Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

Asked for further information regarding the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Taoiseach this morning, the PMOS replied that they reviewed what was the calmest, most trouble-free summer since pre-1970. This was illustrated by the fact that on 12 July, it had been policed by normal police, rather than the army, in Belfast, so there had been no soldiers on the streets. We now looked forward to early October and the publication of the IMC report on paramilitary activity, but they had already indicated that they believed the IRA was living up to its commitments, but we should see what it said in detail later.

The PMOS said that we would then be moving into a phase of intensive discussions, and we would have more to say before too long about how we were going to handle those discussions. This was very much a preparatory meeting for what was going to be a very intensive period. At the end of the day, it will be the parties that would make up their minds, but we were very clear that the 24th November deadline stuck, and that we believed for all kinds of reasons, that it would be very difficult to see how progress could be made after that if we did not meet that deadline.

Asked if that was the deadline for the restoration for devolved government, the PMOS said that it was, but it was also the deadline for the parties to agree a way forward. The reason for that was it was not an arbitrary deadline, but rather, it was a realistic assessment of how difficult it would be to make progress after that, given the political situation in the Irish Republic, where they had an election next year.

Asked if the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister discussed what they intended to do between now and the publication of the IMC report, the PMOS replied that people would not have to wait too long, in that it would be right at the start of next month. Obviously, there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes with officials, and also as people saw this week, with Ian Paisley in No10, as well as private meetings with the parties. However, the main point to get across was that we had approached this in a very methodical way, and at the end of the day, it would be for the parties to decide, but we still believed that they did have to decide by 24th November.

Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to meet with the leaders of all the parties before the IMC report, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had met with Ian Paisley this week, and the PMOS said that he had no doubt at all that we would be in touch with other parties as well.

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» Friday, September 15, 2006

Northern Ireland

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