Devolving policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland cannot be held hostage to a resolution on controversial loyalist parades, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams warned today.
But Democratic Unionists accused him of living in “cloud cuckoo land” if he thought he could determine local outcomes for marches during the current round of intensive talks at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, to save the power-sharing administration from collapse.
There are less than 24 hours left before the Irish and British Governments publish proposals to break the stalemate following the intervention of Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown earlier this week to chair negotiations.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward returned to Hillsborough Castle today to chair talks aimed at breaking the deadlock on the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Executive.
Mr Cowen and Mr Brown left Northern Ireland yesterday evening having given the parties 48 hours to break the deadlock in talks and secure a political agreement.
Mr Adams said: “Anybody who thinks that the price of policing and justice is a walk down the Garvaghy Road (Drumcree) or through Ardoyne (north Belfast), it is just ridiculous.”
“Let’s deal with the issues sensibly, let’s do our best to make sure the outstanding matters of this agreement are implemented.”
If there is no deal Sinn Féin could walk out of the power-sharing government, triggering fresh elections.
The DUP has linked setting a date for transferring security powers from London to Belfast to fresh efforts to resolve flashpoint parades through nationalist areas.
Parades like Drumcree in Portadown, Co Armagh, have been barred by the Parades Commission from marching down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road. Residents have warned they won’t accept a package which allows a procession.
Mr Adams briefed party officers today ahead of a plenary session with other parties at Hillsborough. “Nothing is going to be sorted out if it is talked up as absolute. We still don’t have an agreement but it isn’t over until it is over,” he added.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) finance minister Sammy Wilson said his party was in the “mindset” to do a deal. He added they were capable of making a sustainable agreement which members could stand by.
“I would rather have a ‘Made in Ulster’ deal than something which is brought here and imposed on us, whether a suggestion or a proposal from London or Dublin,” he said. “As far as individual marches are concerned I don’t think that’s the job of negotiators,” he said. He added that required working at a local level.
“To think politicians guarantee outcomes I think is really living in cloud cuckoo land,” he added.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said there were papers being exchanged and people were focused on the issues. "I still think the parties can get there,” he added.
Speaking at a police college event for new PSNI recruits in Belfast today, President Mary McAleese urged both sides to broker a solution.
"We were reminded earlier this week of how real and present remain the difficulties of building [a] shared future," she said. "It is very much a work in the early stages of progress and requiring significant effort to move it to the next stage of development.
"But, with the readiness of stakeholders to make every effort to get to agreed resolutions and of the continued engagement of the British and Irish governments as guarantors, and with the express will of the people for peace, the future cannot be a slide back to the past but a step forward, a step up to a dynamic
and forward-looking Northern Ireland."
Following the failure of Mr Cowen and Mr Brown to secure a deal between the parties, the pressure is now on DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister and chief negotiator Martin McGuinness to decide by tomorrow whether to agree their own proposals or accept the governments’ draft ones.
After spending two nights and three days with little sleep at Hillsborough Castle, Mr Cowena and Mr Brown said that if the parties could not agree a way forward by tomorrow, they would publish their own “specific” proposals for an agreement.
If in turn the British-Irish blueprint is rejected, it seems virtually certain that the Northern Executive and Assembly will collapse and Assembly elections will be called.
“The importance of these decisions for the future of Northern Ireland cannot be underestimated,” said Mr Brown.
The British and Irish leaders set a May date for transferring policing and justice powers to the Northern Executive – which is Sinn Féin’s key demand – while pledging to “enhance the existing framework” for dealing with contentious parades – the DUP’s chief requirement.
The proposals, which are not yet fully detailed, do not include the actual abolition of the Parades Commission, it is understood, but rather “enhanced” mechanisms for addressing the issue.
During their press conference, Mr Brown described the proposals as “reasonable” a total of 10 times.
“We look forward to receiving an update on progress from the First and Deputy First Ministers on Friday,” Mr Cowen and Mr Brown said in their joint statement. “If it proves impossible for the parties to resolve the outstanding issues, we are prepared to bring forward our specific proposals at that point for wider debate and discussion.”
These proposals would also address such issues as the Irish language, tackling sectarianism and North-South relations. They warned that if there was no agreement, the £800 million Mr Brown has pledged to support the setting up of a Department of Justice would be withdrawn.
Dublin and London believe this is a key moment when Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness must decide whether they have the ability and the confidence to act in a unified and decisive fashion without the supports of the British and Irish leaders.