“There are certain bedrock principles of the Good Friday accord that can’t be touched,” he said to reporters at the U.S. State Department last week, while discussing his recent trip to Belfast and London.
Reiss outlined plans for his involvement in the review process with two more trips to Belfast scheduled in the next few months and the White House anticipating the arrival of all the major players here for St. Patrick’s Day next month.
Reiss said when talks resume Feb. 23, the parties must work with one another.
“The DUP has to behave in a much more responsible manner than they ever have before,” he said.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity to revamp the agreement would be in the area of decommissioning, he indicated. According to the envoy, previous acts of decommissioning had a “lack of transparency” needed to be considered truly successful.
He said both he and General John de Chastelain have met and concurred that the current outlined method to rid Northern Ireland of paramilitary weapons was lacking.
“The current arrangement for decommissioning doesn’t create the requisite trust, it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do,” he added.
When asked about the Cory report, he said he has told British officials that the report examining allegations of collusion in eight controversial killings needed to be released “sooner than later.”
Reiss said when the review resumes next week, Washington will follow it closely, and that they hope when the parties come here for St. Patrick’s Day there will be the possibility for a breakthrough.
“If we think a certain party needs a bit of encouragement, a slap on the back, we’ll try and deliver that message as clearly as we can,” he said.
Prior to meeting with reporters, Reiss had met with a delegation representing a number of Irish-American organizations.
The meeting focused heavily on the issue of policing in Northern Ireland with Reiss answering questions from Ned McGinley, national president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Steve McCabe of the Brehon Law Society, and Fr. Sean McManus of the Irish National Caucus.
“I was very impressed by Dr. Reiss. He seemed very well informed and
very open, with no axe to grind. He is an ideal replacement for his
distinguished predecessor, Richard Haass,” McManus said after the meeting.