Paisley describes Dublin talks as ‘useful’

DUP leader Ian Paisley has described his party’s historic meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern as “useful”.

Dr Paisley led a DUP delegation to Dublin on Thursday as talks continue in an effort to secure a deal which will get devolution up and running in Northern Ireland for the first time in two years.

Following yesterday’s meeting, the North Antrim MP said: “We welcome the opportunity to meet with the Irish Prime Minister and during our meeting we had a useful exchange of views regarding the problems at the present time.

“Following on from the Leeds Castle talks, we pledged that we would continue discussions on the political institutions and the necessity to bring about changes to them.

“We are working towards a settlement for all the people of Northern Ireland and in so doing we wish to build a relationship with our neighbour that is practically based rather than politically motivated. No-one has anything to fear from an accountable North-South relationship.”

Dr Paisley said his party also restated its view that the IRA must relinquish all its guns and “be out of business for good”.

“We have not seen any IRA offer and we have indicated to Mr Ahern that more work will be needed in this area,” he said.

“There can be no toleration of terror in any form. The DUP is in the business of delivering a better way forward for the people of Northern Ireland and we will continue to pursue the principles endorsed by the unionist community."

Meanwhile, new Irish foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern has said that any political deal in Northern Ireland must ensure all paramilitarism disappears forever.

Speaking in his first full-length radio interview on Northern Ireland since his appointment on Wednesday, Mr Ahern described the meeting with the DUP as “significant” and that he had been impressed with their “genuine desire to resolve remaining problems in the process”.

“I don't want to be too specific but we have to make sure first of all that paramilitarism from all shades, from all sectors, is finalised and put aside and all weapons are decommissioned in as short a timescale as possible," he told BBC NI's the Good Morning Ulster on Friday.

Mr Ahern also confirmed that he would be sitting down to further talks with Paul Murphy once the Secretary of State had recovered from illness which resulted in him collapsing at this week’s Labour Party conference.

(MB/GMCG)