Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

Asked what would happen in Northern Ireland, if the Assembly would be suspended, the PMOS said no, what the Prime Minister had said this morning was that while there was confusion over what happened this morning there is not confusion about the bottom line. The bottom line is this that if the parties live up to their commitments on policing and power sharing, if the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein emerge as the two largest parties after the election then the people of Northern Ireland now know who their first and deputy first ministers will be, and that would be Dr. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness. In effect we know now who will be first and deputy first ministers, and that allows us to proceed.

As the Prime Minister has said, we have to sort out in the Programme for Government Committee the issues that need to be resolved and we have to see Sinn Fein support the Police Service of Northern Ireland. As we know who would be First and Deputy First Ministers in effect we regard them as being designated, and therefore we can now go forward.

Asked how the bottom line had been met as Dr. Paisley did not appear to be ready to do what the PMOS had suggested, the PMOS said that today was not the day for final decisions; today was a day for the Assembly to come back together and the bottom line after today was always going to be, do the people of Northern Ireland know that if Sinn Fein support the police, and if the DUP support power sharing then who will be First and Deputy First ministers, if they are representatives of the largest parties. We know that as a result of today. We accept that, as the Prime Minister has said, that there was confusion, but the bottom line was we now know what will happen if the parties live up to their commitments.

Both parties have indicated that they support the St. Andrew’s Agreement. If you read the St. Andrew’s Agreement it is very, very clear that it can only go forward on the basis of power sharing and support for the police; so therefore the conclusion that we draw is, despite the difficulties which are all too obvious this morning, we know what the outcome would be if the parties live up to their commitments, and we believe that that is the basis for going forward.

The Prime Minister also said in his statement at Downing Street that what he had been struck by in the last few weeks, as difficult as they have been, is the determination on both sides to move forward. Both sides still have to deal with the legacy of the past, and the legacy of the past is a deep mistrust of the motives of each other and we have to resolve that, but, there is a basis for going forward.

Asked, as what he had said appeared to be hypothetical, if the Prime Minister had spoken privately to Dr. Paisley, or he had made some private assurance to the Prime Minister which is different to what he had said in public, the PMOS said no, and asked the reporter to read what Dr. Paisley had said in the round, what he had said in the round, and what he had said on the floor of the House was that his party is prepared to move forward on the basis of Sinn Fein supporting the police. He also said that so far Sinn Fein had not done so. We accept that and we agree that if there is not support for the police then it will not move forward. Equally however we accept that if there is not power sharing then it will not move forward, but we still believe that, if you look at what people say in the round, there is a basis for moving forward.

Asked what exactly the Prime Minister was basing his assumption on who will be First and Deputy First Ministers on, was it statements today in the Assembly or was it intuition, the PMOS said that it was the fact that Dr. Paisley stood up as the leader of his party in the Assembly and on the floor of the House and said that if Sinn Fein support the police then he would be prepared to forward on that basis and share power with Sinn Fein. On the basis of that as leader of his party he will be First Minister. We accept that there is confusion but the bottom line has been met. Asked, as it was illogical as Martin McGuiness had not been nominated by Sinn Fein and he was their deputy, for the PMOS to say the bottom line had been met, the PMOS said that Martin McGuiness had said that he was prepared, and said so on the floor of the Assembly, to serve as deputy first minister.

Asked what should be read into future deadlines, and what they now meant as 24th November had ceased to be a deadline, the PMOS said that we would proceed on the basis that there will be an election on 7th March 2007 and that by 26th March 2007 there will be an Executive. There will not be if people do not live up to their commitments of power sharing and policing. Asked if during the interim period if there would be designated First and Deputy First ministers and if they would be expected to take up any duties, the PMOS said that no, taking up duties had not been in the St. Andrew’s Agreement. Asked if it mattered that no-one had been nominated in practical terms, the PMOS said in practical terms it had not been the intention that today was the day for final decisions.

Asked if those at the Assembly would stop being paid, the PMOS said no, that we would go forward on the basis that these matters would be resolved in the Programme for Government Committee and Sinn Fein also then have to indicate its support for the police service. Asked if that meant they would stop being paid in March 2007, the PMOS said that if by March 2007 we do not have a way forward then there would be dissolution. The PMOS also said that at any point the power was there to dissolve the Assembly if the process was not going forward.

Asked if the transitional Assembly was due to be dissolved at the end of January 2007, the PMOS said it would be to prepare for the elections. Asked then if that meant they would not be paid after the end of January the PMOS asked the reporter to check with the Northern Ireland Office to what point they would be paid up to. At this stage they continued to be paid and they continued their role in the Programme for Government Committee.

Asked then what was to be made of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s comment in the House of Commons, when the legislation was going through, that if all parties did not indicate or nominate a first and deputy first minister that he could not see any point in going further with the process, the PMOS said that the key judgement today is, and the Taoiseach had, in effect said this, was do you believe that there is a basis for going forward, do you believe in the end that people are serious, if people live up to their commitments to go forward. Would Sinn Fein live up to its commitments on policing if the DUP are prepared to share power, and, on the other side, are the DUP prepared to share power if Sinn Fein support the police? And we still believe that the answer is yes.

Asked what involvement the Prime Minister had before he left for Scotland, was he making telephone calls to the parties, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had been closely involved and had talked to all sides and indeed he had confirmed such in his statement that he had talked to Gerry Adams and to Dr. Paisley as well as the Taoiseach after the events this morning.

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» Friday, November 24, 2006

Northern Ireland

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