THE BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown held separate talks with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and with DUP Finance Minister Peter Robinson yesterday as efforts continued last night to try to ensure that Sinn Féin accommodates the election tomorrow of Mr Robinson as First Minister.
British, Irish and Northern political sources said the brinkmanship between Sinn Féin and the DUP could be resolved ahead of tomorrow’s scheduled formal election of Mr Robinson as First Minister to replace Ian Paisley and the re-election of Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.
But disquiet remained that the current dispute over Sinn Féin’s claims that its concerns on a number of issues are not being properly addressed by the DUP could yet escalate into a political crisis.
Mr Adams left Downing Street after yesterday morning’s meeting with Mr Brown without speaking to the press. A senior Sinn Féin source said he could not say whether the party would facilitate the election of Mr Robinson in the Assembly chamber tomorrow. “I don’t know is the answer,” he said.
Yesterday evening at Westminster Mr Robinson held talks with Mr Brown. A DUP spokesman said this meeting was pre-arranged to discuss jobs and investment but that the row with Sinn Féin was also discussed. Other contacts involving Dublin, London and Sinn Féin and DUP politicians also took place to try to head off a crisis with the fledgling Northern Executive and Assembly.
Assembly elections could be triggered if the election of Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness does not proceed tomorrow, as scheduled. If Sinn Féin blocks the election the parties will have seven days to resolve the issue. Thereafter, Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward must decide whether to call Assembly elections or to dissolve the Assembly and revert to the so-called Plan B option – a return to British direct rule with an enhanced role for Dublin.
At Stormont yesterday Mr McGuinness refused to say if this dispute would worsen. “We are at this moment involved in discussions to deal with the outstanding issues connected to the St Andrews Agreement,” he said.
Sinn Féin is threatening to block tomorrow’s elections because it complains the DUP is preventing movement on the devolution of policing and justice, the Irish language, a stadium at the Maze and a replacement for the Eleven Plus.
When Mr Robinson was formally elected the new DUP leader on Saturday he said he was prepared to enter into negotiations to address these concerns. A DUP spokesman last night said that commitment remained on the table. He indicated, however, that it too would have issues such as parading and other matters to negotiate with Sinn Féin.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the deadlock illustrated that Sinn Féin had effectively handed the DUP a veto on progress during the St Andrews Agreement talk.
Ulster Unionist deputy leader Danny Kennedy said the ground was being created for “mini St Andrews” talks to resolve outstanding problems.
