Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

When asked if there was to be any statement on Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that as events were unfolding in Belfast as he spoke, it would be better to see where things went. This was probably a moment that everyone would remember. The PMOS said that the whole point of the peace process had been to get to the stage where Northern Ireland politicians met and decided the future of Northern Ireland. If we had reached that point, the significance of it could not be understated.

Asked if the Prime Minister would say anything, the PMOS replied that if the meeting between Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley took place, then the Prime Minister would speak.

Asked if emergency legislation would be required, the PMOS said that it all depended on the outcome of the meeting. People should be clear; if there was a consensus about the way forward, the British Government was not going to stand in the way of that consensus. The important thing was, however, was that there had to be an agreed way forward. If that was in prospect, then we would do everything we could to comply with that. We had to get the meeting over and done with first, however.

Asked about John Reid’s contribution to the negotiations, and did the Prime Minister ask Dr. Reid to "lend a hand", the PMOS replied that all sorts of people had all sorts of contacts, but the PMOS said that he would not go down that road.

Put that Peter Hain had said that today was the absolute deadline, but what would happen if it did get extended to May, the PMOS replied that what was important was that process and outcome were distinguished from each other. The deadline was always designed to get us to the point where there was a power sharing executive. If there was a first meeting between Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness, then that was an outcome that few people would have predicted. If there was an agreement about the way forward, and if that was achievable after today’s meeting, then that superseded everything. What we had to do, however, was take it step by step; we had to have the meeting and see what its outcome was before deciding a way forward.

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» Monday, March 26, 2007

Northern Ireland

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