POLITICIANS in Northern Ireland were yesterday urged to complete devolution by taking charge of policing and the courts.
After talks in Manchester, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Bertie Ahern, Irish Taoiseach, called on unionists and nationalists in the power-sharing executive at Stormont to build on the political progress which has been made over the past 11 months.
In a joint statement, they said: "We stand ready to help the political parties as they work to complete the process of devolution through the devolution of policing and justice powers.
"It remains our shared view that the full implementation of all aspects of the St Andrews Agreement is building the community confidence necessary to enable the transfer of these powers to take place.
"Having seen the huge progress made, we are convinced that the time is right for the parties to move forward and take the final steps towards full devolution and full normality."
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, has said the devolution of policing and justice this year remains the major challenge facing Northern Ireland's politicians.
However, Stormont First Minister Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists have stated they do not believe it can be achieved by the British government's target date of May because there is not enough support for it among their supporters at this time.
After their meeting, the Prime Minister and Taoiseach expressed great pride at the political progress that has been made at Stormont.
Both said it had long been their governments' shared vision that the people of Northern Ireland should enjoy peace and prosperity, with the full benefits of locally elected and fully inclusive democratic institution.
Mr Brown and Mr Ahern said that vision was at last becoming a reality – with the multi-party devolved government working together in a sustained manner to address essential political, economic and social issues.
The full article contains 320 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
