Who said Haassmas comes but once a year? Our very own international problem solver Dr Richard Haass will be returning to get a deal that eluded him earlier in the week.
Question for our posters-if you were Richard Haass how would you approach these talks and what concessions would you seek to get from the parties?
If I were him, I would get the British and Irish governments more involved, Haass enters the talks with no carrots and no sticks. The two governments are in a position to do favours and can use pressure to get the parties to agree to a deal. Why they have taken such a distant approach to these talks thus far beggars belief-remember the Good Friday Agreement discussions, once Blair and Ahern got involved things properly started moving in the right direction.
Haass needs the same type of support from Villiers and Gilmore, that Mowlam and Andrews gave to George Mitchell in 1998.
returning saturday w Meghan O’Sullivan for last push for #NorthernIreland accord. stakes justify effort, but only parties can make it happen
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) December 26, 2013
David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
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