Northern Ireland cannot afford another failure to reach agreement on contentious marches, flags and the legacy of its violent past, the centrist Alliance party said on Sunday.
As the five parties in the power-sharing coalition prepare for a final pre-Christmas round of discussions on Monday, Stephen Farry, a junior Alliance minister in the devolved government, said there was still a chance to secure a comprehensive deal.
The entire devolution project was at risk if the parties did not come up with a settlement, he said.
“The Northern Ireland political process cannot bear many more failed political initiatives. Public cynicism is already very apparent. Nor can we afford any more half-solutions that only serve to create new problems in the future.
“Failure risks jeopardising the very survival of devolution and the opportunities for local accountability, and would undermine the Good Friday agreement. Success could open up Northern Ireland to fresh opportunities for economic and social progress.”
Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers underlined the importance of the talks when she warned on Sunday night that it was “make your mind up time”.
“It’s ‘make your mind up’ time for Northern Ireland’s political leaders,” she said.
“These talks finish tomorrow, even if it takes all night. If there’s no agreement tomorrow, there isn’t going to be one, and the process ends in failure.”
Ahead of the next round of negotiations, David Cameron held a conference call with the unionist first minister, Peter Robinson, and the nationalist deputy first minister Martin McGuinness after the parties managed to unite in favour of a welfare reform package.
The five-party position paper calls on the government to grant Northern Ireland £2bn over 10 years to cushion the impact of a reduction in the public sector.
The paper was the first sign that the parties, most notably Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), had managed to find common purpose on the vexed question of welfare reform.
Until Friday the two parties had clashed over the cost of the welfare state with the Sinn Féin resisting cuts to public services.
Commenting on their conference call on Saturday, FRobinson said: “We discussed the current talks and in particular the financial issues contained in the paper given to the prime minister. I welcome the fact the prime minister is engaged in these financial issues this weekend and look forward to further discussions on Monday.”
Ireland’s foreign minister, Charlie Flanagan, who is co-chairing the talks in Belfast with the Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, said this week that there had also been progress on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.
He stressed, however, that every issue had to be agreed upon if there was to be a comprehensive solution.
The parties are wrestling with how to investigate the conflict, particularly the thousands of unsolved murders and other crimes.
The other contentious issues are banned loyalist marches and Belfast city council’s policy of restricting the flying of the union flag above city hall.
