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DUP keeps cards close to chest

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

The party has agreed to meet the Irish government and insists that its political agenda will gain the support of nationalists as well as unionists – while failing to give precise details of what it wants.
After winning three more seats that the erstwhile largest party in unionism, the Ulster Unionists, the DUP is in the driving seat – but what it intends doing with its newfound power is far from clear.
The first signs of a new, tougher policy came this week, however, when the DUP deputy leader, Peter Robinson, warned that his party’s joining in a review of the Good Friday agreement should not be taken for granted.
Robinson said that would depend on the content of the talks, which must include issues such as North-South relations, policing and equality. Unless these fundamental principles were up for renegotiation, he said, the DUP wouldn’t be at the table
Robinson said British Prime Minister Tony Blair must recognize that things had changed and a new agreement was needed. “He invested everything that he had – his credibility, his time and his energy – into an agreement that’s failed,” he said.
The DUP is still adamantly refusing to speak to Sinn Fein and is insisting on renegotiating some of the key principles of the Good Friday agreement, including the all-Ireland ministerial council.
It said it will meet the Irish government within two months and restore devolution within a year, but it will only speak to Dublin about “matters of mutual interest,” not “internal” government within Northern Ireland.
While the DUP will not negotiate with Sinn Fein, it will submit papers to British ministers on which they may consult Sinn Fein – a kind of “proximity” talks through third parties.
The DUP, as far as can be ascertained, wants a method of government in which powers would be devolved to the Assembly (with its unionist majority) and not to ministers.
The Assembly could then suspend ministers if the paramilitary groups, to which they are deemed to be linked, are accused of misbehaving in any way.
There would also be a weakening of the power of cross-border bodies, including the North-South Ministerial Council, along with its six associated committees and the six implementation bodies.
Such proposals are, in effect, the rewriting of the central principles underlying the Good Friday agreement and are likely to be unacceptable to nationalists.
An alternative to more months of negotiations could come if Sinn Fein and the pro-agreement faction within the UUP, led by Trimble, reach a behind-the-scenes deal.
Senior Ulster Unionist spokesman Michael McGimpsey has already accused the DUP of failing to deliver. “Over a week has passed since the election and the DUP’s magic formula is as elusive as ever,” he said.
“We warned people that the DUP’s campaign was a fraud, that their ideas lacked detail, focus and political meat.
Robinson replied that the DUP’s lack of clarity was a deliberate bargaining ploy.
“The debacle over the latest dodgy deal between Sinn Fein/IRA and the UUP proved, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that the UUP are useless negotiators.”
And he added that they didn’t keep their promises to the people. “Who could forget their vow of ‘no guns, no government,'” he said.
The Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, said that “as republicans well know, with an increased mandate comes an increased responsibility to use it wisely. The DUP need to reflect upon this.
“The DUP who are now in the political leadership of unionism, and who are refusing to engage with our party, have to reflect upon the message they are sending to the violent wing of unionism,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Donaldson, UUP leader David Trimble’s internal arch critic, is considering his future and may eventually join the DUP. Those opposed to Donaldson are understood to be planning a possible coup by calling a meeting of the party’s ruling council to expel him.

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