Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has called on the British and Irish governments to reconvene talks at Downing Street to revive the stalled Northern Ireland peace process. "The two governments should now indicate their intention to reconvene the Downing Street discussions so that the political institutions can be put in place in advance on June 30," he said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has set a June 30 deadline for a settlement before the planned transfer of legislative powers from London to the new power-sharing Belfast government.
Adams said the vacuum created by Trimble's failure to implement the April 1998 peace agreement was being increasingly filled by the violence of extremist Protestants. "Ten men, women and children have died as a result of this intimidation and attacks, including Elizabeth O'Neill on Saturday," a Catholic woman murdered in a bomb attack on her home, said Adams.
"The rejectionists and the right wing of unionism are being allowed to dictate the political agenda, to subvert the peace process and undermine public morale. "This situation needs to be reversed. All of the parties need to be brought together now. Too much time has already been wasted," he added.
