Mitchell McLaughlin, Hopes both sides will "cross the Rubicon"
Ken Maginnis, "Success depends on governments underwriting what is promised"
The Sinn Féin Chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, has said that he cannot comment on the timetable for decommissioning, but that he expects Ireland is poised to see a new era of peace, democracy and stability. Speaking on RTE Radio 1 today, Mr McLaughlin said he expected Martin McGuinness and Barbara de Bruin to sit at the same table, in a devolved government, with David Trimble. He also admitted that there were difficulties, saying Sinn Féin were out on a limb. He added, however, that if David Trimble appears at talks tomorrow with a definitive "Yes" from Unionists, he would get a definitive "Yes" from Sinn Féin.
Speaking on BBC Television earlier today, Mitchel McLaughlin indicated that the pro-agreement parties would take a decisive step in the search for peace when the Mitchell Review resumes tomorrow. Mr McLaughlin said he believed that both sides would cross the Rubicon, and that he is hopeful that a breakthrough will be made within the next 48 hours. Mr McLaughlin refused to be drawn on reports that a plan, drawn up at the Stormont talks, envisages the start of IRA decommissioning in late January and its completion four months later. On the Armagh Louth border this afternoon Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness also refused to comment on the reports.
The Ulster Unionist security spokesman Ken Maginnis today said that his party can guarantee a fully inclusive government if a deal is reached with Sinn Féin. However, he said the success of the talks process would depend on the extent to which the two governments, and President Clinton were prepared to unequivocally underwrite what was being promised. Mr Maginnis called for clarity and certainty as his party struggles to decide if it will accept the deal on the table from Republicans when the parties go back to Stormont tomorrow. He said his party cannot gamble with the future.
The British Prime Minister has called on northern politicians to make every effort to reach agreement on a peace deal when they meet at Stormont tomorrow. Tony Blair said it was a very critical and important moment in the talks process and, for the first time, it was possible to envisage the Catholic and Protestant communities growing up in harmony together. Speaking in South Africa where he is attending a Commonwealth Summit, he said the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and many others involved in the talks have shown incredible courage, vision and determination.
