Maskey this morning met with the International Monitoring Commission in their Belfast offices.

The commission was set up at Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble's insistence to monitor paramilitary ceasefires in Northern Ireland.

Speaking after the meeting, Kelly said that they had told the IMC "in very clear terms that they were little more than a smokescreen to be used by the British government to provide cover for any attempt to exclude Sinn Féin."

Kelly said: "This mornings meeting was the second time which we had met with the IMC. At the initial meeting in early January we informed the IMC that it was our belief that they were not independent, operated outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and were a British tool to be used to validate acts of exclusion against Sinn Féin."

"The actions of the IMC in the weeks since vindicate completely this position and we told them this at today's meeting. Nationalists and republicans hear little from the IMC or the British government about the ongoing campaign being conducted by unionist paramilitaries. We have heard little from them about the murder of a young catholic man in Lisburn late last year."

"The IMC should be in doubt that Sinn Féin and the community we represent view them as little more than a smokescreen to be used by the British government to provide cover for any attempt at exclusion in the future," Kelly said.

TRIMBLE SEES OFF LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 

03/27/04 09:09 EST

Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr. David Trimble has seen off another challenge to his leadership today by winning the backing of 60 per cent of delegates at the party's annual conference in Belfast.

"I'm delighted that the party council has, by such a significant majority, re-elected me as leader," Mr. Trimble told reporters after the result.

"This does represent the settled will of the party, and I hope that the party will become settled as a result of today's meeting."

Trimble's supporters were confident he would defeat his two challengers, Portadown businessman Mr. Robert Oliver and Coleraine marketing and management consultant Mr. David Hoey. Hoey mustered 22% of the vote and Mr. Oliver 18%, a result seen as delivering a clear victory to Mr. Trimble.

Hoey and Oliver put their names forward as challengers after South Antrim MP David Burnside called last month for a change of leadership. In the absence of Trimbles' chief critic, Jeffrey Donaldson, who led several challenges to Trimble's authority at past council meetings, no high profile candidate was prepared to put themselves up against the leader.

However Trimble's internal critics warned that his latest victory would drive between 100 and 150 members out of the party.

"Morale is lower than I have ever seen it," one veteran member said.

"I am being told you are looking in the region of 100 to 150 people leaving. Some of them will go to the DUP, others simply will pack in their involvement in politics." Trimble loyalists also accepted there would be more defections, but were more philosophical.

"When Jeffrey [Donaldson] left, it enabled us to rebuild in his constituency of Lagan Valley and attract people who were put off by the squabbling orchestrated by his wing," one Assembly supporter said.

"If more people do go after today, we will continue to rebuild the UUP and attract people to our ranks."

Council delegates were also due to vote today on a number of other key positions in the party.

South Belfast MP, the Rev Martin Smyth, who secured 43 per cent support in an unsuccessful bid to oust Mr. Trimble four years ago, was facing a tough battle to hold onto his role as party president against a challenge from Lord Rogan.

Delegates were also due to elect four vice presidents and four honorary secretaries.

Sources close to former Stormont Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey, who was touted as a possible leadership contender, suggested he may not seek re-election as a vice president.

Belfast councillor, Jim Rodgers was also reported to be considering last night whether he would withdraw from the party officers' team. The council was also due to vote on new party rules.

NICHOLSON CALLS FOR ULSTER UNIONIST UNITY 

03/29/04 08:21 EST

Ulster Unionists want the party to unite in the run-up to this June's European Parliament elections, the party's candidate Jim Nicholson claimed today.

The UUP vice president, who is the only MEP defending a seat in Northern Ireland`s three seater constituency, issued the call after David Trimble saw off on Saturday another challenge to his leadership.

Mr. Trimble secured almost 60% of the backing of his party`s ruling council in the annual leadership vote.

Coleraine marketing and management consultant David Hoey received 21.6% of the vote while Portadown businessman Robert Oliver secured 17.6%.

Mr. Hoey and Mr. Oliver`s challenge to Mr. Trimble came after South Antrim MP David Burnside called last month for a change of leadership.

Burnside said after Saturday`s vote it was still his view that David Trimble could not unite the UUP and the party needed a new leader.

However, Nicholson said today that from discussions he had had with many members of the party it was clear they wanted the UUP "to unite at every level."

"This is vital in the lead up to the European Election on June 10 - an election the party is going to fight enthusiastically. The Ulster Unionist Council has made its decision. I am pleased to hear that senior members want to pull together in the interests of unionism. We need to rebuild the party at every level, leaving the past behind. Personally, I am looking forward to the European campaign. United, we can have every confidence about the outcome."

REISS UNDER PRESSURE FOLLOWING SINN Féin SLAP DOWN 

03/29/04 13:23 EST

President George W. Bush's envoy on Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, has provoked the ire of Irish America following his recent comments about a Sinn Féin advertisement in the New York Times detailing its problems with policing in Northern Ireland.

Reiss said the advertisement contained "massive untruths."

Dr. Reiss's allegation prompted the leaders of the major Irish American groups to sign a letter condemning his "outburst."

"We doubt if you would ever launch such a diatribe against the British government, the UUP of the DUP," it said.

"We fear your undiplomatic outburst may wrongly give Americans the impression that President Bush harbors anti- Catholic sentiment, something he fought hard to deny during the last presidential election."

"Your outburst, therefore, has hurt both President Bush and the Irish peace process, something you surely did not want to do."

And in another letter to Dr. Reiss, Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness rebutted the State Department official's claim issuing a point-by-point defense of the advertisement and calling Dr. Reiss's allegation "wholly inaccurate."

Dr. Reiss's office has yet to respond to requests for comment on Mr. McGuinness's letter.

Below is the letter sent by Sinn Féin to Dr. Reiss containing the points made in the NY Times advertisement( "-....-" followed by Sinn Féin's defense of their claim:

"-Sinn Féin wants policing in the north of Ireland-"

We trust that you accept this point. Sinn Féin wants a proper policing service.

"-we demand the policing service people are entitled to and will not settle simply for the one the British are prepared to give-"

I believe the truth of this statement is self-evident. We will not simply settle for the police service the British are prepared to give. Sectarian policing imposed on us by the British has been at the core of the abuse we have suffered since partition. We are extremely serious about getting policing right.

"-When the British partitioned Ireland in 1921, they created a sectarian police force to secure a sectarian state. For more than 75 years they operated as a political police force.-"

It is simply beyond any reasonable dispute that the RUC was implemented as a sectarian force to defend a Protestant State for a Protestant people and operated in that fashion for over 75 years.

"-In 1998 the Good Friday Agreement promised a new beginning to policing. The Patten commission was established to recommend the change necessary to create that new beginning.-"

The Agreement speaks for itself when it states "he agreement provides the opportunity for a new beginning to policing in Northern Ireland with a police service capable of attracting and sustaining support from the community as a whole And there is no dispute about the role of the Patten Commission.

"-The commission made 175 recommendations.-"

The Patten Report is of record and speaks for itself.

"-These changes contained the potential for a new beginning to policing.-"

We have repeatedly stated our belief that Patten contains such potential. Certainly, you do not maintain otherwise.

"-The British Government, however, reneged on its obligations and gutted key elements of Patten's report-"

Despite the rhetoric of the establishment that Patten has been implemented, Patten is a written document that can be compared against the changes legislated. They do not match up. Key provisions have been gutted, and no amount of repeated statements to the contrary can change this reality.

"-the report was gutted to prevent or delay change.-"

As noted by Irish News columnist and former SDLP Councilor Brian Feeney (March 4, 2004), the damage Mandelson did by modifying the Patten proposals and enshrining that modification in law will be with us for a long time Only an uninformed or ill-intentioned person would deny that the changes to Patten are designed to prevent or delay change.

SINN Féin - REISS POLICING ROW INTENSIFIES 

03/31/04 14:09 EST

The row between Sinn Féin and one of president George Bush's top advisers intensified today, as the party hit back at claims that it told "massive untruths" about policing in Northern Ireland.

Chief negotiator Mr. Martin McGuinness defended claims, made two weeks ago, that the Police Service of Northern Ireland was deeply flawed.

The accusations, made in an advertisement in the New York Times, prompted a stinging response by Mr. Mitchell Reiss, Northern Ireland adviser to president Bush.

He said of the advertisement: "At best it was enormously misleading, at worst it was untruthful."

He urged Sinn Féin to reconsider its position and end its boycott of the policing board in Northern Ireland.

But in another round of adverts today - in the Irish Voice and Irish Echo newspapers in New York - Mr. McGuinness wrote that he was "happy to defend the ad point by point."

He claimed that Britain remained firmly in control of policing in Northern Ireland.

"Instead of the required civic policing, the intelligence agencies such as MI5, Special Branch and civil servants who have handled policing and justice for generations are still in charge," he wrote.

He went on: "Policing remains directly under the political control of the British government and its agencies. There is no timetable for the ending of British government control," he added.

The Mid-Ulster MP defended claims in the original Sinn Féin advert that "key positions are held by human rights abusers" and "collusion with loyalist death squads continues."

He wrote: "Special Branch still controls dozens of agents in the Loyalist paramilitary groups who act with impunity from the legal process."

He also repeated the accusation that Chief Constable Hugh Orde was opposed to inquiries which may expose human rights abuses.

McGuinness said Orde was against inquiries into the killings of Catholic human rights attorneys Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.

TALKS HAVE DESCENDED INTO FARCE SAYS ADAMS 

03/30/04 06:39 EST

Talks on the future of the Good Friday Agreement have descended into a farce, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams claimed today.

During a visit to Dublin, Mr. Adams said he was concerned at the failure to inject a new momentum into the peace process.

The West Belfast MP, who was meeting community groups in Dundrum and Tallaght, said Sinn Féin had pressed for a "two pronged approach" from the British and Irish Governments to restore devolution and honor outstanding commitments under the Agreement.

But he added: "Instead we have a review which is now little more than a farce and even that has been canceled until after Easter, despite parties like Sinn in putting forward a comprehensive agenda for discussion. The two governments have to come up with a more focused structure if they really want to make progress."

Mr. Adams`s comments came after nationalist SDLP negotiator Sean Farren also expressed concern that the review of the Agreement was drifting.

Sinn Féin and SDLP negotiators were meeting in Belfast today to discuss their concerns.

The British and Irish Governments are not planning any meetings with the parties over the next two weeks.

In a letter the governments asked the parties to come back with their own views on issues discussed at the Hillsborough talks last week with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Mr. Farren said last night the SDLP wanted "urgency" to be injected into the review.

The former Stormont Finance Minister said: "At the moment, we have a senseless drift. The governments are not even holding any meetings this week. However, the SDLP will be seeking dialogue with all the main parties. What we need less of is the helicopter diplomacy that we saw in Hillsborough last week, but instead real work between the parties to get them to face each other and face up to their own responsibilities."

After his talks with the Northern Ireland parties last week, the British Prime Minister said they hoped to pick up the pace of efforts to restore devolution.

Mr. Blair said two issues still needed to be addressed: the ending of ongoing paramilitary activity and the unionists` willingness to share power with republicans in those circumstances.

The governments are expecting a report on IRA activity from the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission before Easter.

Adams also rounded today on the Rev Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionists who, he claimed, had yet to demonstrate they were willing to positively engage with the peace process or the political institutions created by the Agreement.

PAISLEY WANTS DETAILS OF TRIMBLE-BLAIR DEAL 

04/09/04 09:35 EST

The Democratic Unionist Party's Rev Ian Paisley today challenged British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair to give details of any secret deal he may have struck with Ulster Unionist leader Mr. David Trimble.

As the British and Irish governments prepare for a new round of negotiations in London later this month, the Democratic Unionist chief urged Mr. Blair to disclose any arrangements agreed during last year's failed bid to restore devolution in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Paisley said he had written to Mr. Blair demanding details of his dealings during the process which broke down in October of 2003.

Trimble backed out of plans to restore the power-sharing Executive in Belfast after General John de Chastelain's decommissioning body refused to give precise details on what weapons the IRA had destroyed.

"The public are entitled to know the detail of the Trimble October 2003 deal," insisted Paisley. "If we are going to move forward in these negotiations we must be made aware of the precise nature of the agreement Trimble put on hold and whether any elements of it are binding in present circumstances."

The hard-line unionist issued his appeal as it emerged fresh talks on Northern Ireland's future are expected to be held in London's Lancaster House later this month.

The two Governments are to call the political parties in Belfast together for an intensive three-day negotiating session to try to restore devolution in advance of the European elections in June.

Prime Minister Blair and Taoiseach Mr. Ahern are prepared to clear their diaries to facilitate the process.

London and Dublin fear they need to inject major momentum into the process to prevent it drifting without resolution towards the summer.

A British Government source said: "They will try everything possible to get this moving, but it`s really up to the will of those involved whether it can succeed."

Blair and Ahern decided to call all parties together for the proximity talks following last month`s discussions at Hillsborough Castle, Co. Down.

Pressure for a breakthrough is expected to intensify once the new Independent Monitoring Commission issues its first report on the state of paramilitary ceasefires within the next two weeks.

Lancaster House hosted talks on cross-border relationships in the run up to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

A review of the peace accord has so far failed to produce a solution.

Bairbre de Brun, a senior Sinn Féin negotiator, insisted the new move was needed. The West Belfast MLA said: "e have been very clear that the two governments need to take urgent action if the peace process is to be put back on track and the political institutions re-established."

Sean Farren, a member of the nationalist SDLP`s talks team, expressed hope that the initiative signaled a new determination by London and Dublin to see the process through. "I hope these talks can move the whole thing forward," he said.

Urging all sides to co-operate, the North Antrim MLA added: "People are getting frustrated and they want progress now."

SINN Féin CALLS FOR PEACE PROCESS SUPPORT AT EASTER RISING COMMEMORATION 

04/10/04 13:24 EST

A Dublin-based Sinn Féin politician today called on people to back the peace process during more than 100 commemoration ceremonies to mark the 88th anniversary of the Irish capital's 1916 Easter Rising against British occupation.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin`s Dublin candidate for European parliament elections later this year, urged weekend-long backing to "advance the peace process and support the campaign for Irish Unity and Independence."

She told a meeting at Howth, Co Dublin - the first of Sinn Féin`s big cross border program of events - "The difficulties in the peace process remain center stage and Sinn Féin is determined to go into the proposed intensive talks to do business. The big question is are the British and Irish governments and other parties just as eager to make progress at this time."

She added "Over the next three days, more than 100 commemorations will take place across all 32 Counties as republicans come together to honor Ireland`s patriot dead and to set out our priorities for the time ahead. The difficulties in the peace process remain center stage and there will be high expectations surrounding the proposed intensive talks due to take place at the end of the month."

"Sinn Féin will go into these talks to do business. Republicans have demonstrated time and time again our willingness to take risks and reach agreement. Six years on from the Good Friday Agreement, our commitment and our hard work on behalf of this process is unequaled by any other participant. It comes from our desire to see an end to conflict and a new future for everyone on this island."

"But in the long term a process cannot be sustained on the goodwill and actions of one party. For a process to work it requires the engagement of all the participants and it requires the two governments to live up to their word and not repeatedly walk away from deals."

ADAMS UNDERSCORES DEPTH OF CRISIS

04/11/04 15:41 EST

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams today underscored the depth of the crisis currently confronting the Northern Ireland peace process.

He claimed that the main current challenge for putting the long-term peace bid back on track lay with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Adams was speaking at one of more than 100 commemorations being staged this weekend on both sides of the Irish border by his party to mark the 88th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland.

He told a Dublin rally that Sinn Féin was prepared to enter "new intense negotiations" on the peace issue, saying "We are prepared once again to do our best to make this process work."

"We have no illusions about this. We are wedded totally to building justice and peace on this island."

The Sinn Féin chief said Mr. Blair had set June as a timeframe for ending the stalemate, adding "We will do our best to make that work but only the actions of the governments can determine how successful we will collectively be in the weeks ahead."

"Whatever the spin of the moment by the governments the reality is that the greatest challenge at this time is to the Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair."

"No one should underestimate the depth of the crisis facing the peace process at this time. There are substantial difficulties, which need to be overcome."

"I believe that if the political will exists even the serious and vexed issues facing all of us at this time can be resolved. To that end Sinn Féin has remained in contact with the two governments and the other parties."

Adams said the London and Dublin governments had to accept that they would have to inject new momentum into the process. Referring to demands from the Reverend Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionist Party for the disbandment of the IRA ahead of any negotiating, Mr. Adams asked: "Can anyone imagine the IRA dashing off to obey the DUP diktat?"

The leader of Sinn Féin`s representatives in the Dail, the Dublin parliament, Caoimhghin O Caolain, launched a concentrated attack on the peace process role played in the Irish government by Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

McDowell has emerged in recent months as the most outspoken and strongest critic inside the Dublin cabinet of the IRA and their Sinn Féin allies.

Speaking in Galway, O’ Caolain called on the Irish government to challenge British "breaches" of the Good Friday agreement, and added: ``Serious questions must be asked of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen for allowing Minister McDowell to take such a leading role in determining Irish Government policy in the peace process.

"When his electoral play-acting is over the serious work of the peace process will have to continue. Sinn Féin will not be distracted by any of this."

McDowell remained unrepentant about his stance today, though. Commenting on the Easter Rising anniversary on Irish radio, he said: "The provisional movement and their methods and attitudes are not republican. They are an armed movement with a political wing that still stoop to any methods to achieve results."

A second member of the Irish cabinet also referred to present-day republicanism today.

In a Co. Cork commemoration ceremony, Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy said: ``A tragic period of violent struggle in Northern Ireland is over, and I hope and believe it will never return. We must retire the different armies, and recognize that peaceful agreement provides the only way forward from here on."

"The DUP terms for talking to Sinn Féin are totally unacceptable. The failure of the two governments to honor their commitments under the Agreement and last October, reinforces the DUP in this position. Indeed, why should the DUP properly engage at all when by doing nothing they can veto progress? The British and Irish Governments hold the key to unlocking the current stalemate."

"By implementing their obligations, by making it clear to unionism that it cannot block change, the two governments can engender confidence and create an atmosphere in which everyone can feel liberated and empowered to move forward," Adams said.

PEACEFUL BEGINNING TO MARCHING SEASON 

04/12/04 04:44 EST

There has been a peaceful, low key beginning to the "marching season" in Northern Ireland with a number of previously contentious parades passing off peacefully.

The Protestant Apprentice Boys is holding three marches today; in Belfast, Derry and Castlederg.

There are also republican parades in Belfast, Armagh, Downpatrick, Rasharkin, Maghera, Newry and Swatragh.

There was no trouble at a small nationalist protest in Ardoyne against an Apprentice Boys' march. Police cordons separated the marchers and protesters.

The Parades Commission, which makes decisions on controversial marches, has imposed restrictions on a number of events.

The Parades Commission has ruled that an Apprentice Boys' parade from Ballynafeigh in south Belfast not cross the Ormeau Bridge. Access to the bridge has been blocked by crash barriers.

REFERENDUM PROVES GFA IS DEAD - PAISLEY 

04/15/04 12:28 EST

Irish Government plans for a referendum in June on Irish citizenship prove the Belfast Agreement is dead, the Reverend Ian Paisley claimed tonight.

The DUP leader was reacting to the decision to hold a referendum in June on whether to restrict the right to Irish citizenship for children born to foreign nationals.

Ireland's Minister for Justice, Mr. McDowell has been criticized for not consulting politicians on both sides of the border about the move.

Mr. Paisley said: "Anyone who argued that the Belfast Agreement could not be changed has clearly been proven wrong by the actions of the Dublin Government. In holding a referendum to amend Articles Two and Three of the Irish Constitution, the Irish Government are unilaterally amending the 1998 Agreement."

"The Dublin Government have fundamentally breached the Belfast Agreement by not consulting over the proposed changes. This only further serves to highlight that the Belfast Agreement is dead."

Under the Belfast Agreement, anyone born on the island of Ireland, on both sides of the border, is entitled to Irish citizenship.

However, the Government is trying to restrict that entitlement amid concerns that some non-nationals are having babies in the Republic to bypass asylum regulations.

It has drawn up legislation restricting the right to citizenship of children born in Ireland to non-national parents unless at least one of them has lived in the country for at least three of the previous four years.

The move by Mr. McDowell has been severely criticized by the nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland.

The head of the Human Rights Commission, Mr. Maurice Manning, also said Mr. McDowell should have allowed more time for consultation.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin announced its national executive will meet this weekend to plan its campaign of opposition for the referendum which will be held on June 11 - the same day as the European Elections.

Dublin South Central TD Aengus O Snodaigh said Sinn Féin opposed the referendum proposal because it believed it would "aggravate racism, will remove the rights guaranteed under the Good Friday Agreement."

"The proposed timing and process are opportunist and irresponsible," he said.

Mr. O Snodaigh said the proposals were the "height of hypocrisy" given the history of Irish emigration to other countries.

Mr. Paisley said the referendum also proved to those who voted against the Good Friday Agreement by supporting his party in last November`s Assembly election that it was not "set in stone."

The DUP leader said: "Change is inevitable. Unionists have demanded a new agreement to replace the failed Belfast Agreement and our published proposals in respect of Strands One, Two and Three show what form a new agreement must take to satisfy the unionist people."

"No longer can the pro-Agreement parties claim the Agreement will not be changed. Now that the Dublin government have put in place the mechanisms to bring about their amendments to the Agreement they should not be surprised that unionists intend to ensure the present talks are able to bring about a new agreement."

ALDERDICE IS PET POODLE OF NIO - McLAUGHLIN 

04/21/04 10:31 EST

The Independent Monitoring Commission's threat to expose Sinn Féin members as IRA godfathers has "polluted" the peace process, a senior figure in the party claimed today. 

In an angry attack on the four-member commission, whose first report yesterday called for financial penalties against republican and loyalist politicians linked to active paramilitary groups, Mitchel McLaughlin warned it had the potential to "put another nail in the coffin" of the process.

The Sinn Féin chairman said: "Engagements between parties are needed but reports like this pollute the atmosphere of this process. Let us just look at this commission. It was set up at the behest of David Trimble to give spurious credibility to the same daggers which members of the police Special Branch have been pointing in our direction for some time."

"All the British and Irish governments have done by establishing the IMC is to find another microphone, another voice box for the securocrats, but there is no new evidence. This process has been about getting everyone involved, including ex-combatants, in finding political solutions instead of military ones."

"Sinn Féin devised the strategy and has invested a lot but it now seems others have abandoned it in favor of a strategy aimed at stopping our electoral growth. This report will not affect the republican base but it has the potential to put another nail in the coffin for this process."

Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams said he believed the report's findings would benefit his party on the ground "in the six counties."

Speaking in Dublin today, he said he had been in contact with Irish Premier Bertie Ahern's officials about a urgent meeting to discuss this latest development in the peace process.

The IMC's members are former Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Lord Alderdice, ex-Metropolitan Police anti-terror squad chief John Grieve, retired Irish civil servant Joe Brosnan and Richard Kerr, who was a deputy director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

Lord Alderdice also did not rule out the possibility of naming and shaming those they believed were directing terrorism in loyalist and republican organisations.

The commission member said: "Those that we believe are likely to be in positions of senior leadership in various paramilitary groups should expect to receive direct communications from us so that they have an opportunity to respond to the views we are developing."

McLaughlin accused Lord Alderice, a former leader of the moderate unionist Alliance Party, of being "a pet poodle for the Northern Ireland Office" throughout his career.

The Foyle Assembly member said: "At the end of the day, it is difficult if republicans across the board are trying to make this process work and others are trying to slow this up."

As Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen prepared to meet in London today for the first time since the release of the IMC report, Ulster Unionist leader Mr Trimble criticised the decision to cancel multi-party talks next week.

The Upper Bann MP welcomed the report`s focus on the need for Sinn Féin and loyalist politicians to tackle paramilitary activity.

"It is a pity, in the light of that, that the government had cancelled the two days of talks that they had been planning for next week," he said. "I find that very strange, very disappointing and I wonder what pressures were brought to bear on the government to do that."

Tony Blair was also due to meet nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan today.

Durkan said yesterday that the IMC report showed the need for Sinn Féin to face up to IRA activity and unionists to address the scale of loyalist paramilitary violence.

Before entering the talks, Murphy said they would address the implications of yesterday`s report and the way ahead for the peace process. He said talks on the review of the Good Friday Agreementwould re-start within the next couple of weeks. Murphy insisted progress could be made despite the tense atmosphere in Northern Ireland. He said yesterday`s report simply revealed issues that people in Northern Ireland were already well aware of.

"It doesn`t mean to say that we stop progress," he said.

"It tells us that there are obstacles to be overcome, which are difficult ones. But I think there is a will there amongst all the political parties and the two governments to make progress. It is not going to be easy, we never thought it was going to be easy. But nevertheless we intend to carry on. We are not standing still."

Cowen said: "We all know where everything is at. We have to get into a dialogue, get into a political discourse, which will address these issues. We are all committed to making this process work. There is a problem with one side of the community about whether paramilitary activity can be brought to an end and whether we can see partnership government put in place to everyone`s satisfaction."

REVIEW TALKS TO RESUME ON TUESDAY 

04/21/04 14:53 EST

Talks in the review of the Good Friday Agreement are to begin again next Tuesday, the Northern Ireland secretary has said.

Paul Murphy confirmed the date after he held talks with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to discuss a report into paramilitary violence today.

He said the governments would be writing to all the political parties in the next few days.

The meeting in London came a day after Mr Murphy's announcement that financial sanctions would be imposed on Sinn Féin and the Progressive Unionist Party after the publishing of the Independent Monitoring Commission's report yesterday.

Murphy and Cowen met at a session of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

Cowen said: "We all know where everything is at. We have to get into a dialogue, get into a political discourse, which will address these issues. We are all committed to making this process work. There is a problem with one side of the community about whether paramilitary activity can be brought to an end and whether we can see partnership government put in place to everyone's satisfaction."

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said he believed the report's findings would benefit his party on the ground in the North.

Speaking in Dublin today, he said he had been in contact with Irish Premier Bertie Ahern's officials about a urgent meeting to discuss this latest development in the peace process.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan also met British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street today and described the talks as "good."

The SDLP leader described the International Monitoring Commission and Cory reports as a "watershed in the [peace] process."

Following an an hour of talks in Downing Street with Blair, Mr Durkan told journalists: "We made the point to him that . . . . those people who were in denial about collusion on the one hand or ongoing paramilitary activity on the other, can no longer escape in denial and evasion in the way that they have in the past. So the road markings of truth are starting to be painted into this process again and it is about time."

"Those road markings have to stay there very clearly if we are going to move forward on a moral basis to making sure that we achieve an end of paramilitarism, that we achieve a basis for moving forward politically on a credible and clear and consistent way."

Durkan said the kind of sanctions threatened yesterday in the IMC report against politicians with alleged links to paramilitaries would "not have an impact in any real sense on the people they are meant to act upon."

He added: "There is a danger of a vacuum if people decide that because the IMC report spelt out a lot of truths yesterday that it was a bad day for the process. I don't think that a day when truths were told and spelt out is a bad day for this process."

Durkan said he had pressed Mr Blair on calls for a public inquiry into the loyalist murder more than 15 years ago of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane.

Durkan said: "If the Prime Minister thought that Cory and the Finucane case was off his desk, he knows now that it certainly isn't off his desk ... We are not letting up until he and his Government deliver on the full and clear promise that they gave us that if Judge Cory recommended a public inquiry into the Finucane case, there would be a public inquiry."

He said reports by retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory and the Independent Monitoring Commission had brought truth back into the process.

Durkan said financial sanctions resulting from the IMC report would not impact on those they were designed to, or impress those they were supposed to impress.

BLAIR DEMANDS END TO PARAMILITARISM 

04/22/04 11:18 EST

Parties that want to be part of the government of Northern Ireland must be "clean" of any connections with paramilitary activity, British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted today.

Blair told his monthly press conference at Downing Street the Independent Monitoring Commission, whose first report earlier this week called for financial penalties against republican and loyalist politicians linked to active paramilitary groups, would play a significant role in the peace process from now on.

Blair said: "The question is, is this IMC process, the idea of an independent commission that monitors the obligations of the parties . . . is this going to play now a central role in the future of the peace process in Northern Ireland? And I think you can see the answer to that very clearly from yesterday. The answer is yes, it is going to play a central role, and it is going to play a central role because people in Northern Ireland and . . . the Republic of Ireland can see the full extent of paramilitary activity and can recognise therefore the justice of the demand being made by the British and Irish governments [and] all the other political parties in Northern Ireland."

"The only way we are going to deal with this is to make sure that people face up to the basic issue, which is that we have everything agreed in Northern Ireland and we just need one thing to come into place - that is the acceptance by everybody that we can no longer tolerate any level of paramilitary activity."

"That paramilitary activity, terrorism - whether it is so-called loyalist or republican - is what is holding the peace process back in Northern Ireland."

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is due to meet Blair tomorrow to discuss the report on paramilitary activity compiled by the Independent Monitoring Commission. Mr Adams is also due to discuss the document with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, next week.

The report, published earlier this week, claimed senior members of Sinn FÈin were also leading activists in the IRA. It also accused the IRA of involvement in shootings, smuggling, hijackings and the attempted abduction of a dissident republican in Belfast in February.

Speaking in Belfast today, Adams said the IMC was staffed by "spooks, spies and failed politicians" and its report had done untold damage to the peace process.

He added that following this week's speculation about the content of the IMC report he spoke to Downing Street "stressing the urgency of that meeting."

He said he "rejected" and "greatly resented" what he said was an effort by both Irish and British governments to penalise and discriminate against Sinn FÈin.

"I should also say that it is my clear understanding that the cancellation of the Lancaster House talks for next week was an the request of the Irish government. Can I also say that the SDLP's defence of the IMC is disgraceful. As are that party leadership's assurances to Mr. Blair that Tuesday's publication of the report 'had the potential to be a good day for the peace process."

Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly, said it was a disgrace that the British government were forcing the Finucane family through the courts once again because of what he said was their "continuing failure to hold an inquiry into the murder."

He said: "The British government are desperate to conceal the involvement of their own system, former ministers and senior PSNI personnel in a campaign of state sponsored murder. That is the rational for the stalling.

04/27/04 07:38 EST

The British and Irish governments will chair talks in Belfast today on the future of the Belfast Agreement as Sinn FÈin continued to criticise a commission that threatened to name alleged senior IRA members.

The review of the agreement was resuming at Stormont as the US special envoy to Northern Ireland arrived for discussions with the Assembly parties.

The envoy, Mr Mitchell Reiss, was expected to hear Sinn FÈin concerns about the impact on the peace process of last week's report by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).

London and Dublin recently cancelled plans for intensive talks this week to move the process forward.

As his party prepared for meetings today with the two governments and Mr Reiss at Stormont, Sinn Fein Assembly member Alex Maskey said they had "a number of concerns".

The South Belfast MLA said: "There is a feeling that the British and Irish governments have become somewhat disengaged from the political process and there is a need for them to focus on what needs to be done. Commitments made in the Good Friday Agreement six years ago and since then still have to be delivered. The Independent Monitoring Commission`s report has also polluted the atmosphere. We are in a situation were three men in Columbia were cleared by a court in Bogota of training Farc."

"What people need to remember is the same spooks, spies and securocrats who provided sections of the media with scareless briefings about the men and what they were supposed to have been doing are the same spies, spooks and securocrats who supplied information that went into last week`s IMC report."