Talks close without agreement

When the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, suspended the Northern Ireland assembly in February 2000, it took a statement from the IRA that it was willing to put its weapons "completely and verifiably" beyond use to restart the devolution process.

That was in May last year. More than a year later that remains the position -- IRA "willingness" but nothing that demonstrates to the satisfaction of Unionists that weapons have actually been made unavailable.

First Minister David Trimble resigned two weeks ago, he said, to bring things to a head. Today, after five days of the crisis talks triggered by his resignation, Mr. Trimble admitted he was not optimistic that there was any progress on decomissioning.

[The IRA] have to deliver the peace that so many hoped the Agreement would bring about.

David Trimble, Ulster Unionist Party Leader

For Unionists, decommissioning remains the priority. But for Sinn Fein, removing what might be called "the British dimension" from policing and security is top of the agenda.

Republicans want the Patten commission report on changes to Northern Ireland's police implemented, not the law already in parliament which, they say, does not satisfy nationalist concerns.

Sinn Fein's Barbre De Bruin came out of the talks this afternoon to say that her side could not do anything about IRA weapons, but the British government must do more to implement other aspects of the agreement.

What we're seeing on policing is very, very far short of Patten and far short of what we need to see in the Good Friday Agreement

Sinn Fein representative, Barbre De Brun

Seamus Mallon, Northern Ireland's deputy First Minister until David Trimble's resignation, gives his view of why the talks have failed to achieve closure and what outstanding issues remain to be resolved.

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