THE PROSPECTS of an imminent deal to break the political deadlock in Northern Ireland have receded after Taoiseach Brian Cowen and British prime minister Gordon Brown put off plans to travel to Hillsborough, Co Down last night. The two leaders cleared part of their diaries and were on standby to travel to Hillsborough Castle yesterday to formally endorse a deal which they were hoping that the Northern parties, but particularly the DUP and Sinn Féin, would conclude.
However, late last night it was apparent that there would be no agreement between Sinn Féin and the DUP on the key issues of policing and justice and parading, that would meet the two-day deadline that Mr Cowen and Mr Brown set for the parties at Hillsborough Castle on Wednesday.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams told reporters outside the castle late last night that the talks were “at a sensitive and defining” point.
“Hopefully we will get the business done in the terms that are required,” he added.
Indicating that talks would continue through the night and possibly well into this morning, Mr Adams added: “We will keep at it. The fact that we are here and working shows we do think there is a chance.”
A senior DUP source last night said that the parties continued to address the main issues.
“There is still a long way to go before we will be at a point where we will be putting our name to anything; there is still a fair amount of work to be done.
“We certainly won’t be walking away from anything,” he added.
The previous day’s negotiations had only concluded at 5am yesterday.
Mr Cowen and Mr Brown were in very regular contact over Thursday and Friday, also communicating respectively with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward, who are jointly chairing the Hillsborough talks.
Mr Cowen and Mr Brown said on Wednesday that they would give the local parties until yesterday to forge a deal but if they could not reach agreement, the two leaders would then publish their own proposals for ending the deadlock.
Mr Cowen and Mr Brown postponed bringing forward their own blueprint for agreement.
They were prepared to allow the parties some more time to test whether they might yet reach agreement, said a spokesman for Mr Cowen.
The main issues blocking the agreement remained a date for transferring policing and justice powers to the Northern Executive and finding “enhanced” mechanisms for dealing with contentious parades.
DUP leader Peter Robinson said that parties needed to “stretch themselves” if there were to be a deal.
Mr Robinson said the DUP was prepared to remain at the negotiations in order to strike a deal.
He believed the parties still “have the opportunity to create a new beginning for politics in Northern Ireland”.
The Sinn Féin leadership broke from the talks to hold a meeting of senior party officers yesterday afternoon.
There were reports of internal Sinn Féin divisions over how to proceed in the negotiations but these reports were denied by Sinn Féin.
The mood of the talks fluctuated throughout the day, with at various times various political sources saying there were good prospects of a deal and at other times sources saying the chances of agreement were receding.
Alliance leader David Ford said the talks tensions reminded him of the negotiations leading to the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
“It’s like Good Friday deja vu,” he added.