Sinn Féin will ask the British government at today's talks in Downing Street if it is serious about implementing the Belfast Agreement in full.
|
|
Mr Gerry Adams: says he is going to London to see if Tony Blair is serious about moving the peace process forward.
|
Speaking before leaving for London with the Sinn Féin delegation Mr Gerry Adams welcomed Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid's statement on Saturday the agreement was not up for renegotiation.
But he added: "At the core of all of this is the fact that we are in a process of change. There is resistance to that change but the most powerful player in this is the British government.
"The only reason we are going to London today is to have that engagement with Mr Blair and to see if he is serious about moving our process forward."
The West Belfast MP will be joined at today's crucial talks by the Stormont Minister of Education Mr Martin McGuinness as well as the party's two newest MPs Mr Pat Doherty and Ms Michelle Gildernew.
Mr Adams also said his party was going to the talks to do serious business and was not interested in going "for the optics".
While acknowledging there was some cynicism about the way the agreement was being implemented, the Sinn Féin president said progress had been made but work needed to be done by the government to address "the fault line which has been exploited by the rejectionists".
Mr Adams said he did not know if the inclusion of Mr Jeffrey Donaldson in the Ulster Unionist delegation would mean there would be less room for manoeuvre for Mr Trimble's party.
"Here is the man who couldn't stay in the talks building during the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement. He's back. That's good."
The Sinn Féin delegation is expected at Downing Street at around 3.30 p.m. for the meeting with Mr Blair and Mr Ahern.
It also emerged today Mr Adams will be heading to Washington later this week to brief leading US politicians on the state of the Northern Ireland peace process.
PA