Statement by Mark Durkan (SDLP) on the devolution of policing and justice powers, (27 January 2010)

Statement by Mark Durkan, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), following two days of discussions in Belfast regarding the devolution of policing and justice powers, (27 January 2010)

"There is obvious that there is concern and confusion over the state that we now find ourselves in. It is obvious that parties are frustrated for different reasons and in different ways.

If any party is entitled to an outburst of road rage in this process it is the SDLP. If any party is entitled to say we have been betrayed and frustrated in relation to an agreement that we did as much, and probably more than anybody else to achieve it is the SDLP.

And after all we are still prepared to work through on the issues of the last couple of days and take the issues forward over the next couple of days.

We will do this in circumstances where Sinn Fein have already conceded yet another unionist veto to the DUP to deny nationalists any right to post of Justice Minister in the foreseeable future and to deny the SDLP our democratic entitlement to an extra seat in government.

But we are still prepared to do our work for the good of the process because this is not about one party or one party’s interest. This is about the collective democratic ambitions and prospects that we should move forward.

Therefore it is a bit rich of Martin McGuinness and Sinn Féin to lecture us now about equality and about partnership in circumstances where they have made sure that all parties would not be involved in any equal or properly meaningful way these past few days.

It was Sinn Fein who gave the DUP the triple lock veto that has meant that the devolution of justice and policing hasn’t happened for the last three years. They conceded that devolution of justice and policing would only happen at a time when the DUP agreed and on terms of the DUP’s choosing. Contrary to their pretentions the St Andrews Agreement never had a given deadline or a given commitment for May 2008. They misled the nationalist people then and they are trying to mislead people again about that now.

In relation to the parades issue they were the people who made crucial, critical mistakes that sent the signal to the DUP and fed the false expectations of the Orange Order that they could get the Parades Commission abolished as a price for devolution of justice and policing.

Mistakes have been made, there is a lot of frustration but there is huge opportunity we can still get this right.

The SDLP are still prepared to do our work for the good of the process because this is not about one party or one party’s interest. This is about the collective democratic ambitions and prospects that we should move forward."