Peace process on agenda during Dublin meetings

Secretary of State Paul Murphy is scheduled to meet separately with both Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern and Justice Minister Michael McDowell in Dublin today to discuss the current position in the peace process.

It follows last week’s meetings with representatives from the DUP, Ulster Unionist Party and Alliance after the Secretary of State made a statement in the House of Commons on the Northern Bank robbery.

Mr Murphy said he backed Chief Constable Hugh Orde’s assessment that the IRA was behind the robbery and that such news was “deeply damaging” to the peace process.

"The Chief Constable’s public remarks were necessarily constrained by the ongoing investigation,” Mr Murphy said. “He has briefed me fully on the background which led him to make the statement he did. I have no doubt that the Chief Constable’s opinion is well-founded. He did not rush to judgement.”

Meanwhile, DUP MP for Strangford, Iris Robinson, has called for the political process to move on without Sinn Fein saying “democratic parties should not be held back from participating in democratic structures” following last week’s revelations.

“The government must not allow Sinn Fein/IRA to thwart the return of democratic institutions to Northern Ireland any longer,” Mrs Robinson said. “The Northern Bank robbery has illustrated their insincerity about ceasing paramilitary and criminal activity and the DUP stance during negotiations has now been vindicated.”

However, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has again said he believed IRA denials that they were not involved in the robbery.

"If the IRA had been involved... there would have been a defining moment in Sinn Fein's leadership's work with the IRA,” Mr McGuinness said.

"It would have been totally and absolutely unacceptable to me."

The Democratic Unionist Party has called for the removal of allowances and privileges at Westminster from Sinn Fein's four MPs as a result of last week’s allegations.

(MB)