DUP backs Sinn Fein power-sharing deal
Updated on 05 February 2010
The British and Irish premiers welcome a deal on police and justice powers which could breathe new life into power sharing in Northern Ireland. Alex Thomson reports.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Irish premier Brian Cowen arrived in Northern Ireland this morning to formally announce the cross-party agreement.
Gordon Brown said the deal - to transfer policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Executive - would complete the "momentous journey" that began with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
"We are closing the last chapter of a long and troubled story and we are opening a new chapter for Northern Ireland," he told a press conference in Belfast.
"A lasting peace, power being where it should be - in the hands of the people of Northern Ireland - the strongest answer to those who would bring violence back to our streets. And today's agreement is the opportunity for a fresh start: the opportunity to take down the remaining walls of divisions, not just in our streets but in our hearts."
The agreement will be put to a vote in the Assembly on 9th March, with the transfer of policing and justice powers to the executive due to take place on 12th April.
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The DUP leader and Northern Ireland first minister, Peter Robinson, said his party's elected representatives at the Stormont Assembly finally agreed to a deal late last night.
"This is a good day for Northern Ireland," he told the assembled media. "The agreement we have reached secures the progress that we have made in recent years and keeps Northern Ireland moving forward to a better future.
"No future generation would forgive us for squandering the peace that has been so long fought for. Today's agreement is the surest sign that there will be no going back to the past."
The Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams agreed that it was "a very good day". He added: "Of course, the devil is in the detail, but it is the spirit which is important."
The deal on policing, justice and parades comes after nearly two weeks of round-the-clock talks at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down.
The settlement will see the devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to the Assembly within weeks, satisfying a key republican goal, while new arrangements for overseeing loyal order parades will meet the demands of unionists.
Sinn Fein and the DUP have been deadlocked over republican demands for the swift devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont, while unionists have called for an overhaul of how loyal order parades are overseen.
The DUP's executive is expected to ratify the decision made by its Assembly members later today.
Last night's talks followed Sinn Fein's announcement yesterday that negotiations on policing, justice and parades had ended and republicans believed the basis for an agreement existed.
