Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said that the British government must confront Unionism if the Good Friday Agreement is to be saved. Speaking ahead of his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday, Mr Adams accused Downing Street of sacrificing parts of the agreement to shore up the position of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble.
Yesterday, Mr Adams said that Mr Trimble made a tactical mistake by banning Sinn Féin ministers cross-border ministerial meetings. The Sinn Féin president said, however, he was still prepared to give Mr Trimble the benefit of the doubt. “I think he made a tactical mistake but I'm still prepared to believe he wants this process to work,” he commented.
At the same time, Mr Trimble conceded that the tactic of barring tactic may not force the IRA to move on decommissioning. In a BBC radio interview yesterday, the Ulster Unionist leader said that it was the only option available to him in his attempts to persuade the IRA to begin re-engaging with the decommissioning body. Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness warned, however, that Mr Trimble's strategy could bring about a crisis.
