An impatient British Prime Minister Tony Blair Thursday warned that Northern Ireland's political parties had their last chance to reach a compromise as he began three days of intensive talks to revive the peace process and rescue the Good Friday agreement.
Strolling on to the croquet lawn at Leeds Castle, in Kent, southeastern England, with Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, Blair said this weekend was "the moment of decision" for Northern Ireland as the parties attempt to hammer out the deal of all deals to restore devolution.
Talking tough after six years of repair jobs, talks and failed opportunities that have left Northern Ireland ruled from Westminster, Blair has threatened to dissolve the Stormont assembly if no progress is made. He said he did not want another set of elongated negotiations.
"I know it must be frustrating for the people of Northern Ireland ... and it is frustrating for us too because we have been through these issues many times and they haven't changed, but now is the time we have got to decide it."
The prime minister said there must be a definitive end to paramilitarism "of whatever kind."
The future of the IRA is central to negotiations.
Unionists refuse to move until the republican movement agrees to wind up and leave the stage, ending for good what they see as a republican strategy of the Armalite in one hand and the ballot box in the other.
Blair said it was a test of the will and leadership of Northern Ireland politicians to listen to their voters' "yearning" for a lasting peace. Ahern said he wanted devolution, not just "a parking spot on the way."
If the peace process is to move forward, the governments must achieve a once-unthinkable arrangement in which Ian Paisley's hardline Democratic Unionist party (DUP) sits down in government with Sinn Fein, the largest nationalist party.
But the DUP will not negotiate directly with Sinn Fein until the IRA is totally disbanded.
One senior Ulster Unionist inside the talks said discussions were "focused" and could continue into the night at the romantic castle which he said was like being "stuck in a gilded cage." The talks must end today when a wedding party is booked at the castle.
The political dynamic has changed completely since Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangement fell apart two years ago and Stormont was suspended amid allegations of an IRA spy ring.
The DUP and Sinn Fein are now the biggest parties in Northern Ireland after sweeping aside the middle ground at the assembly elections in November.
The DUP, which seeks to rewrite the Good Friday agreement, has previously stood outside talks.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was