Dr Paisley...Deal or No Deal
The seven parties that won seats in the Northern Irish Assembly are meeting for talks in St. Andrews for the rest of the week. This is probably the last change saloon for the Assmebly which has been in suspension since 14 October 2002.
The parties have until 24 November to come to an agreement on power-sharing or else the whole process will be mothballed. As this would be the third time that an attempted devolved Northern Irish assembly would fail these talks take on added importance.
Will there be progress this time? It is hard to tell howver the signs are looking up. Last week it was announced that the IRA are now incapable of carrying out a sustained campaign. Then earlier this week the Rev Dr Ian Paisley sat down to talk with the Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland Archbishop Sean Brady.
Two big questions need to be answered. Is it possible that Sinn Féin will accept the Northern Ireland Police Service. If they do, is Dr Paisley's DUP party ready to share power with Sinn Féin? If the answers to both questions is yes than this Friday could be even bigger news than the Friday that the Belfast Agreement was signed.
Romours that Noel Edmonds is heading to Fife with a van load of boxes waiting to ask his famous question are according to sources totally unfounded.
picture hattip to Brother's Bar
I think turning up to Northern Ireland talks with 22 sealed boxes would likely cause a security alert...
ReplyDeleteNeed to turn up with them open and sealed before an independent adjudicator. Does anyone know where Bill Clinton disappeared to after the LAbour conference?
ReplyDelete