Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STORMONT CRISIS: TALKS COLLAPSE NO! NO! NO!
PM believes basis for an agreement still exists Enforced Irish language Civil service job quota Agreement from Arlene Sinn Fein reveals details of deal & claims DUP were ready to sign
THE Prime Minister has insisted the basis for an agreement to save Stormont still exists.
Theresa May spoke with DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou Mcdonald and Michelle O’neill on Thursday night.
She has faced criticism for her intervention in the talks on Monday, with the DUP claiming her arrival at Stormont proved to be a “distraction” that stalled momentum in the process.
A No 10 spokeswoman said yesterday: “The Prime Minister spoke to the leaders of Sinn Fein and the DUP on the phone earlier this evening about the recent phase of political talks in Northern Ireland.
DISAPPOINTMENT
“In both phone calls the Prime Minister expressed her disappointment that an agreement had not yet been reached despite recent progress being made by all involved.
“She reiterated how the Government remains absolutely committed to restoring an Executive.
“It is still her firm belief that restoring the devolved government – so that democratically-elected politicians can make locally accountable decisions – is in the best interests of everyone in Northern Ireland.
“She urged them both to reflect on the recent phase of talks in order to find the best way forward.” SINN Fein has outlined details of a draft deal to restore Stormont power-sharing which it insists was struck with the DUP before they pulled the plug on negotiations.
Mary Lou Mcdonald accused Arlene Foster’s party of welching on an agreement that would have ended the impasse that has left Northern Ireland without a functioning government for 13 months.
She said: “We understood above all else that we had a deal. We understood we had landed on a respectful, workable accommodation.”
But the DUP has dismissed the claims as “propaganda”, with Ms Foster also rejecting suggestions she was over-ruled when she presented the mooted accord to colleagues, branding the theory as “rubbish”.
She also denied Sinn Fein claims a free-standing Irish Language Act was part of any draft deal.
Insisting it was present in the text, Ms Mcdonald accused some critics of deliberately misrepresenting its contents to whip up fears among unionists by claiming Irish would be forced on people.
She said: “Shame on you for so deliberately misrepresenting a good measure, an inclusive measure in a way that would cause such levels of concern or even distress among our unionist citizens.” Ms Mcdonald added there was a need to dispel “mistruths and inaccuracies” about what it contained.
She said: “It did not involve at any stage making Irish compulsory or applying quotas to public services. This was not a consideration. The newly-elected party president said the ill-fated “draft agreement” was struck late last week adding: “At that time we advised the DUP leadership the deal should be closed before those opposed to it could unpick what we had achieved. “We made it clear if there was a delay the package would unravel.” Ms Mcdonald claimed the DUP’S attitude shifted on Monday to one of “disengagement” before Sinn Fein challenged its negotiators on what was going on after crashing talks on Wednesday. She said: “It was at that juncture the DUP faltered.”
The Republic’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said it was “hard to know” what went wrong at the talks but the focus has to be on getting them back on track, adding: “The parties were very close to accommodating each other on Friday.” Mr Coveney said any alternative to a deal “is bad news for everybody – unionism, nationalism and both governments – and so we will work hard to avoid that happening”.