Analysis: North’s parties harmonise only on chorus of demands for £1bn to save Assembly

The five main parties in Northern Ireland were playing an old 1960s Beatles tune up at Stormont House yesterday: Money (That's What I Want). A billion pounds. At least. It was the only area where they harmonised completely.

There are major differences between the parties engaging in negotiations with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and British prime minister David Cameron to try to strike a deal that would save the Northern Executive and Assembly from collapse.

For instance, Sinn Féin wants an Irish language Act, with Gerry Adams and Michelle Gildernew recently using rich English rather than the mother tongue to make that point.

The DUP decidedly doesn't want an Irish language Bill and Gregory Campbell has used rude English to make his point.

The nationalist and unionist parties may seek agreement on the past, flags and parades but they have clashing ideas of what a deal here should be.

The five parties appear prepared to see a slimming down of the Executive and Assembly but there are suspicions that the two big parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, want to exploit this issue to squeeze the three smaller parties, the SDLP, the Ulster Unionists and Alliance.

There remain lots of differences to be thrashed out in the negotiations, which continue today.

Same music sheet

But there was one agenda item where there was unanimity. Indeed the five party leaders met at Stormont Castle before their encounter with Kenny and Cameron to ensure that, in at least one area, they were singing

a capella

from the same music sheet.

So, gimme money was the first chorus the Taoiseach and prime minister heard yesterday.

At least £1 billion, according to talks sources, was what was demanded by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, who were taking the lead on this matter.

Northern Ireland politicians aren’t stupid and they know they must put up a special case if they are to pilfer any extra cash from Cameron’s pocket.

Otherwise the voters in England, Wales and little parcels of Scotland on whom Cameron relies to get re-elected might get very annoyed.

“We in the course of these negotiations are going to make the case that this place here is different,” said McGuinness, quickly stepping up to the plate – and again but, hardly deftly, avoiding using the term Northern Ireland by saying his “this place here” instead.

‘Not London’

“This is not the north of England. This is not London. This isn’t Scotland, and this isn’t Wales,” he added.

“We are a society emerging from conflict and the legacy of all of that has posed huge problems for our Executive, not least on how we bring our community together.”

Who could resist such special pleading?

Step up Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers, who did just that by going on the BBC and UTV earlier to emphasise that the British government was dealing with its biggest ever deficit and that there was "no big cheque" available to bail out Northern Ireland.

Cameron, we are told, didn’t quite contradict her but in his opening remarks to the parties conceded that yes, there could be some additional money put on the table.

But he also played the English poor mouth with his talk of being restricted in what he could do in respect of the finances.

Otherwise work in the other main areas – the past, parades, flags and restructuring Stormont – was pressing ahead slowly and cagily.

One DUP source, however, remarked that the Taoiseach appeared willing to deal with the past in a comprehensive fashion and also to face up to whether the Republic might have questions to answers about how it dealt with the IRA.

The same source also rather cynically noted that such a focus on the IRA and its past deeds throughout the island might serve the interests of Fine Gael and Labour in their tussles with Sinn Féin.

Not that the source objected to such a stance.

And that’s where the talks are at the moment on the five key issues: the parties waiting to see the colour of Cameron’s money; some movement on the past and downsizing Stormont; and the usual deadlock over parades and flags.

There is hope more earnest work will be done today but suspicion that if there is to be a deal – possibly a limited rather than a comprehensive one – that it won’t happen this week.