The Executive Parties have agreed a deal on welfare reform and have sent a paper to the NIO outlining an agreement. Earlier Martin McGuinness tweeted that there had been “a step change” in the atmosphere at the talks. Progress at the talks had seemed unlikely and there were suggestions that they could have drawn to a close today in the absence of signs of an agreement.
Folks here are the proposals from the Haass talks that has been put up on the OFM/DFM website Paper opens with ‘We in Northern Ireland have come along way. From the depths of violence we have built an impressive, albiet incomplete peace.’ It goes on to say ‘Despite these positive steps , we have further distance to travel. Many continue to await the end of sectarianism and the peace dividend that all citizens’ should be due.’ On who they met …
Dr.Richard Haass begins his final session of talks today to get an agreement from all of main political parties in Northern Ireland on flags, parades and dealing with the past. While his earlier efforts have failed to produce anything, he will be banking on the need for our politicians to demonstrate once again what great peacemakers they all are and not become an international laughing stock. When we look back on this weekend in a few years’ time, we could …
Stephen Walker from the BBC has managed to obtain details of Richard Haass’ third draft to the five main parties. The latest draft comes to the conlusion that most of us could have said months ago that : “We could not reach a common position on the flying of flags.” Haass does reccomend a policy of councils flying flags on designated days-something that Unionists are unlikely to adopt. He also proposes the creation of a new working group that would …
As Pete pointed out last night, the NIO published its summary of organisation and individual responses to the Eames Bradley report the Recommendations of the Consultative Group on the Past, which also referenced the submission from the Commissioners for Victims and Survivors (CVS) that deliberately missed the NIO’s consultation deadline but was instead submitted at the end of June. [Updated – The CVS report got a mention on Slugger on its publication at the end of June.] In many ways, …
