Sinn Féin was tonight left isolated after the SDLP urged nationalists to endorse Northern Ireland's new policing arrangements.
|
In one of the most significant moves in the peace process, the party announced it will nominate representatives to a board designed to hold the new service to account.
Party leader Mr Hume said: "We will respond positively to an invitation to join the Policing Board and we will be encouraging people from all sections of the community to join the new police service."
The crucial step came on the heels of a declaration of support for the British government's blueprint of reform of the RUC by Catholic bishops.
As republicans maintained fierce opposition to the revised proposals on policing, SDLP deputy leader Mr Seamus Mallon appealed to young nationalists not to squander the chance presented by the implementation plan unveiled by Ulster Secretary Dr John Reid.
The acting Deputy First Minister in the troubled Stormont power-sharing government said: "Here is an opportunity. Here is the mechanism now through which policing can be changed, and changed forever more.
"Do not let this opportunity slip because Patten (report) will never be written again. We have one opportunity to get this right. Take that chance."
The Taoiseach Mr Ahern tonight gave a "warm welcome" to statements by the SDLP and the Catholic bishops.
He declared: "This is an important moment in the implementation of an essential part of the Good Friday agreement."
Mr Ahern said he also welcomed the decision of the SDLP to nominate members to the planned Northern Ireland Policing Board and Directing Policing Partnerships, given their "core role in delivering the new beginning to policing in Northern Ireland."
The Taoiseach repeated the Government's belief that a basis now existed for realising that new beginning.
And he added: "I am pleased that the SDLP shares our positive assessment that what is on offer can comprehensively deliver the spirit and substance of the Patten Report.
The fresh proposals include plans to cut the Special Branch in half, abolish the full-time reserve, increase the part-time reserve, shut down Gough holding centre in Armagh city, and prohibit new recruits from using plastic bullets.
However, republicans still insist that they fall short of the report on RUC reform drawn up by former Hong Kong governor Mr Chris Patten.
Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin dismissed the 65-page document as "half a loaf" which nationalists should not be pressurised into accepting.
Stormont colleague Mr Conor Murphy also claimed the SDLP had made a mistake in backing the proposals.
He said: "They are wrong. The implementation plan does not bridge the gap between the policing legislation and the threshold of Patten.
"It falls down in a number of areas - human rights equation being one of them, the issue of the powers of the police boards and the use of plastic bullets. Those still need to be addressed."
Earlier, Northern Ireland's Catholic bishops said while they had some reservations about the plan, sufficient grounds now exist to give real hope for a new start in policing.
Dr Reid welcomed their backing as an important step.
"We look forward to working with as wide a range of community leaders as possible to enable the police to become more representative and effective."
Ulster Unionist minister Michael McGimpsey hailed the moves by the SDLP and the Church as "truly historic".
He said: "This is a major concession by the SDLP. It should be now clear to everyone that Sinn Féin is isolated on policing, isolated on decommissioning and isolated on Colombia. Sinn Féin is out of touch."
But the Democratic Unionist Party ridiculed the SDLP's decision, calling it a "poodle of the Roman Catholic Church".
Mr Ian Paisley Jr said: "The fact that the SDLP had to wait on the Roman Catholic Church to give the green light to them before they could support the police service is confirmation that it is not only a sectarian party but in the pocket of that church on these major issues."
Mr Hume insisted his party's decision was a crucial step in ensuring the Belfast Agreement is fully implemented.
But the Foyle MP also called for several other measures to now take place. These included:
- the IRA's immediate re-engagement with General John de Chastelain's international decommissioning team
- the immediate publication of the criminal justice implementation plan
- setting up an implementation group to review progress on the Agreement
- developing a progressive programme to achieve demilitarisation in the North
- agreeing a comprehensive all-party statement on the devolved institutions.
He added: "We call on all parties and both governments to renew the dialogue in order to address these issues."
PA