British prime minister Tony Blair has made a direct appeal to Sinn Féin ahead of talks tomorrow to press ahead with its ardfheis on policing and for the DUP to enter a powersharing government with Sinn Féin on March 26th. Gerry Moriartyand Mark Hennessyreport.
With Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams facing a major decision on whether to proceed, Mr Blair, writing in today's Irish Times, implicitly urges him to take the step - but based on his conviction that DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley will share power in March and accept the transfer of policing powers by May 2008, and perhaps even earlier.
Mr Blair says it would be a "crazy denial of a shared intent" to achieve a restoration of devolution if Sinn Féin defaulted on what he assessed was its commitment to policing, and if the DUP defaulted on what he assessed was its commitment to powersharing and the transfer of policing powers to a restored Northern Executive.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was in contact with Mr Blair over the weekend, acknowledged that the DUP leader had not gone as far as was necessary to assure Sinn Féin that it would share power if republicans moved on policing.
A decision, he said, would have to be taken within days that the bid to restore the North's political institutions had failed if progress could not be made, but he said a collapse now would "be inexcusable, inexplicable and a huge tragedy".
Dr Paisley's statement last week "does not give us all that we need to move forward", Mr Ahern said, though he added he believed Sinn Féin should go ahead with the special ardfheis one way or the other.
Mr Ahern acknowledged that he has had no recent contact with Dr Paisley and has not been speaking to Mr Adams, which was the subject of sharp complaint yesterday from Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness.
Speaking in Limerick, Mr McGuinness said Mr Ahern had only spoken to Mr Adams "once in the last couple of months". This conversation came about, he said, only after he had complained directly to a Government official.
Meanwhile, Mr Blair challenges Mr Adams and Dr Paisley to make the opportunity succeed. "Over the coming days, there will be republicans convinced that the DUP never really means to share power and will ask what the point is of an ardfheis.
"There will be unionists who will seize on any hesitation to say we told you so: Sinn Féin were never serious about changing policy on policing. Both will be wrong. But if we don't get action - the ardfheis on one side, powersharing on March 26th on the other - we will never know," he said.
While Mr McGuinness yesterday reiterated his call on Dr Paisley to unequivocally say he would share power, other senior DUP figures such as deputy leader Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley jnr - who are viewed as wanting to see a deal done - insisted that the DUP could not go further than Dr Paisley did last week.
Then, the DUP leader welcomed Mr Blair's statement that if Sinn Féin signed up to policing, the DUP would share power and accept the transfer of policing powers.
However, Mr McGuinness said he must not only welcome it, but agree with it. "It isn't a lot to ask," he said.
Welcoming Mr Blair's article cautiously, Mr Adams, who will meet senior party figures tomorrow to discuss if the ardfheis should go ahead, said it set out the necessary requirements. An ardchomhairle meeting on the issue could be held this week.