Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

» Monday, March 12, 2007

Northern Ireland

Asked for the Prime Minister’s view on Ian Paisley’s comments after the election, the PMOS replied that the basis on which the election was called was very firmly set out by the two Prime Ministers when they called the election in Downing Street. Everyone knew that that basis was that a decision would be made to form a Government, or not, by 26 March. All the evidence we had from the doorstep, backed up by the Belfast Telegraph poll suggested that the vast majority of the population wanted the Government to go ahead, and wanted that Government to deal first and foremost with domestic issues such as water rates, health, education and the economy. That therefore was the backdrop, and apart from that, the legislation said quite clearly that if there could not be a Government by 26 March, then the Assembly would be dissolved. It would take a fresh election to recall any assembly. The PMOS said that nobody who knew anything about the situation on the ground in Northern Ireland thought that the people of Northern Ireland wanted to go to the polls for the 35 time since the 1970s.

Asked if there would be any further deadline extensions, the PMOS said that the 26^th March was a fact.

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