UUP deny 'walking away' as NI blame game proceeds

Although Sinn Féin have accused the Ulster Unionist Party of "walking away" from the peace process, the UUP deny this and have sought to disengage from "blame game politics" as the decommissioning row rumbles on.

Sinn Fein representative Alex Maskey said that while the recent dialogue between the UUP and Sinn Féin was, in itself, a hugely important development, there was a belief that "the UUP have effectively walked away for this phase of the process".

"We had an agreement; an agreed and choreographed series of statements and events to give expression to that and David Trimble committed himself to this in the discussions between the UUP, Sinn Féin and the two governments," the former Lord Mayor of Belfast said.

"Sinn Féin delivered our part of this sequence as agreed. The IRA delivered their part of the agreement as agreed. General de Chastelein presided over a substantive act of putting arms beyond use and reported this. Others did not fulfil their part as agreed.

"Instead the UUP put up new demands. We have spent the days since then trying to find a way through this. But this must be set firmly in the context of what has already been agreed between the UUP, the British Government, the Irish Government and Sinn Fein.

"However, I believe that the UUP have effectively walked away for this phase of the process. I could be wrong. I hope that I am wrong."

However, in a statement the UUP rejected Mr Maskey's claims. An Ulster Unionist spokesman said: “The Ulster Unionist Party has not walked away. We have made our position clear to Republicans, as we did before Tuesday’s sequence was run.

“During exchanges over the weekend, Ulster Unionists also made proposals to Republicans, to which we hope there will be a positive response.

“If Republicans are committed to finding a solution, they need to focus on what is required from them to get things back on track and spend less time indulging in the ‘blame game’ on the airwaves and in newspaper columns.”

(MB)