DEVOLUTION IN DIRITTURA D’ARRIVO?
Il Sinn Fein ha accetta il pacchetto finanziaro proposto da Gordon Brown
Sembrano esserci reali spiragli sul trasferimento dei poteri in materia di polizia e giustizia a Stormont.
Il Sinn Fein ha accettato il pacchetto finanziario proposto dal Primo Ministro inglese Gordon Brown.
Martin McGuinness ne darà conferma personalmente in occasione dei colloqui fissati a Downing Street.
A tirare il freno a mano è il Democrati Unionist Party, che afferma di necessitare di alcuni chiarimenti inerenti alla proposta e di non voler essere sottoposto a pressioni.
Si ipotizza che l’accordo proposto dal capo di governo inglese, si aggiri intorno agli 800 milioni di sterline. L’offerta dovrebbe comprendere un impegno a completare al scuola di formazione di polizia di Cookstown e il trasferimento di ulteriori basi militari all’Esecutivo dell’Irlanda del Nord, compresa quella di Lisanelly a Omagh.
Il presidente del Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, ha dichiarato che ora il processo di trasferimento dei poteri dovrà avvenire rapidamente.
Sinn Fein accepts policing offer (BBC News Northern Ireland)
Sinn Fein has accepted the prime minister’s financial offer on the devolution of policing and justice powers.
The news comes as Gordon Brown prepares to resume talks on policing and justice with Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers today.
Martin McGuinness will inform Mr Brown of the decision in Downing Street.
The DUP said it wanted the government to clarify some parts of the offer and would not be pressurised into a deal.
It is thought the overall funding package is worth in the region of £800m.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said the process to transfer the powers to the assembly should now be completed quickly.
A party source said the chief constable and the NI Court Service director were both impressed with the offer.
However, the PSNI said the chief constable had not seen the details of the offer.
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie said: “We can state that we are encouraged by the progress to date and we look forward to working with the Northern Ireland Policing Board on taking the proposal forward.”
DUP leader Peter Robinson said his party would not be spooked by pressure to agree a deal.
Mr Robinson’s party wants clarification on some aspects of the package. He said he would discuss it with both the police and the court service.
“The funding offer from the prime minister which we received goes beyond anything on offer previously,” Mr Robinson said.
“By holding our nerve we have a package today which is hundreds of millions of pounds higher than it was only a week ago.”
Addressing a dinner for the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust in Belfast on Monday evening, he said it was vital to get the terms for devolving policing right.
“The issues affect every home in Northern Ireland and I do not exaggerate when I say the difference between an effective and properly funded police service and one starved of resources is, in some cases, the difference between life and death,” he said.
‘Too important’
“That is why my approach to devolution has been focused on obtaining the best possible settlement from the Treasury.”
Mr Robinson said it was “too important an issue to be determined by the calendar”.
In a statement, DUP officers said they were encouraged that issues they had raised were being addressed.
They said: “The party is now involved in a process of meeting various stakeholders to discuss the package.
“We will want to have discussions with the Conservative Party to gauge their intentions should they form the next government.”
It is understood the offer includes a commitment to complete the police training college in Cookstown and to transfer additional military bases to the Northern Ireland Executive, including the Lisanelly base in Omagh, which has been earmarked for an educational campus.
The Five Demands 