IRA activities hold up political progress, says Ahern

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that time is running out for the Northern Ireland peace process and that republicans must commit to peace.

Speaking in Derry on a platform shared with former SDLP leader John Hume, Mr Ahern said: "I fully agree with Prime Minister Blair when he says that the people of Northern Ireland want the republican movement to commit to peace, the unionists to commit to power-sharing and for everyone to get on with the job of delivering good governance and a better future for all.

"For that to happen, the republican movement needs to fully understand and accept the imperative of definitively ending – both in words and deeds – the culture of paramilitarism."

Clearly referring to the attempted abduction in Belfast of a dissident republican activist, Mr Ahern said that these "recent events have brought into very sharp relief what was, in any event, the reality for some time. We have reached a bedrock situation in the political process…"

He said: "The continuation of paramilitary activity by the republican movement negates any prospect of achieving inclusive partnership politics in Northern Ireland.

"I believe that the Sinn Fein leadership understand this reality and are working towards achieving that objective of ending paramilitarism. The problem is that time is no longer a friend of the process."

Alluding to "completion" [paramilitary arms decommissioning], Mr Ahern said: "Remedying the deficits of trust and confidence that now exist requires a fast-forwarding to completion - that is the task that all parties of influence must now focus on".

It is understood that yesterday Mr Ahern contacted Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble in a bid to get him to rejoin the ongoing review of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Trimble had earlier met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the current situation and the decision to withdraw from the review process.

Mr Ahern is believed to have told Mr Trimble that there was no political future for Northern Ireland outside of the deal reached in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

In his speech, Mr Ahern sought to remind unionists that they needed "to unequivocally embrace the principle and practice of inclusive partnership politics".

He said: "If these core issues, which are inextricably linked, can be resolved, I believe that Northern Ireland will be on an irreversible path to peace, stability and progress".

(SP)