Meeting of forum delayed by arguments over Alliance, SDLP seating

THE second session of the Northern Ireland Forum in Belfast yesterday was dominated by a wrangle over the seating arrangements and by detailed consideration of the rules and procedures.

The issue of the appointment of a chairman was deferred until next week, and questions were raised about whether there should be prayers or a meditation to mark the start of the proceedings.

The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, wanted the Union Jack over the building. Mr Ian Paisley jnr said some parties were treating the forum in a "rather a la carte fashion" and like a "public convenience", a remark which drew the censure of the chairman, Mr John Gorman. When Mr Gorman asked him to withdraw the remark, he replied he would withdraw the "a la carte" only.

The forum had just begun when it was adjourned for an hour because a member of the Alliance Party was sitting in an SDLP seat. Mr Mark Durkan of the SDLP described the incident as a "close encounter of the absurd kind" and said his party did not raise any objection about anybody sitting in its seats.

"It was the chairman who raised the objection. We didn't create the problem, we didn't work it up, we're trying to work it out," he said.

The leader of the Alliance Party, Dr John Alderdice, said his party was taking its position as it had on every elected body since the Alliance Party was founded. Asked why there was such a fuss over one chair, he said: "I absolutely agree. It seems to me quite extraordinary."

Asked why the Alliance Party did not sit somewhere else, Dr Alderdice said: "In other words, why doesn't the Alliance just be walked over by people? What sort of people think that the Alliance Party is just a doormat for somebody?" He added there were a number of people who wanted to marginalise the party.

Mr Nigel Dodd of the DUP said Alliance should "stop being so childish and grow up".

When the session was reconvened the Alliance Party agreed to sit in its original seats, and the issue was referred to the forum's business committee.

The unionist parties rejected a proposal by Ms Brid Rodgers of the SDLP to adjourn the forum until a chairman was formally appointed. Dr Paisley said the SDLP accused everybody of holding up the proceedings but now "they want to stop the forum completely".

The chair had to be agreed by 75 per cent of the members. Mr Gary McMichael of the UDP said it was not an attempt to stall the process.

Mr Durkan said that until the question of the chair was resolved the credibility of the forum would be questioned and Mr Gorman would be seen as a "carry on chairman of a carry on forum".