Trimble, Mallon postpone formation of executive

Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon have postponed forming a Northern Assembly executive because of the decommissioning issue, which remains the final serious hurdle to the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.

Mr Trimble, however, expressed considerable optimism that the decommissioning issue would be resolved "sooner rather than later", and that a cabinettype executive will be formed involving Sinn Fein.

The North's First Minister and Deputy First Minister presented a nine-page report on the future governance of Northern Ireland to yesterday's meeting of the Assembly in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, but stopped short of establishing an executive.

Mr Trimble again insisted that before Sinn Fein took ministerial office there must be movement on IRA decommissioning. Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon were also unable to agree the number of ministers in the proposed executive, with the First Minister said to favour six or seven positions, and the Deputy First Minister seeking 10 posts.

Under the terms of the agreement the North-South Council of Ministers must be in place by the end of October. And while there may not be an Assembly executive by then, the Council of Ministers could still be established by that deadline, notwithstanding the difficulties, Mr Trimble said.

He indicated that during the current transitional period he and Mr Mallon could comprise the Northern dimension of the council.

Mr Trimble repeated his determination to create a "pluralist parliament for a pluralist people", and again welcomed the "moves being made by those who are crossing the bridge from terror to democracy".

"However, as with all partnerships, the opportunity to now implement the agreement in its entirety is predicated on trust and equality. There can be neither trust nor equality if one party to the agreement is not prepared to destroy their weapons of war, " he added.

"I simply cannot reconcile seeking positions in government with a failure to discharge responsibilities under the agreement to dismantle their terrorist organisations."

At a subsequent press conference, while insisting on the linkage between executive positions and disarmament, Mr Trimble said he was "optimistic" that there would be movement on the issue. "I rather think that it will happen sooner rather than later," he added.

In a veiled reference to the DUP, which has pledged not to co-operate with an executive involving Sinn Fein, Mr Trimble said it was important not to have "rogue ministers" in the executive. Ministers must work to a common purpose.

It was a theme on which the Deputy First Minister also laid particular emphasis. The executive could not operate successfully unless there were co-operation and consensus. What was important about his relationship with Mr Trimble was not only the fact that they worked well together but that the public could see they were working together. Mr Mallon told the Assembly that community respect and trust were not built in an instant. "They are built on the street, and involve dismantling past barriers, promoting tolerance, and developing understanding, creating space for others, being inclusive. "Since direct rule all of us have denounced and derided the efforts of successive secretaries and under-secretaries of state. Usually, but not always, we were right. Now it's our turn. There is no bolt-hole, no hiding place. We have to move from criticism to construction, from making demands to making choices, from claiming rights to taking responsibilities because we can and will succeed.

"This unprecedented opportunity for renewal and rebirth must be anchored in developmental priorities and objectives agreed between parties in discussion. There must be a strategy at once visionary and practical. "While it is important to get in place the potential and institutional processes, it is essential if we are to influence people's lives for the better that we address the social and economic basis simultaneously. The goodwill is out there. It is global in scale. We must tap it and tap it promptly."

To allow the executive work successfully, parties must provide space for each other. Speaking of a "new politics", Mr Mallon said: "The old politics - of confrontation, of pushing for victory, of dominance, of disregarding the legitimate wishes and concerns of others - were dealt a death blow by the Good Friday Agreement.

"But the beast is not yet dead. We have seen the ugly old politics and its destructive capacity in Drumcree, in Ballymoney, in Omagh . . . We will practise the new politics: we will, over and above these values, seek to give the political process in Northern Ireland a unity of purpose and of identity and to create the space for the other political parties within which to work together."

Mr Mallon said the NorthSouth Council would deliver real benefits for "both parts of the island. There can be, there is no real argument anymore about the potential benefits of a one island approach across the spectrum of economic and social issues."

Nationalist identity found a particular and necessary accommodation in such a structure. "This accommodation will have the effect of strengthening the stability and security of the unionist identity." Mr Mallon concluded: "The new politics beckons. It is a time for responsibility and commitment; it is a time for service to the people who elected us, and who have resolved that the agreement must work.

"We have an opportunity to build anew for the next generation, to favour change, imagination, vigour, growth. We may not create heaven on earth but at least we can end what has been for many - too many of our people in recent years - a hell on earth."