Further talks on the past, parading and flags will be “completely fruitless”, unless the Executive parties “concentrate on what is achievable”, according to NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland.
“The latest round of talks is likely to be too little, too late”, Trevor remarked. “The scaffolding for any agreement is already in place, but there are few signs that the parties are prepared to take the constructive attitude needed to deliver. Parading will always require a degree of arbitration, whichever body takes the lead and any successor to the Parades Commission will be still undermined if politicians show an ambivalent attitude to the rule of law.”
“In the short term the groups involved in parade disputes, both residents’ groups and the Orange Order, need to spell out transparently their bottom line, to get things moving, particularly in north Belfast. What, if any, are the circumstances under which a parade could pass without opposition? That needs to be laid out openly and honestly.”
“As regards the past, we need to know if all parties are prepared to accept the consequences should those who promoted, directed, inspired or carried out violence be brought to justice. If the political institutions can be disrupted because the law is applied, then those institutions aren’t durable enough for the future and politicians are showing they aren’t mature enough to seriously deal with the past.”
“Any solution on flags must be anchored in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. Designated days, right across Northern Ireland, is the fairest broad basis on which to move forward. In the unlikely event that the constitutional position ever changes, then the same policies would apply to whichever new flag would be flown.”
“All parties to these talks should be entering into them determined not to pass the baggage of our past on to future generations. They must also be prepared to practise politics in a much more constructive way themselves. If those attitudes aren’t adopted, then, like the Haass process and other processes before it, the result of the latest round of negotiations will either be failure, or a face-saving deal which offers no lasting, long-term solutions for the people of Northern Ireland and this island.”