Ahern: 2006 a 'window of opportunity' for Northern Ireland

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern on Wednesday warned Northern Ireland political parties that it was time to decide whether they wanted to work together within a local, devolved government.

According to Minister Ahern, a Northern Ireland assembly was the clear will of the people and the issue would need to be resolved before 2007.

"There is no Plan B. We don't countenance failure in this because we were very close to it back in December 2004," said the Louth TD.

"But we see 2006 as the window of opportunity because of the fact that once you turn into 2007 you will be in election mode in the Republic in the first half of the year and also the political instability in the UK. Everyone would agree that 2007 may very well be a difficult year in the UK. So both governments are absolutely adamant that 2006 is the time when the politicians of Northern Ireland have to decide for themselves whether they want to work in partnership in a devolved government."

Ahern also reiterated the Irish governments determination to revive the power sharing assembly in the North so that the executive can deal with the "bread-and-butter issues that affect every person in the North."

"Real progress in areas such as education, health, equality and policing is best achieved by locally-elected politicians working in partnership to deliver for their communities."

"The goals of delivering real change and real improvements for ordinary people on these 'bread and butter' issues should drive our efforts in the forthcoming months."

The Louth TD also called on all sides to move to build trust, and for community leaders to stand up against sectarian attacks.

Currently standing in the way of reviving the Stormont assembly is the Northern Ireland Offences Bill, which would enable people who carried out murders before April 1998 to avoid jail.

British opposition parties, unionists and the SDLP have withdrawn their support for the Bill and Sinn Fein have also withdrawn their support before Christmas because members of the security forces have been included alongside on-the-run republican suspects as those who could qualify for the scheme.

The political climate has been further soured by last months revelations about Sinn Fein's Denis Donaldson and the subsequent collapse of the case against the three men accused in October 2002 of operating the Stormont spy ring.

The allegations led to the suspension of the power sharing executive and other political institutions.

Since then, the North has been administered by a team of Northern Ireland Office ministers, currently led by Secretary of State Peter Hain.

Following the end of the IRA's armed campaign last July and the subsequent disarmament programme, both the British and Irish governments have been pushing for reinstating the Stormont assembly.

But Northern Ireland's largest party, the Democratic Unionists has insisted it will not consider reviving power sharing without progress on a list of confidence building measures for their community given to Downing Street last year.