DUBLIN should accept the principle of an early election in the North, according to an editorial in today's London Independent, which accuses the Government of "floundering".
"It is time for the Dublin Government and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland to lick their wounds, swallow their pride and accept the principle of an early election in Ulster ... "This change of tack would represent an acknowledgement of political reality ... More important, an election would allow the British government, and in time the Ulster Unionists, to drop their precondition that the IRA must decommission weapons before all party talks can begin. In short, it offers an opportunity for political progress, albeit delayed until after the proposed election."