Sinn Fein cannot deliver on unionist demands for IRA decommissioning, Mr Gerry Adams insisted yesterday. The Sinn Fein president expressed his disappointment that the deadline for the establishment of the executive had been missed and said the democratic mandate of the parties had been ignored.
As talks broke up at Hillsborough Castle yesterday, Mr Adams declared: "The prize of a lasting peace demands that we all continue to try and Sinn Fein will certainly be doing that; we will not be deflected.
"We have made it clear, both privately and publicly, that any resolution of these difficulties has to be within the context of the Good Friday agreement. We've also made it clear that we, as a party, cannot deliver on the unionist demand for IRA weapons," said Mr Adams.
The negotiations had been long and "exhausting", with a range of ideas and propositions put forward by the participants. Unfounded rumours had also been circulated over the course of the week, he added.
Issues other than decommissioning discussed at the talks included demilitarisation, policing and the recent spate of attacks on Catholic families by dissident loyalists, according to Mr Adams.
"Sinn Fein will return to the renewed discussions determined to see this agreement implemented in full." He said his party would work with the other pro-agreement parties and the two governments to defend the Belfast Agreement and see it "become reality".
He said there was a responsibility on all who negotiated the agreement to defend and implement it in full.
The SDLP said it regarded the proposals put forward by the two governments to deal with outstanding difficulties in the peace process as a "firm basis for agreement".
It said: "Following the consideration of all parties, we expect that full agreement will be reached so that the entire Good Friday agreement can be implemented in all its aspects as soon as possible."
The statement went on: "We know that our regret that a full resolution of the current difficulties has not been reached will be widely shared across the community."
Sinn Fein chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness became a grandfather yesterday.