Sinn Fein calls on government to unveil 'Plan B'

After three days of failed attempts to establish a chairperson for the Preparation for Government Committee, the appointment will now be placed in the hands of NI Secretary of State, Peter Hain.

Sinn Fein has today called on the Irish and British governments to explain to the DUP, the consequences of failing to achieve devolution and has asked that Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern to publicly flesh out what 'Plan B' would be if an all-party power-sharing executive is not achieved by the November 24 deadline.

The Preparation for Government Committee has been created in a bid to identify issues which need to be resolved in order to return to a local assembly, however, politicians are unable to agree on who should chair the proceedings.

The British and Irish Premiers are expected to travel to the province later this month for talks with the parties on the restoration of devolution process.

After three days of deadlock over the committee chair, NI Secretary of State Peter Hain expressed deep frustration: “It is impossible to see the Assembly moving on substantive business if there cannot be agreement on such a basic procedural issue as chairing the Preparation for Government Committee.

"The parties must urgently resolve this issue.

“Restoring devolution is not for the benefit of the British or Irish Governments, it is not for the benefit of MLAs, it is for the people of Northern Ireland.

“The very least the people of Northern Ireland have, is a right to expect that the MLAs they elected, would do the job they elected them to do.

"The mechanism for restoration is in place. It is up to the parties to make it work. Their failure to do so will do the people of Northern Ireland an immense disservice.”

Over the last three days, representatives for each political party have put forward ideas in a bid to break the stalemate - none have been accepted.

Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness suggested that the committee be either jointly chaired by representatives of this own party and the DUP or rotated between the parties, however the DUP rejected this proposal.

The DUP then proposed the Assembly Speaker, Eileen Bell, as a possible chairperson, but she rejected the role. The DUP also suggested their own party member South Antrim MP William McCrea and the Alliance Party leader David Forde for the role, however, Mr Ford said he would only consider the role as part of a wider rotation system between all the parties.

One idea raised yesterday called for NI Secretary Peter Hain to make an external appointment.

DUP MLA Ian Paisley Jnr suggested that a neutral person be brought into chair proceedings and that discussions should take place under a neutral chairperson.

(EF/SP)