THE PROSPECTS of a deal to rescue the Northern Executive and Assembly remained precarious last night after up to 14 members of the DUP’s Assembly team rejected proposals to end the political logjam.
With no agreement yet there were suggestions that DUP leader Peter Robinson could issue a “back me or sack me” challenge to his party.
Senior party figures Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell – both viewed as hardliners – last night insisted that the party was united behind Mr Robinson and party negotiators in their efforts to strike a deal on policing and justice, parading and other contentious issues.
Nonetheless, with British and Irish sources saying the current protracted negotiations at Hillsborough Castle could not continue much longer, Mr Robinson was under pressure to decide whether or not to again push for the deal he has negotiated with Sinn Féin.
The current convulsions within the DUP were triggered by his Assembly group, which has 36 members, rejecting by secret ballot the draft proposals for breaking the political deadlock largely negotiated by the DUP and Sinn Féin under the auspices of the British and Irish governments.
The BBC reported that 14 DUP Assembly members voted against the draft deal that Mr Robinson outlined to them at Stormont on Monday with DUP sources confirming that some 40 per cent of the party’s Assembly members would not support the proposals.
The main sticking point is over parading with many DUP Assembly members angry that Sinn Féin has a definite May date for transferring policing and justice powers to the Northern Executive, while the proposals on parading are less specific.
Sources said that the DUP Assembly team meeting was stormy and angry on Monday.
In an anodyne statement, however, Mr Robinson was able to tell the press that the party was unanimously encouraged by progress to date in the Hillsborough talks and that it supported its negotiators as they continued to tackle outstanding issues.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen and British prime minister Gordon Brown are still anxious to travel to Northern Ireland to ratify a deal.
If there is no DUP-Sinn Féin deal then, as Mr Cowen and Mr Brown said last Wednesday, the two governments are pledged to publish their own proposals.
According to senior sources in Dublin, London and the Sinn Féin and DUP negotiators, including Mr Robinson, believed over the weekend that there was an outline deal on the table addressing all the key issues including policing and parading that should be acceptable to all the parties.
There was speculation at Stormont yesterday that Mr Robinson was preparing to put “back me or sack me” proposals to his party last night but a party spokesman said yesterday evening there were “no plans” for an Assembly group meeting last night.
Mr Robinson returned to the negotiations with Sinn Féin at Hillsborough Castle yesterday.
While these talks were continuing late last night the sources said that it appeared that there could be little or no alteration to the agreement already struck on policing and parading, although Sinn Féin could be in a position to make commitments to assist in seeking to defuse tensions over contentious parades.
Many of the North’s MPs are due in Westminster this morning for Northern Ireland question time, which is likely to put back the time when Mr Robinson must decide how to proceed.
However, with Sinn Féin and governmental patience fast running out, there was a general consensus last night that at last a genuine deadline is approaching.