It is all so petty now. Republican machinations and the internal manoeuvrings of Ulster unionists, played out again over the last three days, seem so frustratingly small-minded after the indiscriminate attacks in New York and the Pentagon and the concerted new drive to combat international terrorism. Can they not see the bigger picture from within their small world? They have gone so far; but there is so much to lose.
The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has given the parties another six weeks to sort out the problems which could unmake the Belfast Agreement and its institutions and steer them to a crash-landing. He exercised his powers to suspend the Executive for 24 hours over the weekend in a technical manoeuvre to give the parties more time to sort out their difficulties. He was adamant that he was doing this for the last time.
So there are, at best, 40 more days to save the Agreement which is the property of the people - not the politicians - by virtue of the concurrent referendums in which it was endorsed throughout the island of Ireland. The last step is now down to the IRA and there are some reports from credible sources that they will take that step. It is therefore regrettable that the unionists should have effectively foreshortened the available time for an IRA initiative by proposing a motion today to expel Sinn FΘin from the Executive.
Dr Reid was categorical in his insistence over the weekend that the onus is now on the IRA. The day has come, he made it clear, for Sinn FΘin and the IRA to demonstrate, with action, that republicans have begun to decommission their arms. The Irish Times/ MRBI opinion poll, conducted jointly with Prime Time last week, found that 85 per cent of Northern voters believe that the IRA should now begin the process of putting its weapons beyond use. Almost half of the Sinn FΘin supporters surveyed also believe the time has come.
The Northern Secretary recognised that the Ulster Unionist Party has "terrible problems" with the current situation. It is asked to go into government with Sinn FΘin, while its paramilitary wing still holds all of its arms, at a time when Mr Blair is the main European advocate of President Bush's stance that one is either a friend or an enemy of terrorism. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, stands firm on the principle that Sinn FΘin will not be part of a Coalition Government in this State in the next few months after the general election.
There are many outstanding issues at this time. But IRA disarmament is the proximate one. Without it, nothing else will be resolved. The IRA made a proposal to the Independent International Decommissiong Body in early August of a method to put its arms completely and verifiably beyond use. It withdrew it some days later. It renewed its commitment to re-engage with the IIDB last week on a scheme with a view to accelerating progress towards the comprehensive resolution of this issue. This implied that the IRA's offer of a method of decommissioning was put back on the table though it was not explicitly stated. If there is a method or scheme, using their words, to put IRA arms beyond use, then there is no sacrifice of principle involved in making a start.