New proposals on police reform in Northern Ireland were being published today.
But the latest Police Implementation Plan was likely to have little impact on the troubled peace process.
Republicans, already mired in controversy over the arrest of three Irishmen in Colombia, rejected the 70-page package which was shown in private to pro-Agreement parties two weeks ago.
And Ulster Unionists, whose support is essential if the devolved regime in Belfast is to get back on course, maintained they would not consider the issue of policing without IRA disarmament.
The plan is expected to cover:
- Scrapping the RUC's 2,400-strong full-time reserve;
- Closing Gough Holding Centre in Armagh city;
- Allowing ex-paramilitary prisoners to sit on the 29 District Policing Boards;
- Powers of the Police Ombudsman;
- Restructuring the intelligence-gathering Special Branch;
The plan has been put forward as part of an overall peace process rescue package, drawn up by the British and Irish governments after negotiations at Weston Park last month. The parties and the two governments have just over five weeks to resolve wranglings over policing and the criminal justice system, demilitarisation and weapons.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble withdrew as first minister of the power-sharing executive at the end of June because of the IRA's failure to disarm.
His party has since steadfastly refused to commit to the institutions again until the republican paramilitaries start giving up their guns. A UUP spokesman said: "The policing issue was only part of the governments' package and it can't be dealt with by itself.
"We're in no position to accept or reject any type of policing proposals until the governments have the four parts of the package in place, the other three being normalisation, the criminal justice review and decommissioning."
Last night Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin claimed the proposals did not go far enough. He said: "It does not constitute a genuine attempt to bridge the gap between republican and nationalist aspirations for a proper and consensual approach to policing.
"Key issues which need to be resolved have not been resolved."
His party, meanwhile, has insisted it has no knowledge of the activities of the trio detained in Bogota and accused British Intelligence of hyping up the arrests to stall demilitarisation moves in Northern Ireland.
James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were taken into custody last weekend on suspicion of training members of the Marxist guerrilla group FARC, a major exporter of drugs to the US.
Colombian investigators will decide within four days whether to prosecute them.
The development has prompted even pro-Agreement unionists to question the IRA ceasefire and commitment to peace.
PA