Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said he will recommend at today's ardchomhairle meeting in Dublin that the special ardfheis on policing should proceed as planned, although on a "different basis" than originally decided at the end of December, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
Mr Adams declined to say what he meant by "different basis" while senior London, Dublin and DUP sources stressed that any absence of clarity in relation to "on the ground" Sinn Féin support for the PSNI was likely to derail the political process.
Asked would the motion now be conditional or involve Sinn Féin possibly refusing to sit on the policing board or some other qualification, Mr Adams said: "My intention in all of this is to make as much progress as possible."
Outlining his stance for the archomhairle meeting this afternoon, Mr Adams said: "My approach would be to say, 'Let's look at this in the round. The basis has been changed for the ardfheis motion but the need to call the ardfheis remains. Let's find if we can establish another basis on which to proceed.' "
A dispute between Mr Adams and the Rev Ian Paisley yesterday over whether or not during the Christmas negotiations the DUP leader made specific commitments on powersharing and the transfer of policing powers triggered anxiety that the Sinn Féin president would today urge the cancellation of the ardfheis. Last night, however, Mr Adams said he wants the ardfheis to take place this month and that he hopes the ardchomhairle will not reverse its December 29th decision calling the ardfheis. "This is the right thing to do. This is the right time to do it," he said.
Mr Adams accused the DUP of altering the basis on which the ardchomhairle recommended the ardfheis. The December motion, which has yet to be formally published, urged support for the police, but was based particularly on required commitments from the DUP to accept powersharing by the St Andrews deadline of March 26th and the devolution of policing powers by the target date of May.
Mr Adams accused Dr Paisley of creating a "political crisis" by allegedly reneging on a commitment to issue a form of words in his New Year's Day statement addressing these issues. This wording was agreed with the DUP and Sinn Féin through Downing Street and an "independent channel", according to the Sinn Féin president.
The omitted words of Dr Paisley, said Mr Adams, were: "The DUP has always maintained that it will support devolution of policing and justice if there is sufficient confidence across the community. The words needed are those contained in the ardchomhairle motion. Provided Sinn Féin translate into action the commitments contained in that motion, the DUP will accept devolution of policing and justice in the timeframe set out in the St Andrews Agreement or even before that date."
Dr Paisley yesterday denied he ever made such a commitment. In a relatively restrained response he said Mr Adams's accusation was a "diversion from what is the right thing to do in supporting the police, the courts and the rule of law". He added that he was "not in the business of saying one thing in private and another in public".
A senior DUP source said whatever Mr Adams put to the ardchomhairle today needed to be clearcut. "Anything short of that won't work," he said, a view generally held by the British and Irish governments.
Ahead of this critical ardchomhairle meeting there was evidence of further political choreography yesterday.
Following on British prime minister Tony Blair's assurances to Sinn Féin earlier this week that MI5 would be removed from civic policing, PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said that he does not intend to use plastic bullets in crowd control in the future and that some of the 14 people killed by plastic bullets during the Troubles were innocent.