Blueprint for North will not be changed, say leaders

There will be no further changes in the blueprint designed to break the North's political stalemate, British and Irish sources…

There will be no further changes in the blueprint designed to break the North's political stalemate, British and Irish sources have insisted.

This is despite a claim by Mr Jeffrey Donaldson that between now and publication of the document the governments will be in secret contact with "Sinn Fein/IRA".

Within days the British and Irish governments will communicate with the pro-Belfast Agreement parties to reinforce the call from the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister that there be no "knee-jerk" reaction to the document, the sources added.

"There will be contacts, but it is definitely not about changing the content of the package. As the Prime Minister and Taoiseach said, the negotiations are over," said a senior British official last night.

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Mr Ahern and Mr Blair met for two hours yesterday in Mr Blair's Sedgefield constituency to conclude discussions on their joint package and to plan how the document should be presented to the parties.

Responses from the parties were expected "as soon as possible", said Mr Blair.

The focus from Mr Ahern and Mr Blair yesterday was on steadying frayed political nerves. Both leaders said there would be elements of the proposals that would be difficult for unionists and nationalists, but they were "fair and reasonable".

"I ask the political parties in responding to them to consider them carefully, not to engage in knee-jerk reactions. As we said to you at Weston Park, there is no further negotiation of this," Mr Blair said.

"There will be difficulties for all sides in them, but they represent the best way of breaking the remaining impasse in the implementation of the Good Friday agreement."

Mr Ahern said work on the document was completed but acknowledged there would be some discomfort for the parties. "There are checks and balances. It is not possible to do everything for everyone because of the conflicting positions, but the two governments have done our utmost to put together a package that is a good package," he added.

The SDLP and Sinn Fein expressed a willingness to temper their comments until they saw the proposals. Within Ulster Unionism, however, some significant divisions have opened up between the Yes and No wings of the party.

Both sides are of one mind in insisting that without substantial IRA movement on arms the package will fail. However, the pro-agreement Ulster Unionist, Sir Reg Empey, last night refused to endorse the approach of Mr Donaldson.

Mr Donaldson, who with his fellow UUP MP, Mr David Burnside, fired a broadside against the agreement on Thursday, said last night "no self-respecting unionist could buy into" a package that would involve "yet another meaningless fudge on illegal arms decommissioning".

"The fact that the two prime ministers are not prepared to publish the document today, even though they say it is complete, confirms our view that secret negotiations are continuing with Sinn Fein/IRA," said Mr Donaldson.

The Lagan Valley MP's comments are being interpreted as the first stage of his heave against the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble. Sir Reg, a trusted confidant of Mr Trimble, repeated his demand for "actual disarmament along the lines of the decommissioning legislation". He indicated, however, that he had not given up hope that the package could deliver UUP demands, and distanced himself from the Donaldson-Burnside attack.

He said his party were "not quitters" and if they walked away the next generation would have to clear up the mess.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times