The Five Demands

UUP, Alliance Party e SDLP si sono uniti ai leaders dei governi irlandese, britannico e nordirlandese per discutere della devolution

Si è respirata positività oggi Hillsborough Castle dove, per la prima volta, attorno al tavolo delle trattative hanno preso posto Gordon Brown, Brian Cowen, Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness, nonchè i rappresentanti dell’Ulster Unionist Party, Alliance Party e SDLP.
Il Segretario di Stato Shaun Woodward ha dichiarato: “E ‘stato uno scambio molto costruttivo di opinioni intorno al tavolo, i dirigenti di partito hanno parlato e contribuito con il loro parere alla sessione plenaria”.
“Il Primo Ministro e il Taoiseach sono ora nuovamente impegnati in colloqui con i rappresentanti dei partiti e vi è un vero spirito di cooperazione, credo che si tratti di una reale volontà di fare progressi”.
Brown e Cowen hanno assicurato la loro presenza finchè sarà necessario.
Nel pomeriggio il primo ministro inglese ha anche intrattenuto colloquio telefonico con il Segretario di Stato statunitense, Hillary Clinton.
Un progetto di accordo sembra suggerire il trasferimento dei poteri di polizia e giustizia agli inizi di maggio, prima delle elezioni generali, soddisfando così una delle richieste del Sinn Fein.
Per contro è stata lanciata una proposta anche per tentare di risolvere la questione dello scioglimento della Parades Commission (al centro della controversia con il DUP), suggerendo un procedimento basato sul modello della Parade Commission di Derry.
Peter Robinson, affiancato dalla ‘sostituta’ Arlene Foster, ribadisce la sua volontà e dal suo partito, di voler giungere a una conclusione positiva della disputa.
“Crediamo che i poteri debbano essere trasferiti in Irlanda del Nord, è il nostro impegno nei confronti del popolo dell’Irlanda del Nord”, ha affermato Robinson che ha ricordato come i partiti abbiano dovuto fare i conti con ‘il veleno delle questioni irrisolte’, bollando come ‘tossica’ la controversia sulla parate.
Sir Reg Empey, UUP, ha ribadito la sua convinzione che sia inopportuno “iniettare i poteri di polizia e giustizia nell’esecutivo finché non viene risolta la controversia”.
Posiviti i commenti provenienti da Downing Street. “Le discussioni con i partiti continuano ad essere franchi, ma c’è uno spirito di apertura e di un importante senso di condivisione nel lavorare per un accordo”.

Colloqui – Giorno n. 2

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Le reazioni della gente comune alla situazione politica

Vodpod videos no longer available.

All-party policing talks underway (U TV)
A Plenary session involving all parties is underway at Hillsborough Castle, as the British and Irish premiers vow to stay as long as it takes to broker a deal on the devolution of policing and justice.
The round table meeting chaired by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Taoiseach Brian Cowen brought together the Democratic Unionists, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance Party for the first time during the talks.
Afterwards Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said: “It was a very constructive exchange of views around the table, the party leaders spoke and contributed their views in a plenary session.
“The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach are now re-engaging in talks with representatives from the parties and there is a real spirit of co-operation, I think a real willingness to want to make progress.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen held separate meetings with Sinn Fein, the DUP and others parties in a bid to rescue the power-sharing government.
The draft paper put before the parties suggests a devolution date of early May, prior to the General Election, meeting one of Sinn Fein’s key requirements.
“We have delivered on our commitments. The DUP are in default,” Sinn Fein’s Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy said on Tuesday.
“The consequence of failure is that we don’t have a functioning executive. If we don’t have a functioning executive, we don’t have functioning institutions,” he said.
On the issue of parades, which has been a potential deal-breaker for the DUP, the proposal is for the Parades Commission to be replaced by a process based on the model of the Londonderry parades dispute.
“If it isn’t a good deal, whether the Prime Minister is here or not won’t make a difference to us”, Peter Robinson warned.
“For us to be able to sign up it has to be something that is satisfactory, that we can hold our heads up and look our electorate in the eye and say this is a good deal; this is a deal you should back.”
‘Commitment’
Flanked by acting First Minister Arlene Foster and Culture Minister Nelson at the gates of Hillsborough Castle, Mr Robinson said he wanted to see a “positive outcome.”
“We are up for the job, we are resolving the outstanding issues,” he said.
“We believe that the powers should be devolved to Northern Ireland, it is our manifesto commitment to the people of Northern Ireland.”
But he said the parties had to deal with “the poison of unresolved issues”, branding the parades dispute as “toxic.”
Downing Street said the Prime Minister remained determined to make progress.
“Discussions with the parties continue to be frank, but there is a spirit of openness and a shared sense of the importance of working towards an agreement,” Downing Street said.
Mr Brown also had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday afternoon.
UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said all party agreed in principle to devolution of policing and justice.
“We do not believe it is appropriate to inject policing and justice into the executive until it is fixed”, he warned nonetheless.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said no “vanity veto” should be used by the Sinn Fein and DUP leaderships.
“Instead of having completion of justice, you potentially have a complete mess,” he said.
He added: “In the past we have had exercises where deals and understandings and fudges were scrambled through. Sometimes those breakthroughs were only breakdowns waiting to happen.”
He defended the Parades Commission’s role in Londonderry.
“It is a hand rail – it didn’t have to be leaned on to be of use, it played a role simply by being there,” he said.