“ultimately this must be a matter for them”

Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, MP, after meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, tries again to defuse the perplexing rhetoric around the issue of the devolution of policing and justice powers. From the BBC report

Mr Woodward and Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin discussed the current hiatus in Stormont politics in Dublin. They played down the possibility of a St Andrews-style “hothouse” talks session to try to resolve the outstanding issues and said they hoped the parties could sort it out themselves. “We believe the political parties both want to do this, it’s a question of providing as much help as we can with the framework but ultimately this must be a matter for them,” Mr Woodward said. Mr Martin said it was not a time for recrimination or blame, but to “focus on the issues”.

As the NI First Minister said

[Peter Robinson] “Well, if Sinn Féin oversold what they thought they could achieve then they are answerable to those to whom they sold that package. The reality is they weren’t entitled to sell it.”

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