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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Justice talks to go into weekend | |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| Talks to break the impasse on the devolution of policing and justice powers to NI continued on Friday and will go on into the weekend. | |
| Both parties met with NI Secretary Shaun Woodward on Friday. | |
| Sinn Fein was due to hold a meeting of its party executive at the weekend, but that has now been cancelled amid speculation that talks would continue. | |
| The DUP assembly team is set to meet at Stormont on Saturday. | |
| Both Sinn Fein and the DUP have released few details in relation to the talks. | Both Sinn Fein and the DUP have released few details in relation to the talks. |
| It has emerged that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a telephone conversation with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness on Friday about the policing and justice negotiations. | |
| Discussions | Discussions |
| Earlier on Friday, BBC NI Political Editor Mark Devenport, who is monitoring the discussions, said the public silence could be significant. | |
| He said: "Normally it's a sign that there are real and actual negotiations going on, so I suppose to that extent one can maybe take something hopeful from it." | He said: "Normally it's a sign that there are real and actual negotiations going on, so I suppose to that extent one can maybe take something hopeful from it." |
| He added that Sinn Fein had cancelled its Ard Comhairle (party executive) could also be significant. | |
| "That was due to happen on Saturday so maybe that means they have taken that intended deadline away. | "That was due to happen on Saturday so maybe that means they have taken that intended deadline away. |
| There is this business of whether the justice ministry is a full member of the executive or has more of a semi-detached status. BBC NI Political Editor Mark Devenport | There is this business of whether the justice ministry is a full member of the executive or has more of a semi-detached status. BBC NI Political Editor Mark Devenport |
| "That was why some people thought Friday would be decisive. Instead these talks can maybe go on into the weekend." | "That was why some people thought Friday would be decisive. Instead these talks can maybe go on into the weekend." |
| On Friday, Minister for Culture Nelson McCausland of the DUP said there had been "constructive meetings between all parties". | |
| Sinn Fein and the DUP have been at loggerheads for months about when policing and justice powers should be devolved. | Sinn Fein and the DUP have been at loggerheads for months about when policing and justice powers should be devolved. |
| Sinn Fein want the transfer immediately, while the DUP says community confidence is essential. | |
| In particular, the DUP is understood to want an agreement on how contentious parades should be handled in future. | In particular, the DUP is understood to want an agreement on how contentious parades should be handled in future. |
| Sinn Fein has said the devolution of policing and justice is a separate issue and the two should not be linked. | Sinn Fein has said the devolution of policing and justice is a separate issue and the two should not be linked. |
| 'Flawed' | 'Flawed' |
| That position is shared by the SDLP, whose justice spokesperson Dolores Kelly warned that abolition of the Parades Commission should not be a pre-condition for progress. | That position is shared by the SDLP, whose justice spokesperson Dolores Kelly warned that abolition of the Parades Commission should not be a pre-condition for progress. |
| The Upper Bann MLA said: "We all know to our cost what can happen when parades, policing and party politics get mixed up together. | The Upper Bann MLA said: "We all know to our cost what can happen when parades, policing and party politics get mixed up together. |
| "Whatever criticisms can be made of the Parades Commission, and we in the SDLP have many of our own, it has managed to lower the temperature on many contentious parades." | "Whatever criticisms can be made of the Parades Commission, and we in the SDLP have many of our own, it has managed to lower the temperature on many contentious parades." |
| She added that the interim proposals of the Strategic Review of Parading, led by Lord Ashdown, were "flawed". | She added that the interim proposals of the Strategic Review of Parading, led by Lord Ashdown, were "flawed". |
| The review suggested that local mediation should be the first attempted solution followed if necessary by the appointment of an adjudication panel by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister. | The review suggested that local mediation should be the first attempted solution followed if necessary by the appointment of an adjudication panel by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister. |
| "The Ashdown proposals would inevitably re-politicise parading and bring it right into the political heart of our devolved institutions." | "The Ashdown proposals would inevitably re-politicise parading and bring it right into the political heart of our devolved institutions." |
| Semi-detached | Semi-detached |
| Our political editor also suggested that as well as the timing of devolution and the issue of parading, the status of any future minister was a third strand to the discussions. | Our political editor also suggested that as well as the timing of devolution and the issue of parading, the status of any future minister was a third strand to the discussions. |
| Mark Devenport said: "There is this business of whether the justice ministry is a full member of the executive or has more of a semi-detached status. | Mark Devenport said: "There is this business of whether the justice ministry is a full member of the executive or has more of a semi-detached status. |
| "That is quite politically sensitive, particularly for the DUP because if the justice minister is in the executive and is subject to blocks by Sinn Fein you can imagine that the likes of Jim Allister will be saying that Sinn Fein effectively has its mitts on justice policy. | "That is quite politically sensitive, particularly for the DUP because if the justice minister is in the executive and is subject to blocks by Sinn Fein you can imagine that the likes of Jim Allister will be saying that Sinn Fein effectively has its mitts on justice policy. |
| "But if you take the justice ministry out of the executive and insulate it from that kind of blockage, will it really be part of the executive on a par with the other ministers, or really just a puppet of other parties." | "But if you take the justice ministry out of the executive and insulate it from that kind of blockage, will it really be part of the executive on a par with the other ministers, or really just a puppet of other parties." |