The Five Demands

L’ex Taoiseach Bertie Ahern è stato intervistato durante il BBC NI’s Hearts and Minds programme, la cui messa in onda è prevista oggi alle 19.30 su BBC Two.
Ahern ha preso la palla al balzo per dire la sua sulla situazione di stallo che si è creata a Stormont, sottolineando come l’esistenza dell’Army Council non debba essere un ostacolo al trasferimento di poteri di polizia e giustizia, perchè il decentramento di tali poteri non è stata “mai basata” sulla scioglimento dell’Ira Army Council.
Capisce la necessità degli unionisti di ottenere maggiori certezze, ma invita il DUP ed il Sinn Fein a risolvere le proprie divergenze attraverso il dialogo diretto.
Non sono mancati a questo proposito gli apprezzamenti nei confronti dell’ex Primo Ministro nordirlandese Ian Paisley, per non ‘aver ceduto alla tentazione’ di fare dell’Army Council un problema durante i negoziati per l’Accordo di St. Andrews.
L’ex Primo Ministro ha parlato anche della sua delusione per il NO della Repubblica del trattato di Lisbona ed invita il Paese ad un secondo referendum.
Conclude poi con la speranza di poter un giorno riabilitare il suo nome, a conclusione ddi guai finanziari che lo stanno vedendo protagonista in questi mesi.

Army council ‘no issue’ – Ahern

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has stepped into the row over the political deadlock at Stormont. Mr Ahern said the existence of the IRA army council was not a precondition to the transfer of policing and justice powers to Stormont. He said the DUP was “well aware” of the British and Irish governments’ commitment to the deadline for such a transfer. “It should have been long done by this stage,” he said. The Executive has not met in three months after the issue caused a political impasse between the DUP and Sinn Féin. In an interview for BBC NI’s Hearts and Minds programme, Mr Ahern also spoke of his admiration for former DUP leader Ian Paisley. He praised him for “resisting the temptation” to make the disbandment of the IRA army council an issue during the St Andrews negotiations. Mr Ahern said he understood unionists needed to feel “certainty” in order to establish trust with republicans and felt the IRA perhaps needed to spell out its intentions more clearly. But he said he did not believe the organisation would ever say it would never exist in any role. He repeated his desire for the IRA to evolve into a “commemorative” organisation but said the devolution of policing and justice was “never predicated” on the disbandment of the IRA army council. “All of this was known when the agreement was made. It’s not only now or in the last year that we discovered there’s a thing called the army council,” he said. He cautioned against Sinn Fein and the DUP “escalating” the situation and said both parties could resolve their differences through direct dialogue. The former Taoiseach also spoke of his disappointment at the Republic’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty which he felt had happened because the document was “too complicated” for people to understand. He said he believed the Irish government would have to re-run the referendum. He also rejected any suggestion of misconduct in his financial dealings and said he hoped some day to be able to clear his name.