Appeal Court rules Sinn Féin meeting ban illegal

A bid by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble to overturn a High Court ruling that he acted illegally in banning Sinn Féin ministers from attending North South Ministerial meetings has failed.

In an Appeal Court ruling in Belfast on Friday October 5, Lord Chief Justice Carswell upheld a judgment made earlier this year that the Ulster Unionist party leader had acted unlawfully in preventing Sinn Féin ministers from attending North South Ministerial Council meetings.

Mr Trimble had imposed the ban on Minister for Education Mr Martin McGuinness and Minister for Health Ms Bairbre de Brún in an effort to pressurise the IRA into disarming.

The judge maintained Mr Trimble's reason for imposing the ban - that it was a bid to put pressure on the IRA to begin decommissioning - could not be accepted. Lord Chief Justice Carswell insisted on Friday that fostering north-south links was a crucial strand of the agreement.

"It must follow that as a matter of law it cannot be sustained as a valid exercise of that discretionary power," he said.

Sinn Féin Education Minister Martin McGuinness said: “This judgement should be the spur for the UUP to come back into the political process. They should end the politics of threat, walkout and ultimatum and work with the rest of us to make this process succeed.”

After the ruling Mr Trimble indicated that he was planning to appeal the judgment in the House of Lords.

In a one-line statement issued after the Court of Appeal's ruling, the Ulster Unionists confirmed that former First Minister had instructed his lawyers to advise on bringing a petition before the House of Lords' Appeal Committee. (AMcE)