Empey rejects crisis talks
The British and Irish governments were last night urged to bin plans to hold an intense Leeds Castle-style talks session for northern politicians later this year.
Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey issued the appeal following speculation that parties will be locked away in a country house in Scotland or England for a round of discussions aimed at breaking the political deadlock over power-sharing in October.
Mr Blair and Mr Ahern have given the North’s politicians a November 24 deadline to agree to share power.
Mr Empey claimed another attempt to have a hothouse round of talks outside of the North would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.
The East Belfast Assembly member said: “The cost of hiring the venue, the associated security, flying over, accommodating and feeding a large number of Assembly members and staff is astronomical and a chronic waste of public expenditure.
“The big house spectacular summit may have worked in the past in terms of the optics and trying to generate a pressure cooker environment but in reality they achieved little.
“Can anyone in Northern Ireland name one big house summit where a breakthrough was made?
“The answer is no. The contrary is true.
“Castle Buildings, Stormont and Hillsborough Castle have been places where meaningful progress has been made in the past.”
In September 2004 the British and Irish governments held talks in Leeds Castle in Kent in a bid to bridge the gap between the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin over power-sharing.
An agreement was not reached, although Mr Blair and Mr Ahern insisted progress had been made.
Three months later, Sinn Féin and the DUP failed to make further headway in discussions involving them and the two governments.
The Ulster Unionist leader said he had already told the governments not to go down the road of another big summit.
