SDLP welcomes British-Irish proposals

The SDLP has welcomed the British and Irish governments’ proposals to save the peace process which it believes provide the means…

The SDLP has welcomed the British and Irish governments’ proposals to save the peace process which it believes provide the means to help deliver the "full and early implementation" of the Belfast Agreement.

Seamus Mallon and John Hume
Mr Seamus Mallon and Mr John Hume

The party said in a statement it viewed decommissioning as an "indispensable" part of the agreement’s implementation and called for "all paramilitary arms" to be put beyond use.

The party also called on all paramilitary groups to maintain a genuine engagement with the IICD (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning) and establish a sustained process to completely and verifiably achieve decommissioning.

The party said it accepted the proposal for a new police service. It said a force which would have the support of all sections of society and draw membership from the same was "essential".

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The SDLP said it "broadly" supported the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Review established under the agreement and called for the "early implementation" of it.

But in response to the proposed review of the operation of the Parades Commission, the SDLP said it believed that issue was extraneous to the agreement and not a matter which impeded the implementation of it.

The party also called for "full judicial inquiries" into the "serious allegations of collusion by the security forces" in certain killings in the North.