NORTHERN IRELAND

by MONITOR
AMIDST all his other problems Gordon Brown could do without new difficulties in Northern Ireland but his short-notice visit there on Monday indicated that the power-sharing agreement between the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein is not running as smoothly as it should. Partly this is a matter of personalities. At the end of the day the Rev Ian Paisley found that he could get on well enough with his Sinn Fein opposite, Martin McGuinness, but Paisley's successor, Peter Robinson, is not of the same mind. The tension between him and Mr McGuinness has been heightened by the continuing difficulty in reaching agreement on Northern Ireland's police and justice system which remains under London's control. This was a sensible compromise in the early days of power sharing but Sinn Fein believes the governing executive is now mature enough to take over the responsibility while Mr
Robinson covers his disagreement with a substantial bid for extra funding should it happen. Northern Ireland is due to hold a general election next year and it is important that the inevitable fragility of any power-sharing arrangement should not be threatened by hostility between the two main parties. There are still forces on both sides of the religious divide in the province ready to take any opportunity to destabilise the present agreement. Mr Brown should move Northern Ireland nearer to the top of his agenda.