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CNN Live At Daybreak

Britain and Northern Ireland Attempt Shuttle Diplomacy

Aired July 10, 2001 - 07:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: British and Irish leaders hope that shuttle diplomacy under way at a remote country manor will help save Northern Ireland's government.

CNN's Sheila MacVicar has an update now on the crisis talks in Staffordshire, England -- Sheila.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Colleen, they've been meeting again this morning.

They met yesterday for about eight hours until late into the evening. There's not much sign of any apparent progress so far. But the talks have been described as cordial, workmanlike, but they are -- people are saying there's a lot of hard work to be done, a lot of hard work that remains to be done.

This is how the talks began yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Away from the prying eyes of the media, secluded in an English country house, the British and Irish prime ministers are searching for a way to end the political crisis in Northern Ireland. There is a clear sense here that if there is going to be a deal, it had better come quickly.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There's no point in people thinking this is going to change in August or September and October. The issues are there. We've known them all the way through. We need to settle down, get the hard work done and get the thing sorted.

MACVICAR: The immediate cause of the crisis is the Irish Republican Army's failure to hand over its weapons, as it had promised by the beginning of July.

That led to Ulster Unionist David Trimble's resignation as Northern Ireland's first minister. Today, he said it was time for the IRA and its political wings, Sinn Fein, to keep their promises.

DAVID TRIMBLE, ULSTER UNION: There was always going to be a moment of truth in this process, when we would find out whether the Republicans were prepared to discard the ArmaLite, because it's quite clear that you cannot have a Democratic process where one party retain weapons. And so it has been made clear to Republicans throughout this process that they cannot go forward into the future with both the ArmaLite and the ballot box.

MACVICAR: But there are other issues: Sinn Fein wants the British military presents in Northern Ireland reduced, the army watchtowers along the border with the Irish Republic taken down. And they want the police force in Northern Ireland reformed, issues they say must be resolved before the IRA will put its weapons beyond use.

TRIMBLE: And all of -- all of us -- have a responsibility to do with every issue. The arms issue and Sinn Fein will not run away from that. But all of the other related justice issues, the equality agenda, all the parts of the Good Friday agreement, which have been missing and which have been delayed.

MACVICAR: The Ulster Unionists went into the meetings insisting they were not here to negotiate. Everyone here knows that if an agreement cannot be reached, the political institutions in Northern Ireland may collapse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACVICAR: There is still some hint that there might be a deal possible, that the British government could make a deal on issues related to the military and the police that might be acceptable to the Catholic nationalists. The question then, of course, would be: Is it enough for David Trimble and his Ulster Unionists?

It may just be too far down the road. And, of course, if a deal can't be reached very soon here, then that will leave more political chaos in Northern Ireland -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: And Sheila, what are the risks of all of this for the IRA?

MACVICAR: Well, the central issue -- or the first issue that's on the table -- that David Trimble has put on the table -- is the IRA's failure to put its weapons out of use. Now, this is a largely symbolic issue. Everyone knows that if the IRA or any other armed party in Northern Ireland wanted more guns tomorrow, they could very quickly arrange to get guns.

But this about symbolism. And for the IRA, it's about saying that the war is over: We give up these weapons. We send them off and dump them in the middle of the ocean, or we concrete over our bunkers, whatever we do with the, the war is over. The only way forward is not through armed conflict, but through the political process and the ballot box.

The risk for the IRA is that if they do that without the full agreement of their membership, they risk that some of those members could leave and could join other breakaway factions. There is a group called "The Real IRA." Yesterday, police in the Irish Republic seized a cache of weapons that they had linked to The Real IRA. There have been bombings linked to them. There clearly are people out there who are not in favor of this process and who wish the violent struggle to continue. That's what the IRA doesn't want. That's what Sinn Fein says they don't want -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Understood.

CNN's Sheila MacVicar, thanks very much.

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