MINISTERIAL TALKS:THE CRISIS in the peace process is to be discussed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward at a meeting in Dublin. The meeting is likely to be held tomorrow evening.
Government sources in Dublin were anxious to stress, however, that the meeting would be focused on the controversy over the devolution of policing and justice powers rather than the position of First Minister Peter Robinson, which is regarded as an internal matter for the Democratic Unionist Party at this stage.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin spoke by telephone with Mr Martin on Friday afternoon and with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday morning.
The role of Dublin and London in the current impasse was highlighted by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in a statement yesterday where he called for the implementation of agreements on policing and justice and other matters. “It may be now dawning, eventually and belatedly, on the two governments that they need to act as guarantors of the agreements they are charged with upholding,” Mr Adams said.
Mr Martin and Mr Woodward have been meeting on almost a weekly basis to discuss the stand-off between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party on the policing issue, which has the potential to bring down the power-sharing administration.
Close observers said the two governments were powerless to do anything about the internal problems of the DUP. If Mr Robinson is forced out, the British Government in particular would try to put pressure on his successor to come to terms with Sinn Féin on policing.
Under the rules of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Féin could block a DUP nominee from taking office as First Minister unless policing and justice were devolved from London.
Failure to reach agreement would inevitably lead to fresh elections to the Assembly, probably in March, with potentially unfavourable consequences for the DUP.
The two governments, along with all other interested parties, will be closely watching developments at internal DUP meetings expected to be held this morning, prior to the resumption of the Assembly at noon.
Sinn Féin’s decision to postpone the meeting of its ardchomhairle last Saturday, ostensibly due to the bad weather, has served to ease tension to some extent as the party was expected to reiterate its strong stance on policing and justice.
Sinn Féin sources have suggested that the two governments are “not in the same place” on dealing with the situation, with Dublin less optimistic than London that Mr Robinson will agree to go ahead with devolution of policing and justice.
Other close observers suggest that, even if Mr Robinson wished to proceed with devolution, he could not bring his party with him, particularly in the aftermath of the BBC Spotlight revelations about his involvement in the financial dealings of his wife, Iris.