The Democratic Unionist Party will not be rushed into power-sharing deal, chairman Lord Morrow insisted today.
As Northern Ireland's politicians prepared for talks next month in Scotland aimed at restoring power sharing, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said no one in his party believed Sinn Féin would be able to meet its obligations by the deadline of November 24th if republicans continued at their present pace.
"What matters is that the republican movement meets the requirements of democracy. Deeds and not deadlines will lead to devolution," Lord Morrow said.
He also said the DUP would not make the mistakes the UUP had made in the past. "The policy of the UUP has been roundly rejected by the unionist electorate. The unionist community does not want to see a repeat of the errors of the UUP.
"Our steadfast negotiating style has yielded much more from the republican movement than the weak, pushover approach of the UUP. We will hold out for nothing short of a complete end to all republican illegality and we are right to do so," he added.
Earlier this year, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair set a November 24th as the deadline for a restoration seal; otherwise an alternative plan would see MLAs lose salaries and other funding withdrawn. Both men will be involved at the St Andrew's talks.
They are hoping a report next week by the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission will provide the right mood music for the talks by confirming the IRA has significantly moved to end criminal and paramilitary activity.
PA