US DIPLOMAT RICHARD Haass has set Monday as a deadline for agreement by Northern Ireland’s main political parties on issues relating to the past, parades and flags.
Speaking to the media at Belfast’s Stormont Hotel this afternoon, Haass said that “it’s no secret” that the process isn’t yet at the point people would like it to be, but stressed that he and co-chair Professor Megan O’Sullivan were there to “facilitate agreement — not impose it”.
The last phase of talks broke up without agreement in the early hours of Christmas Eve. Another six-hour session is taking place this afternoon, while a further six-hour talks block has been scheduled for Monday morning from 6am.
“By noon on Monday we will have had twelve hours hours of plenary. It will be hard at that point, given everything that will have gone before, to argue that the missing ingredient is more time,” Haass said.
Haas said that, as talks broke up on Tuesday, “differences were both many and deep” but that he and O’Sullivan would “endeavour to narrow those differences as best we can”.
Asked whether this was the final effort in the process, he said that the time had come to “fish or cut bait”.
Haass has also been giving regular updates on progress via Twitter throughout the process — he sent this message earlier today.
Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP signalled that there was still the prospect for agreement on two of the three issues under discussion, but stressed that the area of 'flags' would be "more difficult".
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said he believed that failure was an "unforgivable option".
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