Govts Could 'Intervene' On Haass

Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore has said the Irish and British governments will intervene if political parties in Northern Ireland fail to reach an agreement on the way forward for flags, parades and the past.

The Foreign Minister and Tánaiste was speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme.

"We are agreed that this is something that both governments will work together on if necessary," he said.

Mr Gilmore's comments follow the failure of Northern Ireland's five main political parties to agree on proposals drawn up by US peace envoy Dr Richard Haass before the New Year deadline.

But the DUP's Gregory Campbell said Mr Gilmore's comments could prove to be "counterproductive".

He said: "He should take the appropriate action which he can take, which is to apologise for the part his country played at the start of the 'troubles' and then think much more carefully before commenting further on these issues."

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said: "Every time I speak to him (Eamon Gilmore), including a recent telephone call, he acknowledges and accepts that flags and parades are effectively strand one issues under the terms of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

"They're internal to the affairs of Northern Ireland and the Republic has no role to play and it's not useful therefore for Eamon Gilmore to make that sort of a statement.

"The idea that the Republic has a role to play in terms of flags and parades is ultra vires because it's strand one and it's internal and it's up to the five parties to sort this out."

But East Derry SDLP Assembly Member John Dallat said Mr Gilmore's comments had given hope to the people of Northern Ireland.

"It is rarely at Sunday Mass anyone has much to say about politics but, today was different; almost a new dawn," he said.

"People who have little or no party affiliation have been delighted by the intervention of the Tanaiste and his comments indicating that the Irish and British governments have recognised the need to intervene in what many people believe is a worsening situation.

"It is foolish for Peter Robinson to believe there can be a return to the north of the past when unionists dictated the pace of progress and created vacuums, which were filled by organisations that have no interest in uniting our people. On the contrary, their stated objectives are to keep people apart for their own selfish interests and that brought too much pain and suffering.

"Hopefully, we can now return to the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and engage with the widest possible spectrum of opinion, rather than pander to those who have nothing to offer other than to encourage the re-emergence of a past, which failed everyone and benefited no one."

(IT/MH)