'Game is up for republican movement' says Trimble

UUP leader David Trimble has said that "the game is up for the republican movement" and has demanded 'acts of completion' on decommissioning and disbandment before the peace process can be put back on track.

Mr Trimble comments follow on from the latest round of talks involving US special adviser Richard Haass over three days last week. Mr Haass spoke of the need for "bold steps" which must be taken if the process is to move forward.

How these "bold steps" will be achieved is unclear, with Sinn Fein's leadership appearing to offer conflicting messages on the prospects of such moves being taken by republicans.

In a BBC interview last Thursday, Martin McGuinness called for a "mechanism" that would allow all the main protagonists to "jump together" on all the remaining issues outstanding from the Good Friday Agreement.

However, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams subsequently told a meeting of party members that the time was not right for a big gesture from the IRA. He went on to call for the British government to "honour its obligations".

But in an interview with the News Letter today, Mr Trimble said that the obstacle to full implementation of the Agreement was "continued paramilitary activity".

He said: "The game is up. The game of playing politics by day and other things by night is over. It has to be over. Let us have no beating about the bush about this."

Mr Trimble said that after four months of suspension of the Assembly there had been little progress towards resolving the political impasse.

"The republican movement has not had the courage to take the decision they should have taken years ago. It was the cause of the crisis of confidence and needed to be resolved completely and cleanly and openly," he added.

Despite speculation on an outline deal this week, Mr Trimble maintained that it was still too early to tell if agreement can be achieved.

(GMcG)