Talks Begin At Stormont

Fresh talks have begun at Stormont between Northern Ireland's main political parties to see if a deal can be reached to solve contentious issues surrounding parades, flags and the past.

The discussions began today and follow US envoy Dr Richard Haass's work at Stormont to reach a cross-party consensus just before Christmas, but which ended in stalemate.

Alliance Party leader David Ford said: "Alliance has made it clear that all of the issues dealt with at the Haass talks must be urgently resolved and believes that we will only find a long term and sustainable solution to these issues if we reach agreement on all three. The discussions on parading are not about this summer's marching season, but about changing the legislation for future years. If parties want to change the dynamics around parading this year, then they can do so by supporting the lawful determinations of the existing Parades Commission and the PSNI as they seek to uphold them.

"Alliance will enter the talks to resolve these issues, and in particular to deliver truth, justice and support for victims and survivors. We owe it to the public to prevent the legacy of the past, disputes over parades and the row over flags from holding our community back."

But Ulster Unionst MLA Tom Elliot said the focus needed to be on parading and the current issues surrounding the 12 July in Ardoyne in north Belfast: "Over the next number of days we would like to deal with parading first; focusing on resolving areas where there is still deadlock, such as the 12th of July feeder parade passing by the Ardoyne shops," he said.

"We have repeatedly called for parades and protests, flags and dealing with the past to be decoupled. Surely it would be positive for the public to see us reach agreement on parades & protests before the summer, rather than the five parties continuing to remain stuck on the three issues. This would then allow us to move to flags and dealing with the past knowing that we have banked parades and protests."

(IT/CD)