FOCUS
THINGS FALL APART: `Somebody thought the sensible thing was to drive into
the wall'
From SUNDAY TELEGRAPH July 18th, 1999
Until then, it had widely been recognised that the onus was on Sinn Fein
to deliver, after so much had been given to the republican side after the
Good Friday Agreement, including the early prisoner release scheme. But
as spring turned to summer, and with Mr Blair revelling in victory in Kosovo,
the Prime Minister increasingly sought to harry and hurry the Unionists.
Although Mr Trimble says he was "amazed" that the Prime Minister did not
neglect Ulster during the Balkans conflict, he makes clear his frustration
at being pushed by Mr Blair into a corner too many. "In terms of my conversations with him, the only thing I would be critical of is the timescale, the question of always, always pushing for things to be done immediately and not allowing people to think things through; not appreciating that if people think they are being rushed and pressurised, their tendency is to dig their heels in."
Mr Trimble is critical, too, of the Government's failure to resist the threats
from Sinn Féin and the nationalist SDLP to walk out if the Way Forward timetable
were not adhered to. "There's no problem with having target dates. The problem is that when you reach the target date and you haven't got the matter solved, what should you do? Do you drive into the wall, or do you put the brakes on? Somebody thought the sensible thing to do was to drive into the wall and that was clearly a mistake." Mr Trimble, the former law lecturer at
Queens University, has come a long way during the past two years. He was
once perceived as an Orange bigot, but is now on first name terms with Gerry
Adams and Martin McGuinness. From the changes in his own stance, one might
assume that his trust of Sinn Féin had also grown, but this is certainly
not evident from his comments. While Gerry Adams talks of the importance
of personal relationships, Mr Trimble does not disguise the fact that it
takes a long time to earn his respect. Despite all the face-to-face meetings,
he says he does not find the Sinn Féin leaders any more credible than when
he began talking to them. "It's not my business to make judgments about other people. What I care about is what they do," he says. The Ulster Unionists'
explanation of their "empty chair" policy at Stormont on Thursday shows
a concern for the greater good of the peace process. While some may have
assumed that the party's failure to turn up was a protest, according to
senior aides it was a ploy to deny Dr Paisley an extended debate on a motion
to expel Sinn Féin which would have opened further divisions. Mr Trimble
has not said "never" to Mr Blair's plans and believes that the Good Friday
Agreement is far from dead. "So much has happened since then. The agreement has not failed, it has not collapsed. This process is more robust than that,"
he says. The Unionists will continue to take part in new discussions this
week, but Mr Trimble is now looking forward to a well-earned few weeks off.
He intends to take his usual trip driving through Europe next month with
his wife, Daphne, and four children, aged six to 16. He can go off knowing
that he has done his best for the time being. |
