A place to do business
Councillor Sue Ramsey, one of the Sinn Féin support team at
Stormont, describes the atmosphere inside the talks building
The standard office block in which the all-party talks are held
at Stormont could not be described as fitting architecture for
making history. Everything tries hard to be mundane: the bored
security men, the chain-link fence at which cameramen (they are
all men) gather like visitors to the zoo, and the standard office
furniture and fittings give it the appearance of an outpost of a
secretive multinational. But once inside, mundane turns to
business-like.
The ten parties, two governments and the chairmen all have
offices. As you walk through the building's maze of corridors -
yesterday Jim Gibney was still getting lost on his way to the
canteen - an air of busy preparation pervades the place.
It is this workmanlike atmosphere which will cause difficulties
and embarrassment for the Unionists and Loyalists as they try to
stick to their tactic of having absolutely no contact with Sinn
Féin. In the constant traffic to and from shared canteen and
toilet facilities, not to mention in meetings and committees
their stance will be exposed as childish nonsense. We've seen it
in councils all over the Six Counties where Unionists first
welcomed Sinn Féin councillors with whistles, horns and assorted
rudeness but now work with them with only occasional fuss.
Sinn Féin, for our part, are in these talks with a scrupulously
business-like approach. It is satisfying to see how quickly the
team of negotiators and their support staff have settled into the
job. Computer terminals, faxes and photocopiers buzz constantly
in one office while across the corridor meetings and conferences
convene and break up at regular intervals through the day.
Of course the real work will happen elsewhere in the building as
the talks and the bilaterals get underway. And it is comforting
to know that the carpets and furniture in the conference chamber
are mauve - a colour specially selected, we're told, to create a
mood of calm. But no-one's betting it will work when Sinn Féin
goes in flying their brightest colours.
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