British Hold First Official Talks With IRA’s Sinn Fein

For the first time in 23 years, the British government met officially Wednesday with Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, in another step toward resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Michael Ancram, a junior British government minister, said the four-hour talks at Stormont Castle in Belfast were a “hard, business-like and forthright meeting.” He offered to meet Sinn Fein again next week. But he said there needs to be progress on the touchy issue of decommissioning IRA weapons in Northern Ireland before substantial talks can begin.

Sinn Fein delegation leader Martin McGuinness said his group requested a meeting with Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland secretary who holds Cabinet rank in Prime Minister John Major’s government. McGuinness said talks between Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Mayhew would show equal treatment for his party.

“Democratic principles,” said McGuinness after the meeting, “demand that Sinn Fein has the same access to political discussions and negotiations as the other main parties.”

In Sinn Fein’s request, the party said it is imperative that a meeting with Mayhew be “arranged without further delay and as a clear indication that our government intends to accord our party and electorate full equality of treatment.”

But McGuinness made no comment on the British call for talks on decommissioning weapons.

Sinn Fein said it is convinced the political climate will be significantly improved if Britain responds more warmly to the September IRA cease-fire by demilitarizing Northern Ireland.

“A complete end to British military operations, the dismantling of military installations, the disbanding of the (Royal Ulster Constabulary), and the speedy release of all political prisoners, for example, would greatly assist the peace process,” it said.

Sinn Fein’s statement said the government’s slow response to the IRA cease-fire had been “begrudging, reluctant and clearly designed to slow momentum of the peace process.”

The British government is trying to maintain a distinction between these exploratory talks between Sinn Fein and a lower-level government official--”talks about talks”--and full-scale discussion between top leaders from each side such as Mayhew and Adams.

In the British view, Sinn Fein cannot be treated like the mainstream Protestant-led parties in Northern Ireland until it agrees to talk about decommissioning weapons and getting the IRA to comply.

Ancram was in the Brighton Grand Hotel in southern England during a 1985 Conservative Party conference when the IRA bombed the building. Some of Ancram’s colleagues were killed.

Ancram has called for a new approach between the British and Northern Ireland republicans, declaring, “We are in a new situation which will require new ideas and a new boldness to resolve.”