The Five Demands

Dopo il nulla di fatto della scorsa notte, oggi proseguono i colloqui

Nulla di fatto a Hillsborough Castle dove la scorsa notte si sono riuniti i leaders di governo nordirlandese, irlandese e britannico per cercare di trovare una via di uscita sulla questione dei trasferimenti di poteri di polizia e giustizia da Londra a Belfast.
Gordon Brown ha ammesso le difficoltà nel portare avanti i discorsi, che si stanno comunque mantenendo in termini di franchezza.
Il leader del DUP, Peter Robinson, ha ribadito l’intenzione di voler giungere alla soluzione della questione ‘devolution’, ma “polizia e giustizia sono una questione di vita o di morte, è una questione delicata, è qualcosa che tocca ogni membro della nostra comunità “.
Le decisioni quindi non devono essere affrettate. “Non posso dire che ci sarà un accordo, noi ci stiam sedendo al tavolo … finché non otterremo l’accordo”, ha proseguito Robinson che ha ribadito come la controversia sulla devolution stia distogliendo l’attenzione da altre priorità dell’Assembly.
Assembly su cui nessuno è disposto a scommettere, in questo momento. Forse già entro il fine settimana verrà decisa la sua sorte.

Le dichiarazioni di Peter Robinson

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Parties resume ‘crisis’ talks (NewsLetter)
A second day of talks at Hillsborough to avert a crisis at Stormont are ongoing.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Taoiseach Brian Cowen are chairing further discussions after talking late into the night with the DUP and Sinn Fein.
The parties left Hillsborough Castle in the early hours of Tuesday with no sign of a breakthrough on an agreed date for the devolution of policing powers or a compromise on dealing with contentious parades.
Both premiers flew into the Province on Monday afternoon after Mr Brown called the coming days a “critical week of decision for Northern Ireland”.
On Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the Prime Minister described the discussions as “hard going” and “frank”.
“The Prime Minister and Taoiseach remain determined that progress can be made, so discussions will continue on Tuesday morning.
“The PM is meeting the Taoiseach this morning, followed by further meetings with the leadership of Sinn Fein and the DUP leadership later this morning.”
Emerging from the ongoing negotiations on Tuesday, DUP leader Peter Robinson said his party were “up for the job” for resolving the outstanding issues, but not at any price.
“This is not a party-political quibble, this isn’t a small issue, this is a critical issue. Policing and justice is a life or death issue, it is a sensitive issue, it is something that touches every member of our community,” he told waiting reporters.
“We need to ensure that everybody is going to be dealt with fairly, that we are not going to have urgent decisions that can’t be taken,” he said.
“It is essential we ensure that the processes of government are so that it will not be dysfunctional.
“That is the critical matter for us and we are not there yet in terms of being satisfied that the arrangements are satisfactory.”
Last night, senior Stormont ministers admitted they do not know whether the Assembly will survive until the end of the week.
Both the DUP and Sinn Fein seemed to entrench their positions on the key issue of devolving policing and justice and were not even negotiating in the same room.
As he arrived in Hillsborough for a meeting with the Prime Minister, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey signalled that his party will only accept a deal if there is substantial reform of the Stormont Executive.
The Ulster Unionists and the SDLP have repeated their call to be brought into the DUP-Sinn Fein negotiations.
It remains unclear whether the Government will support four-party talks rather than the two-party negotiations which have so far produced little.

DUP chief Peter Robinson issues warning on policing deal (Belfast Telegraph)
It is too soon to tell if a deal will be clinched on devolving policing and justice powers in Noprthern Ireland, the DUP leader has warned.
Peter Robinson said the controversy had dogged the power-sharing government throughout its three-year existence but he downplayed any sense of crisis.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Irish Premier Brian Cowen are chairing intensive negotiations involving all the main parties at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down in an attempt to break the stalemate.
Downing Street said it was “too early to speculate” about whether Mr Brown would spend a second night in Northern Ireland.
A spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach are both of the view that progress can be made.” Mr Robinson said: “It really isn’t until the last few minutes or hours that you do get the sense that it (a deal) can be put together. I can’t say that there is going to be a deal, we are going to sit at the table… until we get the deal.”
He added: “The issue of policing and justice has dogged us in the Assembly. It has taken away the focus that we should have on other issues.”
As well as setting a date for the transfer of security responsibilities from London to Belfast, there is also the question of the adjudication of controversial loyal order parades in dispute with Sinn Fein.
The DUP East Belfast MP added that community engagement could help resolve that.
“What we need to do is to ensure that we get a resolution to parades disputes,” he said.