Everything Ulster - Election 2005

DAVID Trimble said today that there couldn't be executive power sharing with Sinn Fein any time soon. His statement echoed what he said at last months centenary Ulster Unionist AGM:

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"In our view the Unionist electorate would not support, or tolerate now or in the foreseeable future the formation of an Executive that would include Sinn Fein.
...we do not intend to re-enter an Executive that includes Sinn Fein. If republicans wish to be included in talks then it must rebuild its credibility by doing all the things it should have done and present itself as a purely peaceful democratic movement with no private army."

Some have interpreted these remarks as "Never, never, never" as the Ulster Unionists try to out-DUP the DUP. To be fair to Trimble, this has been UU policy since before January (presumably since David Trimble and the Ulster Unionists left the assembly and forced its suspension in October 2002).

It should be noted that he did not, as some have tried to claim, say the UUs would never share power with Sinn Fein. What he said is that they must give up their private army first, and become a normal, democratic, political party. You can hardly blame him for ruling it out for the foreseeable future; after previous emtpy gestures and meaningless statements, unionists need to be persuaded that any action taken by the IRA in relation to disbanding is sincere and not just a cynical political ploy.

Trimble later stated that he believed the IRA would make a significant statement in the next few days, which is in stark contrast to what Gerry Adams said to the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce yesterday, ie that he didn't see the IRA responding in the coming weeks.

Despite what both Trimble and Adams say, call me cynical but I personally see a response coming just in time for election day. Would any of us really be surprised? This would surely only add weight to unionist suspicions that any statement would only be a cynical ploy for political gain: its actions we need, not words.