CONCERN was expressed yesterday that the political peace process in Northern Ireland might grind to a halt until the middle of next year amid fears of an escalation in republican and loyalist violence.
Amid uncertainty and anxiety about the next moves of the IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries, and with the INLA hovering in the wings, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Mr David Trimble, signalled that politics would remain deadlocked until next summer.
Mr Trimble said yesterday that it would be "difficult to sustain any serious talks process" in the coming months with Westminster and local elections beckoning.
In an apparent reference to his party's main rival, the DUP, he said that some parties had already been electioneering for the past three months.
He believed that the Westminster election could be called anytime between mid March and early May, which was an impediment to meaningful political movement. "It is difficult to see how there can be a coherent talks process in the middle of an election campaign", he said.
A number of appeals were made yesterday for the paramilitaries to "pull back from the brink".
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, urged paramilitary groupings to "show restraint". Speaking to reporters, he said. "I want to see right across all our sections of our people some sense of this Christmas season, and I want to see people enjoying a peaceful Christmas."
Mr Adams called on all the politicians to fill the current political vacuum and said that people should not allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the events of recent days. He added. "We have to pick up the pieces and try to, put back together a peace process which by now should have been working, but hasn't."
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, said that, despite the concerns and fears, he still believed, an IRA ceasefire was possible if Sinn Fein was allowed to enter the talks process. He accused unionists of being afraid to negotiate in the context of an IRA ceasefire.
"It's coming across that the unionist parties don't seem to want an end to the IRA campaign because it makes it easier for them politically. They know what they are against, but if the IRA campaign ends they have to come to the table and decide what they are for", Mr Hume said in a UTV interview.
The Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, urged the loyalist paramilitaries not to return to tit for tat violence. "I beg them not to go back to the kind of thing which they were doing in the past", he said. "What has brought them great influence in the talks is their restraint. If they go back into tit for tat violence, they will suffer, as will the people of Northern Ireland."
But the decision on who remained in the talks process did not rest with him, Sir Patrick said. It would be for the other parties to determine whether parties with links to loyalist paramilitaries should be allowed to remain at the talks table.
He repeated that, given a credible IRA ceasefire, Sinn Fein could still enter talks, but actions would have to back up any declaration of a ceasefire. "Things have got to stop happening, and over a substantial period of time, so that people can be satisfied that words are for real. Let no one suppose that terrorism in the future will gain any more than it has in the past.
The Northern Secretary emphasised that the talks process was the only means to a political settlement,
Mr Trimble called on the loyalist paramilitaries "not to allow themselves to be provoked into violence". He said it was not yet clear who had carried out the Ardoyne car bomb attack, but if mainstream loyalist groupings were responsible then this would have implications for the continued presence of the fringe loyalist parties in the talks process.
Condemning the Ardoyne car bombing, Mr Trimble added. "The IRA have been trying for months to manipulate the loyalist paramilitaries into violence and it's sad to see that they appear to have succeeded."
The attack on Mr Eddie Copeland had not come as a surprise, he added, "particularly in view of, a very high level of IRA activity over recent months".
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said that the parties associated with the paramilitaries should lose their place at the talks table if loyalist violence resumed. "It is unfortunate that these people have sat at the talks and signed up to the Mitchell principles when they have refused to implement those principles and adopted the attitude that they're not going to decommission weapons.
Dr Paisley said that there should be no more "pandering" to the IRA. "They have chosen to declare themselves dedicated to violence. The time has come for the British government to make a decision and say. You have had your opportunity, you have refused to take it, and that's it."
