Hope grows for North deal

A summit aimed at reviving the stalled administration in Belfast broke up Saturday without a settlement, but with signs that a historic accommodation between Sinn Fein and the Rev. Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party was close to completion.
The deal would pave the way for complete disarmament by the IRA and its eventual retirement as an active paramilitary organization, signaling the triumph of politics over violence in resolving the North’s ancient problems.
The parties cleared the decks for an effort this week to seal the outstanding issues. British Secretary of State Paul Murphy canceled a trip to the U.S. in order to chair the extended talks that began yesterday.
The historic potential was underlined by the fact that Paisley, the 78-year-old fundamentalist Protestant preacher who has long opposed a settlement, hailed the prospects.
“We have never been closer to solving the problems that have plagued us for decades,” he said. “The decommissioning of IRA weapons and dismantling of the structures of terrorism is the ultimate outcome of the discussion.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had called the talks in a bid to end two years of paralysis in the North’s administration.
Ever since the Good Friday agreement was reached in 1998, the peace process has been dogged by uncertainty. Unionist wariness about the IRA’s intentions has been reinforced by evidence that the IRA has continued to be involved in some violence.
In elections last November, the hardline DUP became the largest party representing unionists — a result that was seen as a blow for the survival of the agreement.
But the DUP has signaled in recent months that it would be prepared to share power with nationalists if the IRA could be removed from the political equation.
Politicians from seven Northern Ireland parties along with the British and Irish governments spent two and a half days locked in talks inside the picturesque Leeds Castle in Kent.
During that time, said officials, understandings were reached that would see the IRA disarm completely and eventually announce that it was prepared to become inactive if the full settlement is reached. The details were not announced, but unionists, including Paisley, appeared satisfied by the extent of the offer.
Advances were also confirmed in transferring the control of justice and policing powers from London to Belfast.
“What is on offer is reasonable in substance and historic in its meaning,” Blair said. “On the issue of ending the violence as a result of what we discussed and the outline of what we have got here, I think that can be done.”
But after an exhaustive round of talks on Friday night and Saturday morning, a set of technical issues could not be resolved before delegates had to leave the castle. British officials said the castle had to be vacated for two wedding receptions.
Blair said he believed the deal could be completed, but told the parties that they could not run to him and Ahern for to referee the finish. “I can’t believe myself that this set of institutional issues is going to scupper what otherwise would be a very good deal,” he said.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams agreed that progress had been made, but accused the DUP of unwillingness to “embrace a process of change.” The DUP had ended a long-standing boycott of any negotiations involving Sinn Fein but continue to refuse to speak to them directly even though the settlement would make them partners in a coalition government.
Adams said it was encouraging that the parties were “all in the same place together.
“That’s progress,” he said. “Is it good enough? No. The DUP aren’t ready to come into the tent.”
He said his “strong view is that the IRA is not the problem” in closing the settlement.
Peter Robinson, Paisley’s deputy, said: “The DUP is willing to roll up its sleeves and resolve these outstanding matters.”