Northern Ireland will remain a priority for British prime minister Tony Blair if he is re-elected this week, he insisted yesterday.
As he embarked on the final leg of the election campaign, Mr Blair said in a television interview that, while there was a political impasse, Northern Ireland had still seen a lot of progress in recent years.
Republicans and unionists still had to face up to the same challenges which faced them last year when a deal to restore the Stormont Assembly collapsed in December.
"It still comes back to the same basic question, which is that the way forward is for republicans to give up violence completely and totally and go into a different mode of operation altogether of exclusively peaceful and democratic means, and for unionists on that basis to share power."
Stressing his commitment to the peace process, Mr Blair told the BBC: "I think we have come a long way in Northern Ireland. I know obviously at the moment there is an impasse, but if you compare Northern Ireland today with Northern Ireland eight years ago, it's a different place."
Reacting to Mr Blair's comments, DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley said Mr Blair had shown he was determined to bring Sinn Féin/IRA into government come what may. "The cat is out of the bag. He has sold himself to have the representatives of IRA terrorists in the government of Northern Ireland on their terms," Mr Paisley said.
The only way to stop "this folly and treachery" was a vote for his party candidates.
He added: "Only a massive vote by unionists can stop Blair's madness." - (PA)