'Everyone must play their part' urges Secretary of State

The Secretary of State has urged everyone involved in the political process to "play their part in full" if devolution is to be restored, ahead of Thursday's roundtable talks at Stormont.

The talks, jointly chaired by Secretary of State Paul Murphy and the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Tom Kitt, on how to progress the outstanding issues of the agreement will be attended by Alliance Party, Sinn Fein, SDLP and Women's Coalition representatives.

But it is not yet clear whether UUP leader David Trimble will attend. He has called for clarification over allegations that republicans were involved in compiling dossiers on Fianna Fail candidates in key constituencies during last year's general election. It is understood that he will base his decision to attend on a response from the Irish government on the allegations. Sinn Fein have strongly denied any knowledge the reports.

However, the Secretary of State emphasised the importance of everyone taking part.

"These talks are important," said Mr Murphy. "Parties should take the opportunity to talk with each other and with the two governments, about the issues that we all know have to be resolved."

Mr Murphy said that the government's objective was to "restore devolution as soon as possible" and in order to achieve this all parties must "play their part in full".

Elsewhere, at a conference in the US yesterday, former Education Minister Martin McGuinness once again urged the British government to reinstate the devolved institutions. He also warned that Sinn Fein would not engage in any future talks designed to renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement – talks which the DUP have been calling for in recent weeks.

Mr McGuinness said: "Those institutions need to be put back in place urgently. We are currently engaged in negotiations in an attempt to achieve this and I have no doubt that, if there is the political will to work together, we can find a way forward."

The Sinn Fein chief negotiator said that for progress to be made the agreement must be implemented in full, policing must be resolved and demilitarisation must take place on all sides.

Sounding a more positive note, Mr McGuinness added that "in a relatively short period of time", the political landscape has been transformed and there is the "hope, if not the certainty, that the failures and injustices of the past can be addressed effectively so that they will never be repeated".

(GMcG)