The setting of a date for Assembly elections in Northern Ireland is crucial if Sinn Féin is to make any approach to the IRA during sensitive peace-process negotiations, Mr Martin McGuinness claimed today.
After a meeting between the Sinn Féin leadership and Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble, the Mid-Ulster MP said he believed "the atmosphere is good" between the parties.
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The Sinn Féin chief negotiator said after the meeting in London: "There is a recognition that we are all in this together and that we all have a responsibility to resolve the impasse.
"We in Sinn Féin hope the unionists are taking us in good faith and we are certainly taking them in good faith.
"Obviously the British and Irish Governments also have a role in all of this.
"But may I say we in Sinn Féin believe that elections need to take place because they are a basic right.
"From our point of view we see the election as an accelerator in the process and certainly we will not be going to the IRA without an election date.
"The election is crucial from our perspective."