A senior Ulster Unionist negotiator has said that his party will not "trade" for any changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. Mr Reg Empey said changes in the Constitution should be separate from the rest of the negotiations. He also said that unionists could not accept North-South arrangements currently being proposed, and that the Government and the SDLP were making demands the UUP could not meet.
"Proposals currently being floated effectively create an all-Ireland body within certain defined areas of responsibility," Mr Empey said yesterday. It was not a cross-Border body that was being proposed, but an All-Ireland body with political authority.
"No matter what way you look at it, that is an embryonic all-Ireland government," Mr Empey added. He said that while the Government had expressed a willingness over the years to change the territorial claim, by demanding such a body it was effectively asking unionists "to partially implement Articles 2 and 3".
Earlier the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said in Belfast that the Government would advocate a change in the Constitution only if there was a North-South dimension to an agreement. She said Articles 2 and 3 could be redrafted only "in the context of a political settlement".
They would be redrafted, she said, "to reflect the aspiration to Irish unity, which the vast majority of people in the Republic of Ireland aspire to, rather than the territorial claim."
The people of the Republic would not support a move to change Articles 2 and 3 unilaterally, she said.
The Government wanted to ensure that nationalists in the North had their aspiration reflected in whatever political agreement was reached. "In the absence of a North-South dimension, we would not be prepared to advocate a change in Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution unilaterally."
Mr Empey said he had not seen any wording of a proposed change in the Constitution.
"Our view is Articles 2 and 3 shouldn't be there in the first place . . . So we see that as an issue that should be resolved by them [the Government] and separate from the rest of the negotiations. We do not propose to trade for Articles 2 and 3," he added. The UUP did not see constitutional change as a subject for trading.
He also accused the British and Irish governments of exaggerating the amount of progress being made at the talks. He believed a referendum on any settlement would be held on May 22nd.
Earlier the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said she had received no evidence that loyalist or republican groups represented at the talks were involved in recent violence. She believed there was "a complete, unqualified and unequivocal IRA ceasefire that continues to be observed."
Sinn Fein sources indicated that it was unlikely that either Mr Gerry Adams or Mr Martin McGuinness would return to the talks on Monday or Tuesday, ahead of their planned meeting with the British Prime Minister on Thursday. But other party representatives might attend.