Sinn Féin and DUP challenged to show results of talks

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has challenged the DUP and Sinn Féin to say what progress has been made in talks so the public can see if a reasonable deal is on offer.

He made his call as Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams insisted his party is "up for" an agreement with the DUP to reinstate the Northern Executive and Assembly.

The British government has set Monday as the latest deadline for the DUP and Sinn Féin to break the deadlock, although that time limit could stretch into later next week or even into the following week.

But after Monday, and in the continued absence of an Executive, the Northern Secretary James Brokenshire must begin legislating in Westminster for a budget for Northern Ireland, which Sinn Féin is likely to view as a retrograde step towards British direct rule.

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Moreover, in mid to late November Sinn Féin and the DUP respectively are holding their annual conferences, which all political protagonists realise is not a propitious time for deal-making.

While there is little optimism both the DUP and Sinn Féin are continuing to talk at Stormont.

In Armagh on Thursday night Mr Adams struck a neutral note on the prospects of a deal in the coming days.

He said unionists must recognise they can only be in political office on the basis of a “modern political dispensation bedded in equality and fairness”.

“In other words they have to treat the rest of us as equals and we have to treat them as equals. Is the DUP leadership up for this? We will know soon enough. Sinn Féin certainly is,” he said.

He added that the challenges at the centre of the impasse would only be solved by Sinn Féin and the DUP working together.

However, Mr Eastwood queried the bona fides of the DUP and Sinn Féin. “I would be very surprised if after the intense negotiations that have been going on for eight or nine months that they were not close enough to a deal that they could sell and that would be seen as real change,” he said.

“It seems strange and it leads people to question their motives,” he added. “We were told for months they were close to a deal. Let’s see how close they were. Let’s see what the gaps were. Tell everybody the full truth, produce the papers, show us where we got to and let the public decide.

“In negotiations you have to maximise your position but you rarely get everything that you want. It’s now time for the two parties to tell us how far they got,” he said.

Mr Eastwood said it would be poor negotiating by Sinn Féin if the end result was direct rule from Westminster where “the DUP would have the whip” due to the fact it is propping up Theresa May’s government.

“The only outcome is that the British government will take more power, a British government that is held to ransom by the DUP.”