Republicans seeking 'peaceful summer'

Mark Devenport
BBC Northern Ireland political editor

Under pressure from the British and Irish governments to end IRA paramilitary activity, republicans say they are concerned that the DUP intends to play the political process long.

A senior Sinn Fein source said the government appeared to be "mesmerised by the DUP" and was in danger of replacing its "Save Dave" approach to the Ulster Unionist Party with an "Appease Paisley" attitude.

Speaking after the latest talks hosted by Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern at Hillsborough Castle, the source argued that the current review of the Good Friday Agreement was only ever capable of dealing with housekeeping matters.

The International Monitoring Commission report is due by Easter

The governments should now create a new structure which could help promote dialogue.

"The DUP will engage," the source argued, "but it's a matter of when. If the DUP is left to its own devices, we will all be Ian Paisley's age before there's any progress."

Republicans are openly dismissive of a report from the Independent Monitoring Commission due to be published by Easter.

The report is expected to put the IRA in the dock over the alleged abduction of dissident republican Bobby Tohill from a Belfast bar.

The senior party source said the report "isn't worth the paper it will be written on" and that sanctions against republicans would not enhance the possibility of political progress.

Unionists have called for a range of sanctions against republicans over recent alleged IRA activity, including Sinn Fein's temporary exclusion from the Stormont review or a re-examination of the cases of paramilitary prisoners released on licence from jail.

However, both British and Irish officials are playing down the chances of Sinn Fein facing any specific punishments in the wake of the IMC report.

Instead, government sources indicate that the "naming and shaming" of paramilitary-linked parties might serve a purpose in its own right.

Questioned about the future of IRA activity, the senior Sinn Fein source said that if the peace process works "the reality is that you're going to see an end to the IRA".

The logic of a conflict resolution process was that "all the combatants would cease to be".

Sinn Fein has come under pressure from President Bush

The source said republicans will be working very hard to ensure that the summer is quiet.

Last summer's peaceful marching season represented the accumulation of five years work involving republicans, loyalists and unionist politicians.

"We want it to be quiet. We are going to endeavour, and we have already put in place, efforts to ensure that that is the case this year."

Sinn Fein came under pressure from President Bush in Washington this month to accept the police service and take places on the Policing Board.

However, the source said republicans were not contemplating any unilateral action on policing.

But the source added that "you wouldn't have to wait until you get the actual transfer" of policing and justice powers to a devolved assembly before there could be forward movement.

The senior republican was open to a "time-framed programme of change" on policing provided Sinn Fein were convinced that any commitments made by the government were irreversible and would not be reneged before their delivery.