SF negotiating ‘in good faith’

Sinn Féin is very focused on making sure the September political negotiations are successful in addressing all of the outstanding issues, the party said yesterday.

At a press briefing yesterday, Conor Murphy, a member of the suspended Belfast Assembly, was asked about preparations for the September negotiations and the various issues such as policing.

Mr Murphy replied: “The policing issue is obviously crucial to any negotiations.

“And yes, people are readying themselves. We in Sinn Féin have spent the summer in preparation and in discussions with both governments and in preparation internally in getting our positions ready.

“We are very serious about the September negotiations. It remains to be seen whether others are up for the type of negotiation that needs to happen.

“Sinn Féin is very focused on making sure the negotiation is a successful one, that it addresses all the outstanding issues.

“We intend to go into the negotiation in good faith and have a serious negotiation and hopefully resolve these issues, and get the institutions back up and running again, and get the Good Friday Agreement back on track.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of the nationalist SDLP yesterday met with Alliance and the Ulster Unionist Party as part of a series of meetings ahead of the September negotiations.

Party negotiator Sean Farren said that direct rule has been in place now for almost two years and had robbed the North of the opportunity to determine its own future on many vital issues,

He said that the North-South bodies had remained stagnant on a care and maintenance basis, normalisation was moving at a snails pace, and the devolution of justice and policing powers had been seriously delayed.

Dr Farren said that this was not what the SDLP signed up to nor is it what the people voted for. “We will be taking this message to the other parties and the governments over the next few weeks”.

Urgent Appeal