THE TRANSFER of justice powers and dealing with controversial parades were linked issues that “dogged” devolution and both had to be addressed, DUP leader Peter Robinson said.
In his first press conference in more than a month that was not directly related to controversies linked to his wife, Mr Robinson was at pains to present a moderate tone.
Justice devolution was a DUP goal, but parading was a “toxic” issue that had the capacity to disrupt the Stormont institutions.
He sounded a conciliatory note by praising the other Stormont parties for investing “a very considerable amount in the process”.
He said the people of Northern Ireland wanted to look to an era “where we can share a future together”.
“That’s the mission that my colleagues and I are on. We want to see a positive outcome. We are in the business of attempting to resolve outstanding issues.”
He admitted the system of government at Stormont was “difficult to operate” and its problems were complicated “by the poison of unresolved issues”.
“We are up for the job of solving those unresolved issues. The devolution of policing and justice does not instil any fear in the DUP. We believe that the powers should be devolved to Northern Ireland.”
But he said his party was also committed to resolving other issues including “the toxic issue of the confrontations there have been surrounding a number of parades”. He said remarkable progress had been made, a fact that those pointing to current difficulties overlooked, he said.
“At the heart of this there are two issues that we need to tackle, one of those directly involved policing and justice. This isn’t a party political quibble, this is a critical factor. Policing and justice is a life-and-death issue. It touches every citizen in our community, therefore we need to be sure that in the devolution of powers relating to justice they are going to be dealt with in a manner that can ensure that everybody is going to be dealt with fairly, that we can take decisions, that we are not going to have decisions blocked, that we are not going to have decisions that cannot be taken.
“You cannot have a dysfunctional justice department – that is a critical matter for us. And we are not there yet in terms of being satisfied.”
The other issue was parading. He believed it was not proper for one party’s priority policy issue not to move at the same time as another party’s.
The DUP leader reaffirmed he was at Hillsborough to negotiate an agreement, adding “we fear no date” for the transfer of justice powers. Focusing on parades, Mr Robinson cited the example of parades resolution in Derry.
“People who have standing in the community and in the business community along with those who have stakeholder interests either in parades or in opposing parades have got together and were able to resolve those issues. As our society matures we will be better able to deal with those sort of issues, so that there is respect for the diverse culture that we have.
“That’s what we are trying to engender, local involvement, local engagement and a respect and tolerance for each other’s positions.”
The DUP leader added that the positions of the other parties were also important. Community confidence, the yardstick by which his party insists it measures Northern Ireland’s readiness to assume control of justice, must include all the other Assembly parties and he called for multi-party talks before any advance was agreed.
On the threatened stability of the Executive and Assembly, he concluded: “We will not collapse anything, we are here for the long haul. We want to continue negotiations if we cannot reach a conclusion today. I hope we can. We will still be at the table if there are people willing to talk to us.”