Mowlam says small number of NI civil servants are trying to sabotage peace

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, has suggested that a tiny minority of civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) are leaking sensitive British government documents in order to try to destabilise the peace process. Dr Mowlam told the New Statesman that while 99 per cent of civil servants were "on side" there were nonetheless some who were deliberately acting to undermine the peace process.

She referred to the leaking last year of a paper which created the suspicion that the British government had planned long in advance to allow the Drumcree Orangemen to parade on the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

She also pointed to a more recent leak of information about two Scots Guards who are seeking release from life sentences they are serving for murder.

The Northern Secretary said that the leaks were damaging in themselves and also damaging in terms of relations with civil servants.

"You get wary. You've no idea where it's coming from, so it could be anyone you are dealing with", she added.

Dr Mowlam said that she tended to believe that the leaks were designed to undermine the peace process rather than specifically to damage her personally.

"I'm pretty sure it's over policy. If they wanted to make life difficult for me, they would go for me.

"But what's been leaked destabilises the process rather than me. But we'll keep going. Ninety-nine per cent are on our side."

In the interview she praised the "courage" of the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Mr David Trimble, for engaging in the talks. She said that the Sinn Fein delegation to the talks was "accommodating, willing to talk and to understand the rules". She added: "I have been impressed. In the long term, what their ultimate goal is I can't say. But in the talks there has been an effort to make them work. That observation must be counterbalanced by uncertainty over their objective."

Regarding her "extrovert style", Dr Mowlam said: "There's nothing I can do about being me." She believed that her direct approach and her drive and energy would ensure that momentum was maintained at the talks.

"The downside is that my style is difficult for some men to handle. I've read that some unionists say I enjoy `lovey-dovey terrorist huggings'. Well, I've never knowingly hugged a terrorist in my life. But in the end I am what I am. It's me."

Meanwhile, Mr Sean Farren, a member of the SDLP talks team, accused unionist negotiators of a "negativism" which could jeopardise the prospects of a historic and comprehensive settlement. "There must be an immediate change of approach if progress is to be made", he told a meeting of SDLP members in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.

"The UUP daily display a childish pettiness, storming out of meetings, directing insults at the Irish Government's delegates, refusing to answer or directly comment on contributions from Sinn Fein and, above all, being unwilling to advance any serious proposals", Mr Farren said.

The General Board of the Presbyterian Church yesterday again urged all parties to engage in the talks process.

The Presbyterian Moderator, Dr Sam Hutchinson, said that everyone, not just politicians, would have to make an effort to achieve a lasting peace.

An Irish Government spokesman declined to comment on the interview with Dr Mowlam. The fact that the leaks referred to by Dr Mowlam had taken place was well-known, according to Government sources, and the Government was reluctant to comment on views expressed by the Northern Secretary on leaks which occurred in her own system.