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New talks aimed at unblocking Northern Ireland peace process |
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May 3, 2000 LONDON, MAY 2 (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart, Bertie Ahern, met Tuesday with the three largest parties in Northern Ireland, seeking a way out of the disarmament deadlock that has stalled the peace process.
Blair and Ahern were scheduled to hold separate meetings at Blair's Downing Street offices with representatives of the province's main pro-British Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, and the major Catholic forces, the Social Democratic and Labor Party and Sinn Fein, the party associated with the Irish Republican Army.
The Ulster Unionists say they are unwilling to share power with Sinn Fein as long as the IRA holds on to its weapons and refuses to disavow violence.
The Ulster Unionists arrived for Tuesday's talks earlier than scheduled, while Sinn Fein was still in the building, but Blair's office said there were no plans for the two parties to meet Tuesday.
Before meeting with the prime ministers, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said he believed the IRA could disarm this month - a timetable the two governments and Sinn Fein have previously written off.
"We have come here in the hope that we are going to hear something. We hope the government is now in a position to give us some precise information about what is being proposed," Trimble said.
The Good Friday peace accord set a deadline of May 22 deadline for all paramilitary groups to dispose of their weapons. The IRA has refused, as have the two main paramilitary groups on the Protestant side.
The 1988 agreement called for a power-sharing government for Northern Ireland. In February, the British government suspended the Northern Ireland body to prevent a walkout by Trimble over the arms issue.
Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Mandelson, said Tuesday that he was cautiously optimistic about making progress.
"I don't want to raise expectations about what is going to be achieved, but I think we can go further in reducing the differences between the parties," he told the British Broadcasting Corp. "I understand why people are skeptical about this process, but I think they should realize that progress has been made and there are genuine efforts being made by all the pro-agreement parties in Northern Ireland."
Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said his party remained committed to the peace process but insisted the key to progress lay with the British government, which it says should restart Northern Ireland's Cabinet.
"It remains our firm view that British government policy and its approach to resolving the current crisis are the key to any possibility of a breakthrough," McGuinness said.
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