Settle differences, Clinton tells Northern Ireland

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, yesterday told the assembled politicians of Belfast, diplomatically but unmistakably, that the time had come to complete the unfinished business of devolution.

In her address to the Northern Ireland Assembly, she complimented representatives on how far they had come in the process, but in meetings their leaders and in other public comments, she urged them to clinch the deal on transferring policing and security powers from London to Belfast.

Clinton held meetings with the First Minister, Peter Robinson, from the Democratic Unionists (DUP), and the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, from Sinn Fein.

The US, she told the Assembly, would not "meddle" in the process of devolution for policing and justice.

But one of the messages of her one-day visit was that policing was essential for increased stability and that stability would make US investment and job creation more likely.

Her pressure, together with that emanating from London and Dublin, was directly aimed at Robinson and his party, whose misgivings have caused many months of delay in putting policing in place.

Not all in the DUP are keen on speedy movement, harbouring many instinctive reservations about the Assembly and its system, which locks them into government with Sinn Fein.

While the rest of the Assembly gave Clinton a standing ovation, two Democratic Unionist members, Gregory Campbell and the Rev William McCrea, headed for the doors of the chamber. A Sinn Fein member, Daithi McKay, called on them to apologise for "publicly snubbing the US Secretary of State".

Campbell, a Westminster MP, denied that he had staged a walkout, advancing the explanation that "we all have important business to do, particularly the economic regeneration of Northern Ireland".

- INDEPENDENT