Blair praises Sinn Fein’s ‘remarkable leadership’
Tony Blair has praised Sinn Fein for “one of the most remarkable examples of leadership I have come across” as he urged all parties in Northern Ireland to reach a deal.
The prime minister’s lavish praise for a party once shunned by Westminster politicians comes ahead of Sinn Fein’s special conference tomorrow, which could see it drop its long-standing opposition to policing in the province.
In an article in the Irish Times, Mr Blair said Sinn Fein had been the first to move on many key elements of the St Andrews Agreement, the deal which could see the restoration of power-sharing at the Stormont assembly in March.
And he urged the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to accept this progress and, if tomorrow’s conference results in a pledge of confidence in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), to proceed to a power-sharing government with Sinn Fein.
“I recall time and time again being told – the IRA will never decommission, they will never give up violence, they will never commit to exclusively peaceful means,” the prime minister wrote.
“But they have done all these things. Sinn Fein has demonstrated one of the most remarkable examples of leadership I have come across in modern politics. It has been historic and it has been real.”
Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have been angered by what they perceive to be muted response to their moves to support the PSNI from the DUP. Unionist leader Ian Paisley has insisted on “full and final delivery” from the republicans.
But Mr Blair wrote: “They need to know clearly that if they do make this move; if they hold their ard fheis by the end of January, pass the ard comhairle motion and, as they say they will, immediately go out and actively encourage everyone in the community to co-operate fully with the police and criminal justice system in tackling crime in all areas, then unionism will not be found wanting.”
He said that from conversations with the DUP, he believed the two parties could enter into government together on March 26th and that policing and justice could be devolved from British control to the Northern Ireland assembly by May 2008.
Mr Blair warned that personally, he believed “any other outcome would be wrong, unfair to all sections of the community in Northern Ireland and a complete waste of a one-off, once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a lasting peace”.
Last week, the prime minister returned early from his Florida holiday to hold talks with both the DUP and Sinn Fein amid signs that the St Andrews agreement was falling apart.
However, Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain said he had “every expectation” that power-sharing could be restored in the region by the March deadline.
