New effort to resolve NI impasse

The British and Irish Governments are to start work on gaining agreement between the parties in the six-week breathing space created by the Northern Ireland Assembly's suspension.

Although the assembly is currently in recess for the summer, the work in its departments will begin again on Monday following the restoration of devolution.

The pro-Agreement parties were given another six weeks to try and find a way of breaking the deadlock in the political process, when Northern Ireland secretary John Reid suspended the assembly for 24 hours from Friday at midnight to the same time on Saturday.

The suspension was carried out, Dr John Reid said, to "buy time" to save the peace process.

Dr Reid said the parties were tantalisingly close to a peace deal.

The pro-Agreement parties are still struggling to find a resolution on the issues of decommissioning, policing, demilitarisation and concerns about the stability of the political institutions.

However, Sinn Fein warned on Sunday that the IRA's offer to put its weapons beyond use may have been jeopardised by the assembly's suspension.

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Speaking at a rally in west Belfast marking the 20th anniversary of the Hunger Strike on Sunday, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said that over the next six weeks the British Government and the unionists were going to put pressure on republicans to move under their terms.

The party's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said the Ulster Unionists' rejection of the offer may also have caused a "serious situation".

'Work undermined'

The assembly's suspension sparked fury among republicans, and there are fears the IRA might respond by breaking off contact with General John de Chastelain's decommissioning body.

Speaking on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost on Sunday, Mr McGuinness said the work achieved had been undermined by the refusal of the Ulster Unionists to accept the statement by the decommissioning body which said the IRA had a "satisfactory" plan to put weapons "completely and verifiably beyond use".

Over the next six weeks I fully intend to tackle the questions which some people say are the stumbling blocks

Dr John Reid

"Unfortunately we saw a week that began with the momentous announcement by the chair of the independent body on decommissioning and end with the suspension of the people's institutions," he said.

"The unionist rejection of General de Chastelain's declaration and the suspension of the institutions may have caused a serious situation.

"It may, in fact, have jeopardised the very important development of earlier in the week."

However, speaking on the same programme, Dr Reid said he "fervently believed" the issues could be resolved.

He said he would be "deeply disappointed if the IRA walked away from agreements recently made".

But he insisted there had to be movement on the issue of decommissioning illegal weapons.

"It is possible for us to tackle the longest running problem in British and Irish history," he said.

"I wish we hadn't found ourselves in the situation we did, but given the options that were in front of me - between an election with a long period of disruption or a prolonged suspension - I took the third way.

Stumbling blocks

"This was basically to give more time, to give peace a chance and to buy more time.

"Over the next six weeks I fully intend to tackle the questions which some people say are the stumbling blocks.

"These are the policing reforms, the non-publication of the implementation plan - which has now been shown to the parties - so we have a good idea on the basis of the draft what should be in that, the criminal justice review and so on."