Sinn Fein calls for details of proposals to be published

Sinn Fein has called on the Irish and British governments to immediately publish the details of their proposals aimed at ending the political stalemate.

The party leader, Mr Gerry Adams, said Sinn Fein could not come to a full decision "until we have had all of the information that is required". This included immediate publication of the revised implementation plan on policing, the legislative amendments to the Policing Act and the "implementation plan to deliver a fair and impartial system of justice".

Mr Adams was speaking after a three-hour meeting of the ardcomhairle of the party in Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

Some members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, not on the ardcomhairle, also attended the "detailed discussion" yesterday. There was "considerable annoyance" about the lack of progress on the justice system.

"The British government has failed to publish the revised implementation plan on policing, including the detailed legislative amendments to the Police Act. They promised to publish the draft legislation and implementation plans to deliver a fair and impartial system of justice and they have done none of this and their proposals are also short on timeframes, dates and completion deadlines," Mr Adams said.

Nonetheless, the Sinn Fein leader struck a more positive note than his colleague Mr Gerry Kelly, who on Thursday said there were very few real commitments in the document and some of the proposals were put in a very qualified manner.

Mr Adams said: "The governments' package is welcome in so far as it goes but we need to have the necessary detail before we can take the type of decision that we want to take." Sinn Fein's position was "to continue to make progress, to make this work. If there is a political will on the part of the two governments, this could provide the basis for that."

He believed the two governments "have explicitly recognised that the Good Friday agreement has not been implemented thus far and that has been a good development and we welcome that. We also believe that the proposals provide a basis for further progress if the governments have the will to proceed."

Mr Adams also called for the Ulster Unionist Party to fill the position of First Minister and "remove the unlawful veto on the political institutions".

Flanked by some of the 40member ardcomhairle, the Sinn Fein leader said they had contact on Thursday with the Irish Government, which had been "of assistance". However, he added, "even if we got all the assurances that we required from the Irish Government that can only matter in so far as it affects the Irish Government".

The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, needed to stand over what the British government was going to do and "they are the critical matter in all of this". That was why Sinn Fein looked "to the Irish Government to continue to ensure the British government fulfills its obligations".

Asked about the possibility of the IRA making a "positive response" to the proposals, he said "that's entirely a matter for the IRA". The governments' proposals were not a "green document. The Good Friday agreement isn't a green document. This isn't a zero-sum game. Equality is good for everybody."