Flanagan hopes no one will ‘threaten’ Stormont talks

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said he expects the fresh round of Stormont talks called for next week to be concluded "within four or five weeks" as he urged all parties to focus on the gains made under the Good Friday Agreement and allow the new talks to run their course.

With the Northern Ireland Assembly due to reconvene on Monday, Mr Flanagan said he was "concerned" ahead of next week.

"I would hope that all parties attending the assembly would allow for time and space for these talks to take place. I wouldn't like the Assembly to act in a way that would threaten the talks," he said from Luxembourg where he is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers. The talks would be concluded in "a matter of weeks," he said.

The British and Irish leaders announced on Thursday night that fresh talks would begin next week in a bid to break the political impasse in Stormont. The talks will officially begin on Tuesday when Mr Flanagan and British secretary of state for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers travel to Belfast.

Ahead of Monday’s opening of Parliament, Mr Flanagan urged all parties to commit to the talks.

“I don’t see any benefit in people not participating in talks, walk outs, motions of exclusions, applications to have parties shut up. These are unhelpful. Now that the two governments have convened talks I believe the parties should focus on talks rather than taking short-term political advantage of the current situation.”

McGuigan killing

The UUP sparked political turmoil in Northern Ireland by announcing it would withdraw from Stormont after PSNI chief constable George Hamilton said that the Provisional IRA still exists following the killing of Kevin McGuigan.

Mr Flanagan said there would be two-strands to the discussions – the fallout from the current crisis, and the full implementation of the Stormont agreement, which would include the unresolved welfare and budget issues. These could still threaten the stability of the institutions he warned.

The Minister said the establishment of some form of verification body was "inevitable" as part of the process though he reiterated his comments earlier this week that it was too early to say if the Independent Monitoring Commission could be restored.

“In order for trust and confidence to be restored, there certainly needs to be a process that allows for verification if there is parliamentary activity.”

DUP leader Peter Robinson has called for an independent monitoring mechanism following the PSNI's assertion that the IRA still existed.

Mr Flanagan will travel to the British-Irish association conference on Saturday in Cambridge, with the Taoiseach due to deliver an address on Friday evening. He will then travel to London for talks on Monday.