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Northern Ireland polls in March

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: The stalled peace process in Northern Ireland appeared to be back on the rails on Tuesday after the British Government dissolved the Provincial Assembly and announced fresh elections paving the way for a joint Protestant-Catholic administration.

According to the timetable agreed by the British and Irish governments, elections would be held on March 7 and Britain would hand over power before March 26. If the Republicans and Unionists are not able to form a government by then, the Assembly will be dissolved again.

The coalition government in Northern Ireland is most likely to be led by Sinn Fein, representing the Catholics, and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the hardline Protestant group. The breakthrough in the peace process was made possible after Sinn Fein, in a historic move, agreed to cooperate with the new Police Service of Northern Ireland overturning its century-old opposition to the presence of British police. The DUP which had insisted that Sinn Fein must first give up its hostility to Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for it to consider sharing power with it welcomed the decision.

Prime Minister Tony Blair hoped that the Assembly would be restored in March, nearly four years after it was dissolved following differences between Sinn Fein and its then Unionist partner the Ulster Unionist Party.

"Now Sinn Fein has got to deliver, the DUP have got to deliver, everyone's got to deliver on their commitments," he said describing it as a "tremendous step forward'' for the people of Northern Ireland.

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