THE North's multi party talks have been adjourned until September after the participants failed to bridge their divisions over decommissioning. After more than seven weeks of wrangling, the parties finally agreed rules of procedure, but not what subjects they should be negotiating.
The parties will now return to Stormont on September 9th to try and decide on an agenda, and on how decommissioning will be addressed. The Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, said the talks process would have been "in peril" if they had not at least agreed a return talks date.
The UUP, the DUP and the UK Unionist Party argued for a special committee to examine the decommissioning issue during the summer break, reporting back to the talks in September. Unionists were also adamant that they would not negotiate the North's union with Britain.
The Dublin Government, the SDLP, Alliance and the fringe loyalist parties pressed for decommissioning to be addressed from September, parallel to substantive talks. The decision to adjourn the talks for six weeks generally went in favour of these latter groupings.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, admitted that progress had been slower than expected. "We want to tackle the issue of decommissioning in a practical and pragmatic way," he said last night. The period between now and September 9th "would be a useful period for reflection on the way forward".
Sir Patrick said it was "very encouraging" that the parties had agreed to return to talks. The three talks chairmen - Mr George Mitchell, Mr Harri Holkeri and Gen John de Chastelain - in a statement said that some progress was made but that all participants would benefit from a "period for reflection".
Mr Seamus Mallon, the SDLP deputy leader, warned that attempts to force decommissioning to the top of the agenda, divorced from other issues, was "playing with fire". The issue must be tackled parallel to discussions on the three sets of relationships on these islands, including constitutional matters such as the union.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said the Irish Government was engaging in a con trick" tactic to sideline decommissioning in order to bring Sinn Fein to the table by December.
Mr John Taylor, the UUP deputy leader, said Dublin and the SDLP, with Sinn Fein, were operating a pan nationalist front" to prevent the implementation of the Mitchell Report on Decommissioning.
Mr Gary McMichael, leader of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) which is linked to the outlawed UDA, criticised the mainstream unionist parties for exerting pressure on loyalists over decommissioning. "While the IRA threat remains quite strongly hanging over the loyalist community they are trying to provoke loyalists, and expel them from the process, and leave the loyalist community undefended. That is quite unacceptable," he said.
Agreement on the rules and procedures to be adopted in the multi party talks was welcomed as "encouraging" in Government circles in Dublin last night.
