N.Ireland: Parties asked to respond by Aug. 6

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 1. In what was seen as the last gamble to save the Northern Ireland peace process, the British and Irish Governments today confronted the political parties in the province with a take-it-or-leave-it compromise package warning them that their failure to reach an agreement would be ``nothing short of tragic''.

The parties have been told to give their response by August 6 - a week before the constitutional deadline to resolve the present political crisis ends. The immediate reaction, however, was not very hopeful as both sides indicated that their response would depend on how far the package addressed their concerns. Independent experts noted that the proposals appeared to be ``tilted'' towards Republicans with barely a passing reference to the Unionists' demand for IRA to give up its weapons. It was on this issue that the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) chief, Mr. David Trimble resigned last month as head of the provincial government, triggering the present crisis.

There was widespread scepticism if the package would be acceptable to the Unionists who continued to maintain that nothing short of iron-clad guarantees on decommissioning would satisfy them. They wanted to know from Republicans what they meant by offering to put their weapons ``beyond use''. The idea of merely putting concrete ``caps'' on some of their bunkers was not acceptable to Unionists who insisted that all arms dumps must be filled with concrete to render the weapons unusable. They also demanded a firm date when decommissioning would start.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr. John Reid and the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Brian Cowen portrayed the package as a last chance to save the Good Friday Agreement and appealed to the political parties to consider it with a ``cool head'' and ``steady nerves'', and not to rush into a judgment. They denied that the proposals were tilted in favour of either side, and repeatedly urged leaders not to approach them as though they were a ``league table''. They were not about ``concessions'' or ``victory or defeat'' for anyone, Mr. Reid said as he appealed to party leaders to keep the ``big picture'' in mind - the need to sustain the Good Friday agreement. There were going to be no winners if the agreement was destroyed, and the consequences would be damaging for everyone, he warned.

Mr. Cowen said the proposals on offer were ``fair'' and ``balanced'' and represented the collective endeavour of the two governments. They addressed the four major concerns - policing, decommissioning, demilitarisation and stability of political institutions set up in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement. Earlier, Mr. Reid acknowledged that the package would not please everyone but said it was the best under the circumstances. It consisted of inter-independent proposals and political parties should not try to ``pick and choose'' what suited them.

They were intended to ensure victory for the people of Northern Ireland by sustaining an agreement that had arguably brought peace and prosperity to the province.

Details were not known, but analysts said the package appeared to be designed almost entirely to ``win'' over the Republicans in the hope that in turn, they would agree to start decommissioning.

Apparently, the package goes some length to address Republican concerns on police reforms, role for ex- paramilitary prisoners, and scaling down the British security presence in the province.

``It is very much aimed at winning over the Republicans and presumably the two Governments expect a response from them on decommissioning'', a commentator told the BBC.

The presumption in informed circles was that if Sinn Fein and IRA accepted the package then it would mean that they were willing to make a move on decommissioning as a reciprocal gesture. Their response on decommissioning was said to be ``crucial'' to the fate of the package. They were expected to meet at the weekend to take a decision.

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Section  : International
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