Here’s what the son of one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement had to say I his father would have applauded anything US President Joe Biden could do to get the Northern Ireland Assembly back together.
Nicholas Trimble, son of former UUP leader David Trimble, who led the union during negotiations for the Good Friday agreement in April 1998, said he thought Stormont should meet.
President Biden will land in Belfast on Tuesday evening to celebrate 25 years of peace in Northern Ireland.
The President is expected to try to convince the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to return to Stormont and reconvene the meeting.
While some DUP and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politicians remain strongly opposed to a return to assembly until Rishi Sunak amends the Windsor Agreement to remove all border controls on goods between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland, known the names of the members of the Union support the president. Biden’s efforts to break the impasse.
“We think Stormont should be operational,” said Mr. Trimble, UUP adviser in Lisburn North. “Honestly, the cons of Stormont not sitting outweigh the potential benefits of destroying him.
“So if Biden can lend weight to that argument, then I applaud it, as I think my father does.” To be honest, I don’t think it will work, but there is always hope.”
The Northern Ireland Assembly has not met since Sinn Féin won the most seats in an election last May – the first time a nationalist party has done so in Northern Ireland since Partition in 1921.
After the election, the DUP abstained from electing a speaker in Stormont, leading to the collapse of the caucus.
Mr. Trimble replied to comments I from another son of the Northern Irish political icon, Ian Paisley Jr.
Mr. Paisley, son of DUP Chairman Dr. Ian Paisley, himself a DUP MP, said the party would not return to Stormont unless the Windsor structure was changed to allow free movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
He added that the DOJ will demand that the newly discovered “threat of violence” from dissident Republican terrorist groups be lifted before the DOJ returns to Stormont.
He said: “The idea that we have to keep the peace unless we are the people who decide to break the peace, especially when we are threatened by the Republicans, is not what it should be.
“We must not give up or make room for people who have disturbed the peace.”
Mr Trimble said the DUP’s stance was “short-sighted” and it may be too late for President Biden to change his stance.
“I think they missed their chance to get Stormont back to work while saving face.
“I think the opportunity to do this would be after the Windsor framework. But my guess is that they didn’t want to take the risk, and so the opportunity was lost.
“They are in a position where something else needs to happen before they can get back to the meeting without losing face, and I just don’t understand what it is at the moment.
“The hardline unions need to understand that a functioning Stormont and Northern Ireland executive is good for them because it will protect the unions. This helps protect Northern Ireland’s place in the Union. I think some people are just a little shortsighted at times.”
However, it was not only his DUP comrades who opposed Mr. Trimble’s return to Stormont.
John Kyle, High Sheriff of Belfast and another member of the UUP Council, said: “President Biden’s visit will not restore executive power; He has yet to win the trust of many Unionists.
“However, we are delighted to welcome him to Northern Ireland and look forward to working closely with his government. We appreciate his support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
“A truly impartial US administration will help restore political stability and help us overcome the difficulties caused by Brexit.”
Mr. Trimble added that his father’s efforts during the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, would be in vain unless all Unionist politicians come together to meet again at Stormont.
“There are many people who have their fingerprints on the Good Friday Agreement, but I truly believe that without my father it would not have crossed the border. All union members must return to Stormont to continue the progress we have made over the past 25 years.”
Michelle O’Neill, Vice President of Sinn Féin and future Prime Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly, also urged the DUP to return to Stormont.
“Peace, stability and economic opportunity are intertwined and governments, parties and last but not least the DUP must rebuild the HFA’s executive branch and other institutions so we can move on and get back to work,” Ms O’Neill said. .
“As a future prime minister, I am absolutely committed to working with others to make politics work and serve every citizen. It’s time to form a council to support employees, families and communities.”
Since devolution as we know it began 22 years ago in Northern Ireland, Stormont has spent more than a third of his life without a functioning government.
Ahead of President Biden’s arrival in Belfast and his visit to the South later this week, Ms O’Neill added: “I am pleased to welcome President Biden to Belfast and expand our close friendship and partnership for peace and prosperity with the United States of America.” .
“It is a special moment when he arrived to celebrate 25 years of peace and the signing of the Good Friday Peace Accords of 1998, as well as address both chambers of the Oireachtas.
“I applaud President Biden’s commitment to this work in connection with his appointment as Special Envoy Joe Kennedy III, and I look forward to working with him now to further deepen American investment and economic growth for the benefit of all our communities.”
Source: I News
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