PETER ROBINSON and Martin McGuinness engaged in charge and counter-charge after separately meeting British prime minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street in another attempt to resolve differences over the devolution of policing and justice powers.
Mr McGuinness said it was “absolutely preposterous” of Mr Robinson to seek to make parading an additional precondition for the transfer of policing powers. He also warned of a “very serious situation” if there was no movement before Christmas.
Mr Robinson accused Sinn Féin of “huffing” and refusing to discuss the issue with the DUP.
The British and Irish governments believed that Mr Robinson’s speech at his party’s annual conference on Saturday indicated a potential willingness on the DUP leader’s part to make a move on policing and justice before or shortly after Christmas.
And while one official source indicated that the talks Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness separately held with Mr Brown inside Downing Street yesterday were “productive”, the wrangling outside Number 10 after the meeting pointed to continuing tensions and divisions between the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
Mr Robinson, after his meeting, repeated that he was holding to his additional demand that parading must be resolved before he would move on policing.
He subsequently told the House of Commons that parading – which he has linked to community confidence – must be resolved before he would move on policing.
This was interpreted by both Dublin and Sinn Féin as an additional demand to his original preconditions, while London also had concerns at the slow pace of movement on policing and justice, particularly after Mr Brown promised up to £1 billion to support the transfer of justice powers to the Northern Executive.
Mr Robinson said that identifying a future justice minister, the decision-making processes that would apply relating to the justice department, and parading must be resolved “before policing and justice discussions could be satisfactorily concluded”.
Mr Robinson said he made clear to Mr Brown that he needed to tell Sinn Féin to “get serious” and deal with the outstanding matters. Sinn Féin was engaging in “continued media rhetoric” on the issue.
“It is both irresponsible and unacceptable for Sinn Féin to be chanting publicly for a date for the devolution of policing and justice powers while at the same time refusing to meet and resolve the outstanding issues,” he said.
Mr McGuinness described Mr Robinson’s comments as a “fabrication”. He said the First Minister was engaging in game-playing and that Sinn Féin was always ready to talk to the DUP. If a date for devolution of policing was not announced before Christmas it would “be a very serious situation”, he added.
“I think it is absolutely preposterous for anybody to be making a demand that is effectively a demand on behalf of the Orange Order for the abolition of the Parades Commission. That is a huge mistake,” said Mr McGuinness.