Northern talks advancing 'inch by inch'

PROGRESS IN the Northern talks is being made "inch by inch" and the Irish and British governments believe there is a "firm basis" for agreement, Taoiseach Brian Cowenhas told the Dáil.

Mr Cowen also said US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had been in touch with the parties and “offered her ongoing assistance”.

The Taoiseach urged patience when Labour leader Eamon Gilmoreexpressed a sense of "deja vu" about the talks and asked if there was too much "hand holding". Mr Cowen said the voice of the public had to be heard. The people of Northern Ireland were "showing a lot of patience because they understand the prize is considerable".

During question time Fine Gael leader Enda Kennyquestioned the delays and asked if the Taoiseach was concerned about reports "that a significant proportion of the DUP membership does not accept what is on the table".

The Taoiseach said “that issue has been denied internally by the DUP itself”. The talks were “taking longer than may have been anticipated but they are ongoing and seek to narrow their differences. I hope these matters can be brought to a successful conclusion sooner rather than later.”

Mr Gilmore said 12 years had passed since the Belfast Agreement and it was “already agreed at St Andrews that policing and justice powers would be devolved”. But there “is almost a sense of deja vu”.

He asked: “Is there too much hand-holding in this process?

Mr Cowen replied: “I do not see at any time how the Government could fulfil its obligations by stepping back in the process. The Government should be there to assist a deeply divided political culture . . . We are in a brave new world, a situation in which everyone’s view must be accommodated, but we must also have generosity of spirit informing that process and in people making compromises. The culture has never been about making compromises successfully in the past. Those who made compromises paid the political price.” There was a need to foster relationships between political opponents.

“It’s not about a separate but equal operation. It’s about a coherent whole working together, recognising that there are people with very strongly held and different perspectives on many fundamental issues of what they’re about and who they are and where their affiliations and loyalties lie.

“The great genius of these agreements is that we are not seeking to reach a predetermined destination. We’re on a journey here that will take us wherever it will, based on principles of consent and respect and mutual interest and we have to devise a culture that sustains institutions to be effective, to be responsive to people’s needs.”

He stressed it was his “strong view that the spirit of the agreement is just as important as the letter of the agreement.

“This is not some inane, abstract mathematical formula about setting up structures for people to co-exist peacefully and tolerate each other.”