THERE seemed no prospect of further political progress in the North this side of a British general election, unless one or other side moved to break the deadlock, the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said last night.
In a lecture to the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in New Delhi, he expressed the view that the election might not take place until May. That would be followed by the Orange marching season, which had been a source of great turbulence, particularly over the last two summers.
"The danger now is of a prolonged political vacuum with a gradual slide back into full scale violence, which whether by design or good fortune has so far been avoided," he said.
Mr Ahern, who is on an official visit to India this week, said there would be a general election in Ireland later this year, perhaps sooner rather than later.
Informing his audience of the grassroots nature of Irish democracy, he said politicians were not allowed either by the media or the public to get above themselves. The more authoritarian ethos of an earlier generation and a more closed society was gone.