Slow first session makes some progress

THE one thing the party leaders and representatives agreed on after the first session of the Northern Ireland Forum in Belfast was that some business got done eventually.

The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists, Mr John Taylor, blamed the DUP and Mr Bob McCartney's UK Unionist Party for "working together to disrupt the proceedings". Some business had been achieved, however the rules committee, the business committee and the date of the next session had been agreed.

Mr Taylor was pleased with the cross party support for the membership levels of the committees. As well as the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists, "we had these ladies here", he said pointing to the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition.

Ms Monica McWilliams of the coalition said "it was very, very slow". She believed the forum would have to be much more efficient if anything was to get done. "We made the proposal at 3. 15 p.m. to elect a nominee from each party to the (rules) committee she said, but it was more than two hours later before it was agreed.

She described the chairman, Mr John Gorman, as an interim chairman and said that he would remain interim. The coalition would be putting forward women's names as nominees to chair the forum.

Mr John Hume, the SDLP leader, said the proceedings "were rather long drawn out" but they got some business done in electing a rules and a business committee.

Asked about the cross party agreement on the membership levels of two committees, business and rules, he said he was glad that accommodation had been reached. As to whether he was happy that the SDLP had gone to the forum he replied that the party was quite happy to engage in any meeting that would promote accommodation and reconciliation.

Mr David Ervine, the Progressive Unionist Party spokesman, said the proceedings had been "totally shambolic". People were showing off their egos but he was hopeful that they might some work done" at future meetings. They had at least elected two committees and that "augurs well".

During the meeting, the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley ha said that, according to the "despotic rules of the Secretary of State which had been laid down for the proceedings, it would be illegal to accept one representative of each of the nine parties on the rules committee.

He had expected that when the business and rules committees started meeting they would a free membership levels which would reflect mathematically the part sizes on the forum. He still believed the decision to elect one member from each party was illegal but declined to say whether his party would challenge this.