Peter Robinson, Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party said: “Gerry Adams seems to be labouring under the illusion that if he repeats a falsehood often enough then people will believe that it is true.
His repeated suggestion that the DUP signed up to a date, or even a target date for the devolution of policing and justice functions to the Northern Ireland Assembly at St Andrews is demonstrably false. This is not merely a matter of interpretation, but a question of fact. This makes his constant comments on the subject all the more bizarre and difficult to understand.
Every time Mr Adams distorts the facts we are happy to point out theincontrovertible truth but it really would be better if he did not feel the need to in the first place.
Once again let me remind him that the DUP made the position clear on the final day at the end of the negotiations at St Andrews when we said,
“There is no definitive date for the devolution of policing and justice powers. We remain of the unshakable view that those powers can only be transferred whenever there is the required community confidence.”
This has been the clear and consistent position of the party and remains the position today.
While progress has been made there are still considerable hurdles which lie ahead and will need to be resolved before a date for the devolution of the powers can be considered.
Indeed, at the end of June at the World Bar Conference in Belfast I set out my position on the matter and made clear that the DUP submission to the preparation for government committee before devolution remained the basis for any negotiations in this area.
Some parties have expressed concern about their lack of involvement inthe process so far, but let me reassure them that key issues have still to be resolved and the purpose of asking the Assembly and Executive review committee to be involved was to ensure other parties were involved in shaping the final structures.
In a matter as important as the devolution of policing and justice it is critical that any arrangements have the widest and broadest support possible. I believe that the involvement of the AERC in the autumn will help ensure this is the case. Too often in the past short term cobbled together political deals have been done which have not been in the best interests of Northern Ireland. This issue is too important for such an approach now.”