Durkan under pressure to reject plan for 'shadow' role

The SDLP leader and North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Mark Durkan, is reportedly under pressure from Dublin to resist the proposal…

The SDLP leader and North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Mark Durkan, is reportedly under pressure from Dublin to resist the proposal that he and Mr David Trimble provide a form of "shadow administration" following suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The NI Secretary of State, Dr John Reid, is set to sign the Order suspending the Stormont Assembly and Executive this morning, ushering in another period of direct rule from Westminster with effect from midnight tonight.

The possibility arose last week that the outgoing First and Deputy First Ministers might remain in a "shadow" role to advise and assist direct-rule ministers and to ensure "continuity of policy" following the return to Westminster of the powers of the devolved administration.

Advocates of the plan also suggested it would serve as a strong signal of the British government's determination to resolve the current political crisis and see the Executive reinstated ahead of the scheduled Assembly elections next May.

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The issue was discussed last week inside Number 10 Downing Street during talks between the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr Trimble, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and his officials.

Mr Trimble also discussed the idea during separate talks with Mr Durkan.

It is understood both men were agreed "in principle", while the details and mechanics of such an arrangement were still to be worked through.

However it was claimed last night that Mr Durkan had come under strong pressure from officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs during weekend discussions to reject any "shadow" role. Sources say Dublin believes such an arrangement would suit Mr Trimble and might be a means of Sinn Féin "exclusion by another means".

There also appears to be some resistance to the idea inside the Northern Ireland Office, prompting one observer last night to quip: "Suddenly it seems they don't want a unionist about the place."

However, contrary to a report in one Belfast newspaper, the idea of some ongoing role for Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan has not been "dismissed" by the NIO or by Downing Street.

British sources last night told The Irish Times that, while they were reluctant to formalise any arrangement in a way which suggested they were preparing for a lengthy suspension of the devolved structures - the details of "some sort of consultative role" for the outgoing First and Deputy First Ministers are the subject of ongoing consideration and discussion.

It is apparently not envisaged that they would be known as First and Deputy First Ministers-designate.

Senior Whitehall sources have also strongly rejected suggestions, which they suspect emanate from a section of the SDLP, that Irish ministers will somehow share responsibility for governing Northern Ireland following the suspension of the Assembly and Executive.

While acknowledging the key role of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference as the vehicle for bilateral consultation and co-operation, London is making it clear there will be no diminution of British sovereignty over Northern Ireland as a result of today's developments.

Asked specifically if direct rule ministers might replace the suspended Stormont ministers on the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC), the sources said: "That's not going to happen."

During their meeting in Dublin last Friday, Mr Trimble warned the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, against such a move.

The UUP leader insists the NSMC derives its moral and political authority from the Northern Ireland Assembly and that any attempt to bypass the need for ministers representing a functioning Executive could have serious consequences for any prospect of rescuing the Belfast Agreement.

Some of Mr Trimble's advisers appear privately less worried about such a possibility, arguing that the current media "spin' about some form of London/Dublin "joint authority" is actually intended to cover Dublin embarrassment about what one called "this [the suspension] further clear exercise of Britain's sovereign power." Following Mr Peter Mandelson's suspension of the Executive in February 2000 there were nationalist claims that Mr Blair had been forced to agree he would never again suspend the institutions of government.