Crucial phase for NI peace process

Political impasse must break for Stormont to have future

The Northern Ireland peace process is entering what could be a decisive phase, with the IRA expected to make a statement on the decommissioning of weapons on Thursday morning.

The international body overseeing paramilitary disarmament in Northern Ireland has said already the IRA's proposal would put its guns "completely and verifiably" beyond use.

But the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble - who says that without actual decommissioning he will not return to power-sharing - wants more details.

There has been no suggestion that the IRA will make any gesture on decommissioning - or that it will go any further than the position outlined to the head of the decommissioning body, General John de Chastelain.

Impasse

Meanwhile, time is running out for the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties to save the Northern Ireland Assembly from collapse.

None of the main parties has fully accepted the British and Irish governments' proposals on the way to break the political impasse.

In order for the Assembly to survive in its current form, the parties must elect a new First and Deputy First Minister on or before Saturday.

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But there are few signs of the parties resolving their differences and therefore no basis - at this stage - for the Assembly meeting to take place.

'Intense crisis'

The British and Irish Governments have put forward proposals on all four outstanding issues - policing, normalisation, the future stability of the institutions and disarmament - in an attempt to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams warned on Wednesday that the Assembly may collapse if the current political deadlock is not broken.

He said the outstanding issues could be sorted out through a process of dialogue and commitment to the Good Friday Agreement".

But he said no-one should "underestimate the intensity of the crisis" in the political process.

The current political crisis was precipitated by the resignation of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble as Northern Ireland first minister on 1 July because the IRA had not begun to disarm.

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, after he led a party delegation to meet the decommissioning body, SDLP Finance Minister Mark Durkan said he hoped the IRA would clarify its position.

Mr Durkan said: "We recognise that the commission's belief is clear that there is now a process in place in relation to IRA decommissioning.

"We also recognise that people outside the commission do not share that belief.

"So we would like to see further progress that would prove to those people with doubts that there is a process underway."