David Trimble has given Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair two weeks to save the Good Friday Agreement. The Ulster Unionist leader repeated his threat to resign as the First Minister in Northern Ireland at the end of the month unless there was a start to IRA decommissioning. He said that his patience was now at an end. He was speaking after talks in Downing Street involving the pro-Agreement parties.
However, the Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, said that the dispute over decommissioning is unlikely to be resolved in time to prevent the resignation of Mr Trimble. Mr Adams criticised the First Minister's threat to resign. He said that for a British government to be seen to bend to threats and ultimatums was entirely counter productive and wrong.
Seamus Mallon of the SDLP, arriving in Downing Street, said that the peace process was in very big trouble. The Northern Secretary, John Reid, said that he hoped Mr Trimble would not feel that he had to step down. He added, however, that the question of resignation was a matter for Mr Trimble.
The talks today, in the difficult post election atmosphere, were frank and at times bruising. Mr Trimble set the tone by insisting as he arrived that he intended to carry out his resignation threat on 1 July. Mr Adams said that it was his view that there would be no movement on arms by then. The First Minister countered by predicting that that would throw the process into crisis.
The two governments tried to assess what progress was possible. The new political reality was illustrated by the presence of anti-Agreement MP Jeffrey Donaldson, a possible successor to David Trimble, on the Unionist team. The very real uncertainty about his hold on his party has thrown a new and unwelcome element into the equation for the governments.
Mr Ahern said afterwards that he would like more time but that the deadline imposed by Mr Trimble was in alignment with his own view that matters had to be settled by the start of the marching season. He had to concede he had heard nothing from Republicans to suggest they would begin to dispose of arms. Mr Ahern pointedly reminded them that they had made a pledge on the issue over a year ago now.
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said on Morning Ireland today that it was the responsibility of the British Prime Minister to defend the Good Friday Agreement. However, Jeffrey Donaldson said that the British government and the other parties had bent over backwards to accommodate Sinn Féin and the IRA.
