Let’s talk, Sinn Fein negotiator tells N.Irish foe

By Jodie Ginsberg

BELFAST (Reuters) – The main pro-British party in Northern
Ireland should talk directly to Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican
Army’s political ally, now the guerrillas have vowed to scrap
their arms, Sinn Fein’s top negotiator said on Saturday.

The IRA formally ended its campaign against British rule in
Northern Ireland on Thursday and ordered its units to dump all
their weapons in a crucial step toward securing lasting peace
in the province after 30 years of conflict in which 3,600 died.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuses to hold direct
talks with Sinn Fein, let alone join it in the power-sharing
government that formed the cornerstone of the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement, while the IRA continues to hold arms.

“It is time for the DUP to step up to the plate and
represent the interests of those who vote for them,” Sinn
Fein’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said. “It is time
that they sit down face-to-face with Irish Republicans.”

McGuinness was speaking after his return from the United
States, where he briefed politicians on the IRA’s decision.
Traditional U.S. supporters spurned Sinn Fein earlier this year
after a high-profile robbery and murder blamed on IRA members.

“Over the last three days I met with U.S. Envoy Mitchell
Reiss, members of Congress … and many in Irish America who
have been long supporters of the Irish peace process,” he said.

“There was widespread support for the IRA’s decision to end
its armed campaign and recognition, not just of the historic
nature of the move, but also the need for momentum to be
maintained.”

But talks on restoring the Belfast-based assembly,
suspended three years ago after the IRA dragged its heels on
disarming, are unlikely to begin soon.

The DUP, skeptical the IRA will honor its latest commitment
after a string of broken promises, has said it will be months
before it can judge whether the IRA has kept its word.

Northern Ireland’s Independent Monitoring Commission, a
watchdog that will check whether the IRA has kept its promises,
will give a special progress report in January, and talks are
unlikely to begin in earnest until then.

The IRA has given no timetable for decommissioning its arms
but The Irish Times newspaper quoted government sources on
Friday as saying Dublin hoped the IRA’s entire arsenal could be
destroyed by the end of August.

The newspaper said there were “strong indications” the
first act of arms decommissioning could be only days away.