SF to meet on NI powersharing

The Sinn Féin Ardcomharile is to meet in Dublin this morning to begin preparations for a return to a powersharing government in Northern Ireland, party president Gerry Adams said last night.

Addressing a rally in Dublin to launch the party's general election campaign in the South, Mr Adams said the key to getting into government in the Republic was its success in Dublin: "nowhere will be more important than here in Dublin city".

Mr Adams recalled that following the election Christy Burke as the party's sole councillor in the capital in 1985, Sinn Féin had moved to a position where it now had 14 councillors, two TDs and a Sinn Féin MEP.

He said the party had the ability to hugely increase representation across the four local authorities in Dublin and to win further Dáil seats "to become a leading voice for people across Dublin. We have the ability to deliver real change," he said.

While there had been much talk after the Sinn Féin Ardfheis about who the party would partner in government, he insisted the question was only who could ensure real change. "It is as simple as that.

"I am very proud to be launching our election campaign here in the capital. Dublin has a proud record of struggle both for national independence and social justice. The city of Pearse, Connolly and Larkin, of the 1916 Rising and the 1913 Lockout is central to the project of building an Ireland of equals," he told the rally in the Royal Dublin Hotel.

Referring to the prospects for a devolved government in Northern Ireland Mr Adams said there was a "huge responsibility on everyone" who had been elected to make powersharing work.

However he said, if the DUP decided not to ensure the restoration of the powersharing institutions on March 26th, the Assembly should be abolished and the two governments should proceed with the proposed joint partnership arrangements.

Mr Adams said Sinn Féin was an all-Ireland party and just as it was ready for political power in the North it was also "seeking a mandate for government here in the South".