Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair have asserted their determination to have the North's political institutions operating again during 2006, despite continued doubts over whether the DUP will share power with Sinn Féin. Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent, reports
After an hour-long meeting in Dublin yesterday, both leaders said intensive talks would begin on February 6th. Mr Blair is due to make a major speech in Belfast in the next few weeks to outline his vision of how a deal can be achieved. Amid uncertainty over how agreement can be reached, the two governments are keenly awaiting the conferences of Sinn Féin and the DUP in the next fortnight.
The governments will be watching Sinn Féin for any signal that the party is willing to sign up fully to the North's political institutions, and watching the DUP for any indication that they will contemplate serious talks towards renewed power-sharing with Sinn Féin.
The imminent report of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) on paramilitary activity may not now provide the impetus towards a deal that the governments had hoped for.
At a press conference in Dublin's Farmleigh House yesterday both Mr Ahern and Mr Blair appeared to accept that the report, which may be handed to the governments today, might not give the hoped for assurance that all IRA activity has ceased. "It's very hard to see every last little bit fall into place immediately," said Mr Blair, apparently anticipating a more equivocal report. "We watch the one in a few months' time. It's important that we see incremental progress and we do not see any sliding back." He hoped to see "no obvious and evident breaches" by the IRA.
In relation to the IMC report, Mr Ahern said that if it showed "any difficulties that are still there" it would be necessary to remove those obstacles. Mr Blair said a state of paralysis in the political process was not acceptable. "However benign or placid things may appear, whilst that stalemate continues, actually underneath the surface there are all the currents of instability present when there is not a true forceful direction bringing the process forward.
"This is not a situation where we can simply maintain the present status quo. We have got to move it forward." Mr Blair acknowledged that some political parties may not have the same sense of urgency about the re-establishment of the institutions as had the governments.
"Other parties may not have the same sense of urgency. I think that what we are signalling today, and with the talks starting, is we do." Both leaders hinted that they may seek to force the pace of progress if the parties fail to agree.