Trimble threatens Sinn Fein after surviving crucial vote

Trimble: Victory was vital to peace agreement

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Northern Ireland leader David Trimble has won a vital vote of confidence over his power sharing policy with the republican political party Sinn Fein.

A proposal by Trimble, leader of the main Protestant Party, the Ulster Unionists (UUP), and Northern Ireland's first minister, to stay in the Northern Ireland Assembly took 445 votes to rival Jeffrey Donaldson's 374 in Saturday's key ballot by the 860-strong ruling council in Belfast.

Donaldson had challenged Trimble's continued support for staying in a coalition with republicans in spite of accusations that Catholic paramilitary groups are slow to disarm.

VIDEO Interview with Northern Ireland expert Bowyer Bell on the process of arms decomissioning in the Irish Republican Army Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

And following his victory, Trimble threatened to ban Sinn Fein from North-South ministerial council meetings unless the Irish Republican Army moves on arms decommissioning.

And he said not keeping promises made five months ago "entailed costs."

"We have said repeatedly that we jumped first and gave them the chance to act... and a second chance. Doing nothing is not a cost-free option to republicans," Trimble told a press conference following the vote.

He said it would take the application of pressure to get the republican paramilitaries to move.

Dismissing the closeness of the vote, Trimble said the UUP leadership had demonstrated it had "the energy and will to make progress."

"The debate revealed that the differences between us were tactical. They made clear that they are committed to an assembly on a cross community basis."

Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said there was little difference between Trimble's approach and that of his UUP critics who had wanted to withdraw from the government.

"Both are now mapping out a strategy for the destruction of the executive and the collapse of the Assembly," McLaughlin said.

A White House spokesman said: "We're following the proceedings closely and continue to believe that implementation of the Good Friday (peace) accord would be enhanced by a focus on inclusion, not exclusion.

"We are urging reengagement by paramilitaries on all sides with the (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning) and we will be consulting in the coming days with Irish and British governments on next steps."

But the victory for Trimble will come as a relief to the UK and Irish governments, which brokered the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

"We will of course be reflecting on all of the things that have been said in the debate and carrying through the tactics that have been outlined," Trimble said.

Before the vote, Donaldson said the 1998 Good Friday peace accord had seen unionists dole out a string of concessions to republicans and he called for a withdrawal from the coalition unless the IRA disarms by November 30.

He had branded Trimble's attempts to achieve IRA disarmament as a failure and denied claims that he and other dissidents were "wreckers."

"I have not heard a viable alternative to what I have put forward, and the reality is that the (power sharing) strategy that we adopted in May has failed," Donaldson said.

But Trimble had rubbished Donaldson's five-week deadline demand as "completely unrealistic" and accused him of being "confrontational" by demanding the special conference.

He had warned before the meeting: "The consequences of endorsing Jeffrey Donaldson's strategy will be the destruction of the government of Northern Ireland.

"This party would remove itself from office, abandoning every gain and destined to return to the same political wilderness we inhabited for most of the past 30 years.

"That is a recipe for political and constitutional disaster," he told the Belfast Newsletter. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had voiced concern about the possible outcome of Saturday's conference and warned Trimble not to adopt "an approach to the Agreement that subverts and ultimately brings about its collapse."

Ulster Unionists vote on Trimble's future
October 28, 2000
Trimble boosted ahead of showdown
October 27, 2000
Trimble clashes with party hardliners
October 7, 2000
Northern Ireland peace process faces 'greatest threat'
February 8, 2000
Northern Ireland leaders deadlocked after London talks
April 19, 1999
Hard-liners are winning in Northern Ireland
February 10, 2000

Ulster Unionist Party
Sinn Fein
Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Assembly
Belfast Telegraph News

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