HILLSBOROUGH, Northern Ireland, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- There is a "real possibility" that Northern Ireland's devolved power-sharing government could be restored in the near future, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain insisted Monday.
Speaking after talks with unionist and republican leaders, Hain said he was confident that agreement could be reached to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly, which collapsed in 2002 amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering.
"I'm confident we can make the necessary progress to get the assembly running and the process that will lead to a power-sharing executive," he said.
"I'm confident that as a result of the discussions and negotiations we've had today that is in prospect."
Ahead of the meeting, hopes of a breakthrough were diminished when the Democratic Unionist Party refused to share power with Sinn Fein, accusing the republican party of continued involvement in violence and criminality.
Last week, two crucial reports on Northern Ireland's paramilitary groups said the Irish Republican Army - a group affiliated to Sinn Fein -- may have retained some weapons after its "final act" of disarmament in September.
Speaking after the talks at Hillsborough Castle, DUP Leader Ian Paisley made clear his position had not changed.
His party would not enter into a power-sharing government with Sinn Fein until the IRA fully disbanded, he said.
"There was no agreement between us, there is a great gulf because the southern government still thinks the IRA should be there and by right should be taking part in these discussions and by right should be in any future government of Northern Ireland," he said.
"There is no healing of any wounds, as far as unionism is concerned -- they are backing the IRA to get them back into government."
Under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a devolved executive - the Northern Ireland Assembly -- was established with power shared between unionist and republican parties. However it collapsed in 2002 amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering in the assembly's offices at Stormont, and direct rule from Westminster was re-imposed. So far, efforts to restore the assembly have proved fruitless.
The IRA's historic announcement last July of an end to its armed struggle promised to reinvigorate the political process. In September, the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning verified that the IRA had turned over its entire stockpile of weaponry; however last week further reports suggested the group may have retained some arms and remained involved in organized crime and intelligence gathering.
The IICD report concluded that "the quantities of arms involved were not substantial" and had been kept by members for personal use only, without the approval of the IRA leadership. It therefore stood behind its September conclusion that the organization had disarmed in accordance with its July commitment. However a separate report from the Independent Monitoring Commission cast doubt on that assessment. It also raised questions over ongoing criminality and intelligence gathering, which it claimed was sanctioned by IRA leaders.
The IRA rejected the allegations and insisted it had fully honored its public commitments; however the DUP said the report proved that Sinn Fein was unfit for government.
Addressing the party's annual conference in Belfast Saturday, Paisley pronounced the Good Friday Agreement dead and said IRA disarmament was "a blatant lie."
Pledging to "surrender never to the IRA/Sinn Fein murderers," he said the DUP wanted devolution but would not be forced back into the "failed structures" of the Good Friday Agreement.
"It is IRA/Sinn Fein who are blocking the path to peace because they refuse to commit to exclusively peaceful and democratic means," Paisley said.
"There will be no inclusive executive with Sinn Fein as long as the IRA is in business and engaged in criminality. The day for the inclusive Executive on such a basis is over for ever... The foundation of the Agreement stinks in the grave, dug with the spade of truth."
But republican leaders said Paisley should not be allowed to control the political process according to its own calendar.
Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams said after the talks that the British and Irish governments should set out a timetable for the restoration of Northern Ireland's political institutions.
"People need to have some sense that local, accountable representatives are administering their affairs," he said.
There was a question whether the two governments were in charge of the process or whether Ian Paisley was, Adams added.
The leader of the moderate republican Social Democrat and Labor Party, Mark Durkan, also called for a deadline to be set for the restoration of the institutions at Stormont.
Failure to show determination would simply allow the DUP to feel that the political process ran according to their calendar, he said.
"Suspension was created because of the activities of the IRA and the failure to decommission," Durkan continued.
"If this has been dealt with, then the cause of suspension, the case for suspension has totally changed, it has gone."
The Irish government denied the IICD and IMC reports had left the political process in disarray.
The reports were never going to be completely positive, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs told United Press International. The two governments were going to have to work very hard at the talks - set to continue until the summer - but were committed to restoring the region's political institutions as soon as possible, he said.
He acknowledged that Paisley's comments had got the negotiations off to "a bad start," but said the necessary elements to begin discussions were there.
There had been no expectation of a "dramatic breakthrough" at this stage, he told UPI.
"This is the first phase," he continued. "Nobody thought it was going to be easy."
With such entrenched positions on all sides, just how agreement is to be reached is as yet unclear. What is in no doubt, however, is that the discussions over the coming months will be a critical juncture in Northern Ireland's political history.
