Durkan clashes with Hain over UVF

Mark Durkan led the delegation at the Stormont talks

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has clashed with the Northern Ireland Secretary over the state of the UVF ceasefire.

Mr Durkan, in a reference to UVF violence, claimed Peter Hain had "literally let the paramilitaries get away with murder this summer".

He said the failure of the government to declare the UVF ceasefire invalid was "unacceptable".

Mr Hain, however, said he would not be rushed into "any quick-fix judgements" on the ceasefire.

He said his main concern was stopping the "murder, crime and violence".

"You don't necessarily do that by quick procedural fixes. They are an option and I will consider all the options, including the question of specification," he said.

Mr Durkan had earlier led an SDLP delegation to discuss recent riots and loyalist violence with Mr Hain.

The Independent Monitoring Commission has forwarded a special report on the loyalist feud to the government.

The outlawed UVF has been linked to four recent murders as well as rioting in north Belfast.

It was blamed after petrol bombs, bricks and bottles were hurled at police and vehicles set on fire in the loyalist Woodvale area on Monday.

The government has come under pressure to "specify" the organisation, which would mean a statement that it no longer recognised its ceasefire.

'Indifference'

At a meeting with the IMC on Friday, SDLP assembly member Dolores Kelly said her party had urged that an IMC report on the ceasefire be published earlier than the planned date of mid-October.

"The main thrust of the meeting was the UVF ceasefire that doesn't exist and everyone else seems to be ignoring it," she said, adding that her party was pressing for immediate action.

In a recent interview, Mr Durkan accused the secretary of state of acting with "indifference" towards the UVF ceasefire.

In July, Mr Hain said he intended to withhold the PUP's assembly allowances for another year.

The decision followed the latest report from the paramilitary ceasefire watchdog, which said the UVF and Red Hand Commando remained active, violent and involved in organised crime.

The IMC was set up by the British and Irish governments in January 2004.

It was seen as a crucial element of the two governments' plans for restoring devolution, which was suspended in October 2002 amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the Northern Ireland Office.