Basque conflict could be solved in year - Fr Reid

The Irish priest involved in the talks with the Basque terrorist group Eta said today the Spanish/Basque conflict could be solved within 18 months.

Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Redemptorist priest Fr Alec Reid said that the next objective [after the Eta ceasefire last month] was to get all parties involved in the conflict around a conference table.

Fr Reid said although the peace process is only beginning he said that he hoped decisions on how to set up the round table talks will conclude by June.

The 74-year-old, who recently acted as a witness to the decommissioning of IRA weapons, said: "I believe if they do that it will take them a year to 18 months to reach an agreement".

Fr Reid acknowledged he found it difficult to bring people together from across the political spectrum in Spain. "Eta isn't the problem," he said.

"The problem is you don't have a culture of dialogue and therefore of democracy. For them [Spaniards], dialogue is me trying to persuade you that I'm right."

But he said he was confident the right-wing Popular Party, which has demanded further concessions from Eta as a prerequisite for peace talks, would eventually be persuaded to join other political parties at the negotiating table.