Bertie Ahern, Decommissioning should be completed by May of next year
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has said it is important that all sides get off to a good start at the inaugural meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh tomorrow. In an interview with BBC Television this morning, Mr Ahern said the occasion would mark the first time since partition that politicians North and South worked side by side. Mr Ahern said he did not believe that the prospects for a successful meeting tomorrow had been damaged by claims that a car used by the Sinn Féin leadership had been bugged. And the Taoiseach appealed to the North's security forces to understand the changed political environment. Mr Ahern also said he believed decommissioning would be completed by May of next year. He said the issue was now one for General John de Chastelain, the chairman of the International Panel on Decommissioning.
The two DUP ministers in the Northern Government, Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds, have said they will not attend tomorrow's meeting. They say they regard the body as being part of the nationalist agenda to bring about a united Ireland. The party's deputy leader, Peter Robinson has said he does not see the need for cross border institutions whose only purpose is to bring about a united Ireland. However Mr Robinson, the Minister for Regional Development, said that under certain circumstances, he is prepared to co-operate with the Irish Government. He said DUP policy did not prevent contact with the Irish Republic. The Ulster Unionist Assemblyman Desmond Birney has accused the DUP of not facing up to their responsibilities.
