Ahern 'taking Paisley line' over coalition with Sinn Fein

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was "taking the Paisley line" in his refusal to form a government with Sinn Féin after the general election…

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was "taking the Paisley line" in his refusal to form a government with Sinn Féin after the general election, the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said yesterday.

Emerging from nearly an hour of talks with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at Downing Street, Dr Paisley said it was wrong to criticise his party for its reluctance to sit in government with Sinn Féin when Mr Ahern had also expressed his refusal to do so.

"I told the Prime Minister that you can't expect us to have them in government when your friend Ahern takes the Paisley line," Dr Paisley said.

Expressing doubts about the credibility of an imminent act of IRA decommissioning, Dr Paisley, who was accompanied by the DUP party chairman, Mr Morris Morrow, said it would simply be a stunt aimed at the forthcoming election in Ireland.

READ MORE

"There will not be decommissioning, but there will be, I think, another event which will be called decommissioning," Dr Paisley said.

"I don't think anybody believes the last event did anything. It certainly didn't do anything to stop the killings and the activities of the IRA."

Dr Paisley again declared his party's opposition to plans for an amnesty for paramilitary fugitives or "on the runs" during his talks with Mr Blair and he described the break-in at the Castlereagh police station earlier this month as "an attempt to discredit Special Branch to facilitate Sinn Féin".

Earlier, the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Des Browne, said the cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry to the Northern Ireland Office was set to rise by £20 million sterling because of legal fees and transferring the inquiry to London.