29.10.04
IOL
Adams: No dilution of Agreement
28/10/2004 - 23:00:46
Sinn Féin will not stomach any proposals to restore devolution which erode the Good Friday Agreement, Gerry Adams warned tonight.
As British and Irish government officials continued to work on a formula aimed at bridging the gaps between unionists and nationalists over power sharing, the Sinn Féin leader again insisted his party wanted to achieve a comprehensive and holistic deal.
The West Belfast MP said: “We have made it clear that republicans are prepared to face up to the challenges which this presents.
“But Sinn Féin is not prepared to countenance any dilution or erosion of the Good Friday Agreement – that remains the objective of the DUP.”
Sinn Féin and the nationalist SDLP have clashed with the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists over changes they want to the operation of the multi-party power-sharing government at Stormont.
The DUP has been pressing for mechanisms which would make power-sharing ministers more accountable for their decisions to cabinet colleagues and enable the Assembly to overturn unpopular decisions.
Nationalists have argued that what the DUP really wants is to exercise a veto over the work of other parties’ ministers.
They have also accused the DUP of trying to limit the scope of and stymie the work of cross-border institutions involving Stormont ministers and their Government counterparts.
Mr Adams said tonight the British and Irish governments had to understand in the current negotiations to restore power sharing that there was no middle line between the Good Friday Agreement and the anti-Agreement position of the Democratic Unionists.
“It is their responsibility to defend the core fundamentals and principles of the Agreement and to make it clear that they cannot be changed,” he argued.
“Therefore, if there is to be a deal then the two governments need to drive the process forward while making it clear that any deal must be within the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
“If the DUP do not accept this reality, then the pro-Agreement majority, including the two governments, need to move on.
“The DUP cannot be allowed to paralyse the process of change.”
Meanwhile, in a speech tonight to party colleagues in Bangor, North Down, DUP Assembly member George Dawson challenged claims that his party had shifted on to the policies once put forward by David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists.
The East Antrim MLA told colleagues: “The DUP is determined that the situation created by the Ulster Unionists is turned around.
“We are also seeing a remarkable turnaround of confidence amongst the unionist community since the defeatists and the defeated of the UUP were swept aside.
“Our policies have turned governments and other parties around. All that is to be welcomed.
“In recent days much has been made of our statement that the fundamentals of the Agreement, as outlined to us by the British government, are not in conflict with DUP policy.
“Our opponents have seized on this and cried U-turn. But what is the truth of the matter?
“Our opponents have strangely and conveniently forgotten that this was not always the government’s position.
“Once upon a time government, and the pro-Agreement parties’ stance was that we had to take the Agreement, the whole Agreement and nothing but the Agreement.
“Northern Ireland, it seemed, possess the only constitution in the world that was not able to be changed, they argued.
“That position has now noticeably changed. Now it is just the fundamentals that remain.”
Adams: No dilution of Agreement
28/10/2004 - 23:00:46
Sinn Féin will not stomach any proposals to restore devolution which erode the Good Friday Agreement, Gerry Adams warned tonight.
As British and Irish government officials continued to work on a formula aimed at bridging the gaps between unionists and nationalists over power sharing, the Sinn Féin leader again insisted his party wanted to achieve a comprehensive and holistic deal.
The West Belfast MP said: “We have made it clear that republicans are prepared to face up to the challenges which this presents.
“But Sinn Féin is not prepared to countenance any dilution or erosion of the Good Friday Agreement – that remains the objective of the DUP.”
Sinn Féin and the nationalist SDLP have clashed with the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists over changes they want to the operation of the multi-party power-sharing government at Stormont.
The DUP has been pressing for mechanisms which would make power-sharing ministers more accountable for their decisions to cabinet colleagues and enable the Assembly to overturn unpopular decisions.
Nationalists have argued that what the DUP really wants is to exercise a veto over the work of other parties’ ministers.
They have also accused the DUP of trying to limit the scope of and stymie the work of cross-border institutions involving Stormont ministers and their Government counterparts.
Mr Adams said tonight the British and Irish governments had to understand in the current negotiations to restore power sharing that there was no middle line between the Good Friday Agreement and the anti-Agreement position of the Democratic Unionists.
“It is their responsibility to defend the core fundamentals and principles of the Agreement and to make it clear that they cannot be changed,” he argued.
“Therefore, if there is to be a deal then the two governments need to drive the process forward while making it clear that any deal must be within the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
“If the DUP do not accept this reality, then the pro-Agreement majority, including the two governments, need to move on.
“The DUP cannot be allowed to paralyse the process of change.”
Meanwhile, in a speech tonight to party colleagues in Bangor, North Down, DUP Assembly member George Dawson challenged claims that his party had shifted on to the policies once put forward by David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists.
The East Antrim MLA told colleagues: “The DUP is determined that the situation created by the Ulster Unionists is turned around.
“We are also seeing a remarkable turnaround of confidence amongst the unionist community since the defeatists and the defeated of the UUP were swept aside.
“Our policies have turned governments and other parties around. All that is to be welcomed.
“In recent days much has been made of our statement that the fundamentals of the Agreement, as outlined to us by the British government, are not in conflict with DUP policy.
“Our opponents have seized on this and cried U-turn. But what is the truth of the matter?
“Our opponents have strangely and conveniently forgotten that this was not always the government’s position.
“Once upon a time government, and the pro-Agreement parties’ stance was that we had to take the Agreement, the whole Agreement and nothing but the Agreement.
“Northern Ireland, it seemed, possess the only constitution in the world that was not able to be changed, they argued.
“That position has now noticeably changed. Now it is just the fundamentals that remain.”
