DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley has said Sinn Féin must endorse the Police Service of Northern Ireland as part of any deal to restore power-sharing government. Frank Millar, London Editor, reports
As Assembly members return to Stormont on Monday with a November 24th deadline for the appointment of an executive, Dr Paisley insisted: "Except we have the police issue resolved there is no way forward. The talks have no future until everyone who's going to be in the government of Northern Ireland is a complete and total supporter of the police."
At the same time he made clear his view that a Sinn Féin decision to join the Northern Ireland Policing Board would not of itself constitute support for the police. Concluding the "Back to Stormont" series in an interview for today's Irish Times, the DUP leader specifically keeps open the door to an eventual partnership administration with Sinn Féin.
However, he suggested people "should not worry" about the November deadline set by the British and Irish governments and rejected the idea that his decisions might be motivated by a desire to spend the final years of his political career as First Minister.
"I'm not interested in office," Dr Paisley said. "Do you think I have come to 80 years of age to sell my soul? No, I'm not. What I'm interested in is to have a broad base of democracy on which we build, and then, come hell or high water, that edifice is going to stand."
That declaration will serve as an encouragement to both governments as they embark upon an initiative about which both Sinn Féin and the SDLP have expressed deep misgivings. However, Dr Paisley served notice of tough negotiations ahead, maintaining that "a true democracy" at Stormont would require significant changes to the Belfast agreement. Rejecting the notion of "a quick deal", he said: "You can make a quick deal and then, when you start to build, you'd be on sinking sands."
And he confirmed this meant he would be seeking changes to the agreement to provide for "collective responsibility" in any new executive. Dr Paisley also confirmed he is still seeking to separate the equal posts of First and Deputy First Minister, and that he anticipated an eventual need to move toward government decisions by way of "weighted" majorities.
Asked if, in the ninth year of the second IRA cessation and following confirmation that their "war" was over, he accepted that the situation in Northern Ireland was already transformed beyond recognition, Dr Paisley agreed, while insisting that has been, in part at least, the result of his party's position. "Our pressure had a lot to do with it," he said. "Our pressure was successful . . . You do not throw away successful policies - you pursue them."
Asked if he understood that many Catholics in Northern Ireland would find it difficult, if not repugnant, to wake one morning and find him First Minister, Dr Paisley laughingly replied: "I think I wouldn't be the unionist I am if they didn't . . . I mean, I have said that personally to Bertie Ahern and his whole Cabinet when I met them. I said 'you are bound to be against me because I am against you. We're not sitting here in friendship or ecumenical kisses . . . we're sitting here because we are opponents on a vital issue'."
And he rejected suggestions that he is seeking to raise new "preconditions" for powersharing by way of the policing issue, insisting: "These are the conditions I set out in all my talks [with the two governments]. I fought an election on it. I won my majority on this very issue."