Trimble defends talks stance despite no decommissioning

The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, has defended his decision to remain in the talks despite the involvement of Sinn Fein without any IRA decommissioning. He said yesterday that the Union could not be defended from "long distance". In the face of criticism from the DUP, the UK Unionist Party and some within his own party, Mr Trimble insisted that the only realistic option was to engage in the process.

He also argued that while there has been no decommissioning the issue is still firmly on the agenda. He took further comfort from the assurances given on consent.

The two governments and all the other parties, with the exception of those boycotting the process, saw Wednesday night's talks decision to proceed to substantive matters as ground-breaking and historic. Mr Trimble in a number of interviews said the procedural motion contained the wording the UUP was demanding on consent and decommissioning. He was particularly satisfied that the motion related to the commitment by the two governments on the "indispensable need" for some disarmament during negotiations.

"I am content with last week's work. We have achieved more than we expected to achieve last Tuesday. We have underlined that there has to be some decommissioning of paramilitary arms during talks," he emphasised.

Stressing that Sinn Fein was the only party to reject the element of the motion dealing with decommissioning, he said that this marked the beginning of the marginalisation of Sinn Fein, and the break-up of the "pan-nationalist front".

Mr Trimble was nonetheless critical of the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, who he said had "turned a blind eye to terrorism by her readiness to allow Sinn Fein to stay in the talks". Dr Mowlam in various media interviews praised all the talks participants for arriving at their "historic" decision.

"For the first time in three-quarters of a century we have had people sitting down around the same table from unionist, nationalist, loyalist and republican backgrounds," she said.

She appealed to the DUP and the UK Unionist Party to rejoin "the rest of the unionist family" at the talks.

"There is much to be gained from remaining inside rather than outside," she said.

"This is an unprecedented opportunity. We must grasp it and make the most of it," she added. "No one ever said this process would be easy but the prize is there for us to now make peace, and to make that peace a reality."

She hoped that a settlement could be achieved by next May in accordance with the time-frame set down by the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, but implicitly acknowledged it was a tight deadline.

"I don't know if we can do it by May. We have set that as a goal," she added.

Dr Mowlam said that the participants still had some very difficult decisions to reach. "We are trying to build trust and confidence between people. It doesn't happen overnight. It will get easier to cope with each other's differences, I hope, as the weeks and months go on," she added.

The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said the May timeframe for a solution was ambitious and it would require determination and a great level of commitment from all parties to achieve an agreement by then.

"There is no doubt at all that we have turned an important page in Irish history, and in the history of Anglo-Irish relations.

"It would be no exaggeration to say that a ray of light shines across the entire island of Ireland, which will lift the hearts of all of its inhabitants," he added.

While Sinn Fein opposed the section of the motion dealing with decommissioning, the party's president, Mr Gerry Adams, said it generally supported the motion and was committed to inclusive negotiations. He said that Section 2 (b) dealing with disarmament was an attempt by unionists to retain the issue as a blockage to talks.

"The removal of all guns from Irish politics is a clear objective of a lasting peace settlement. Given the importance of this objective the approach should be one which is likely to succeed rather than one which blocks and disrupts the wider negotiations which are based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," he said.

"The issue of disarmament needs to be resolved but without blocking the negotiations. Sinn Fein is prepared to consider any proposals which address the need to take all the guns out of Irish politics and we will be putting forward, for consideration, our proposals on this issue."

Mr Adams said that on consent: "Sinn Fein wants to see a settlement that seeks and wins the consent of all sections of our people. Consent is a two-way street. It is up to the unionists and the British government to win nationalist consent in the same way as we seek to win their consent."

The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, said he had refrained from using the word "historic" but Wednesday's night decision was truly historic.

He hoped all politicians would now concentrate their minds on reaching an agreement, which accommodated differences and allowed for change on all sides.

Mr Hume said he believed the time-frame for a settlement was realisable. He also hoped that the DUP and the UK Unionist Party would end their boycott of the talks.

Mr Seamus Close, deputy leader of the Alliance Party, described the agreement as "momentous".

Mr David Ervine, chief spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party, welcomed the move to talks. He said that the issue of decommissioning was now "wholly aspirational". In order to keep the process going all politicians had to "bite the bullet" on difficult issues, he said.

Mr Gary McMichael, leader of the Ulster Democratic Party, said it was up to the politicians to start tackling complex and difficult problems.