February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Agreement seems probable, then still possible. Then it fades only to return to the realm of possibility in revamped form.
Welcome to the world of Northern Ireland political talks. For those who have observed this phenomenon over the years, there was little point in attempting to predict exactly what might happen at Leeds Castle in Kent based on the utterances of politicians, government officials and journalists supposedly in the know.
Quite frankly, nobody knows what might happen because there has been, in recent years, an aspect to talks about Northern Ireland that seems responsive to hitherto unseen or unheralded gestures, inferences and nuances.
The contrasting outcomes are invariably clear at the outset: peace, political stability, paramilitary disarmament and something approaching normalcy for the people living in the Six Counties; or there is the possibility of stalemate, deadlock and outright collapse.
No slight on some of the participants intended here, but Northern Ireland political talks can be more opaque in form than the election of a pope. But they are no less potentially spectacular in their outcome, as the Good Friday agreement clearly demonstrated.
“Never been closer” is how the DUP leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, sees the present state of the resumed talks. But closer to what? All the parties have slightly different versions of a successful outcome in mind, with Sinn Fein holding the high ground by insisting that the Good Friday agreement not allowed to be gutted.
Still, the sealing of the deal this time will be heavily dependent on the ability of each party to accept something that is a little less than perfect in their respective worlds. In other words, what should be aimed for is a deal based on humdrum everyday political compromise.
It is to be hoped that the parties will finally, collectively, seize the moment and seal this deal. Any gripes that remain can be worked out later within the workings of a resumed elected assembly.