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Roundup: N.Ireland Peace Process in Crisis Following Trimble's Resignation
The step down of Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble has plunged the Northern Ireland peace process into a new crisis, while Northern Ireland's Acting Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon on Monday attacked Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) over the lack of progress on decommissioning.
Mallon was speaking Monday after it was confirmed to the Northern Ireland Assembly that David Trimble had resigned as first minister.
Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid praised Trimble as "courageous" but warned that Northern Ireland faced a "somber and serious" situation.
Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, stepped down over what he saw as the IRA's failure to meet the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement by decommissioning its weapons.
The parties now have six weeks to try and resolve the deadlock before they must choose a new first minister.
Reid told the House of Commons that the British government was determined to live up to its obligations in the Good Friday Agreement. But in a pointed reference to the IRA, he said: "It won 't work if each side only implements the parts of the agreement it is comfortable with."
He emphasized that if the assembly had not elected a new first and deputy first ministers in six weeks, he would be obliged to call fresh assembly elections.
In its latest report also on Monday, the independent body overseeing disarmament said there had been no decommissioning by the IRA or the main loyalist paramilitary organizations.
But the commission said it had been assured that IRA arms would be "put beyond use" in the context set out by the republican group more than a year ago.
Mallon, the deputy leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP), paid tribute to the efforts Trimble had made, but said that "I regret that he has chosen this time to precipitate this latest in a long series of crises."
Meanwhile, Trimble said on Monday that "I have no doubt that what I did was right in order to bring matters to a head and ensure the Agreement is kept," he said.
British and Irish government officials have been trying to help the parties find a settlement on the issues of paramilitary arms, the new police service and demilitarization.
Intensive talks are expected over the coming weeks in an effort to resolve the impasse. But Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen will host this week's multi- party talks against the backdrop of the start of the controversial Protestant Orange Order marching season.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern also plan to become directly involved in the talks.
There are now six weeks for the assembly to re-install the Ulster Unionist leader as first minister or replace him before the devolved institutions collapse under legislation brought in under the Agreement.
It is understood that the two governments do not want to allow the negotiations to carry on as long as six weeks and are aiming to get a deal in place before the July 12 climax of the marching season.
However, there has so far been no sign of movement during the weeks of discussions between the parties and the two governments. If a deal cannot be agreed upon, the Northern Ireland secretary could either suspend the assembly or call an assembly election.
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