RSS
Periscope


Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Major breakthrough in Northern Ireland crisis talks

Periscope

by Niall O'Dowd

Major breakthrough in Northern Ireland crisis talks

Posted on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 08:58 PM
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 3 Comments
 

RSS


Recent Posts

Archives

submit to reddit

It appears a major breakthrough has occurred at the talks in Northern Ireland between the Democratic Unionist Party and their government partners Sinn Fein.

The parties have been on the brink of ending their powersharing government unless agreement on two issues, policing and justice oversight, and how Orange parades are managed, are resolved.

British Secretary of State Shaun Woodward confirmed the new optimism. "We have made, across six very long days, I think, considerable progress," he stated. Talks are due to resume again on Monday.

Sinn Fein negotiator Conor Murphy said: "We are maybe getting somewhere now. We have progress made; we are hopeful that we can finish this fairly quickly.

"We are getting towards that point now where negotiations will end."

Democratic Unionist Edwin Poots said: "There is considerable advancement. What I said previously was that there would have to be certainty and clarity and there would appear to be greater certainty and clarity than was the case when I was speaking on Thursday night.

Irish foreign affairs minister Michael Martin praised the parties. He said: "They are engaging in a way that is purposeful and with determination to resolve the issues.

After an exhausting six days members of both parties and both the British and Irish governments emerged late Saturday gave the thumbs up to an imminent settlement. They have been locked away in Hillsborough Castle outside Belfast.

Earlier last week the British and Irish Prime Ministers joined the talks but could not bring about a resolution. It is expected they may come back to Belfast on Monday to be on hand for the new agreement if it reached.



print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

3 Comments

See all comments

phoenixnurse | Feb 01, 2010, 09:43 AM EST
Than God, this is wonderful,encouraging news!

Report abuse

dermot.r | Jan 31, 2010, 10:59 AM EST
C'mon, guys. Just get it done!

Report abuse

Fionnuisce | Jan 30, 2010, 10:25 PM EST
Hope so.

Report abuse

 




Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail