Northern Ireland: Peace in whose time?

Where now for the peace process?

In the forthcoming talks at Stormont the question is who will not be there, rather than who will? There were more round table talks held at Stormont this week but the table didn't have to be very big as none of the Unionist parties took part.

The only parties sitting at the table were Sinn Fein, the SDLP, the Women's Coalition and the Alliance Party. No breakthroughs in the peace process were expected.

The Ulster Unionist Party, the DUP, the UKUP, the NIUP and the Progressive Unionists all stayed away.

No deal

The Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams warned if progress is to be made in the weeks ahead, then "the British Government needs to pull its socks up."

The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble says the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has told him that the British and Irish Governments still do not have a sellable deal to put to the parties here.

Absence of trust

After talks at the Irish Embassy in London last week, Mr Trimble said that the level of trust amongst unionists is "so low" that this time republicans must jump first.

Mr Trimble said the time scale for selling any deal to unionist grass roots before an assembly election was tight, but he wouldn't be drawn on whether the election should be delayed.

The Politics Show

The Politics Show this weekend asks where now for the peace process? Is a deal in the offing? What's in any proposed deal and what do our politicians mean by "acts of completion"?

What is causing the current impasse? Is it game-on for a deal? Why are we still sitting on the sidelines?

We will report on what is really happening behind the scenes.

We'll be getting under the skin of the current impasse and asking senior party members from Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party whether it is game-on for a deal or are we still sitting on the sidelines?

We want your views

What do you think of the situation? Email us your thoughts below.

That's the Politics Show with Jim Fitzpatrick this Sunday on BBC One at noon.

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