Taoiseach rules out executive without SF presence

The Taoiseach yesterday excluded the possibility of the Northern Ireland executive being formed without Sinn Fein, but would not rule out some slippage of the March 10th deadline for devolution of powers to the executive.

"It is my belief that we will not be able to set up the executive before we deal with the issue of decommissioning," Mr Ahern told journalists at the Irish Embassy. Asked by The Irish Times whether the executive could be set up without Sinn Fein, the Taoiseach answered: "No, I don't think that is the case, because Mr [Seamus] Mallon [the Deputy First Minister] has made it absolutely clear that they would not support such a resolution, so when the executive would go to be set up, they couldn't get sufficient votes."

Nor would the executive begin functioning unless the IRA handed over weapons "because Mr Trimble has made it absolutely clear that he will not set up the executive until this issue is resolved. That's the dilemma we're in. We have to find a resolution to the decommissioning issue." Deadlines should not be al lowed to slip too much, he said, adding: "We did allow the deadline of October 31st to slip until December 17th, when we agreed on that part of the agreement. Some slippage isn't the end of the world, but it's clearly not helpful.

"As we go into summer, into the marching season, it gets very, very difficult to make any political progress. We know this from bitter and hard experience . . . that's why I am beginning to press hard for people to state their positions."

Mr Ahern was reluctant to state his own position. He twice ducked the question of whether a declaration of intent to disarm would be sufficient. "I have my own views on what might be enough," he said, "and they are fairly well known to Sinn Fein."

It was up to Gen John De Chastelain, the chairman of the International Decommissioning Body, not the Taoiseach, to decide.

"He has to be satisfied that whatever the resolution is it is credible . . . He can only do that if he is satisfied with what has been agreed and that situation - despite the fact that we have been working on it since early September - has not yet been reached. But you also have to look to what Mr Trimble has been saying before coming to conclusions about what would be enough."

It was suggested there seemed to be some confusion about what constituted a "credible start" to decommissioning. "There's no confusion," the Taoiseach insisted. "People would like somebody to write Gen De Chastelain's report. He is the one who has to decide what is a credible start."

The root of the misunderstanding, Mr Ahern repeated, was the headline in the British Sunday Times which said Sinn Fein would be "barred" from the executive. The journalist who interviewed him had behaved honourably by admitting the Taoiseach never used the word "barred".

"I have no dispute with the rest of the interview," Mr Ahern said. "I didn't put a foot wrong."

When the Taoiseach returned a telephone call from Mr Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, on Sunday, Mr McGuinness had not read the newspaper but heard a radio headline saying that Sinn Fein was "barred" from the executive. He was not angry, Mr Ahern said. "He wanted to know had I stated that."

As for the other contents of the article, "Mr McGuinness knows my views very well. Nothing was a surprise because he has met me several times since Christmas where I have said all of these things to him."