Sinn Féin would call an ardfheis to discuss joining the Northern Ireland Policing Board if the British government tabled sufficient legislative changes, party leader Mr Gerry Adams said today.
He said Sinn Féin would face the issue democratically if the policing arrangements were brought closer to the state envisioned in the Belfast Agreement.
It is understood British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair will bring legislation before the next session of parliament aimed at easing nationalist fears over policing.
Sinn Féin is the only major party refusing to take its seats on the board. It has been accused of "paddling furiously in a dinghy because they've missed the boat on policing" by the nationalist SDLP.
SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan claimed after a meeting with Mr Blair last week that the new legislation would bring the policing arrangements closer to those envisioned in the 1999 Patten Report. He also challenged Sinn Féin to join the Policing Board.
But Mr Adams said: "What is in the legislative amendments [on policing arrangements] at the moment no one knows, the Irish government don't know, the SDLP don't know, we don't know, only the British know and it is the content of the amendments which will decide the future of policing in this part of the world," he said.