Talks chaired by former United States diplomat Richard Haass to resolve peace process issues in Northern Ireland have failed to bear tangible results.
The talks, which ended fruitless on Tuesday morning in Stormont, Belfast, were aimed at finding consensus on issues including the use of British and Irish flags and emblems, parade routes and remembering Northern Ireland’s dead from the decade’s long conflict.
Richard Haas, the director of New York-based Council on Foreign Relations and former Northern Ireland envoy for US President George W Bush, led the talks involving Stormont’s five Executive parties.
After he emerged from the meeting, Haass said: “I am not in the business of doing post mortems here because the patient is still alive.”
He added that he and co-chair Meghan O’Sullivan (pictured), a US foreign affairs expert, will consider returning before the New Year if they are convinced a deal is still possible. “Let me be clear about this, we don’t have an agreement. (But) in no way have we given up on the possibility of still reaching agreement before the end of the year,” said Haass.
Haass and Harvard professor Meghan O’Sullivan were brought to Northern Ireland in July by the first and deputy first ministers, with the aim of finding consensus on the display of national flags, the holding of parades and how to come to terms with the violence of the past.
“The priority now is for all Northern Ireland’s political leaders to demonstrate their continued commitment to this process by asking Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan to return at the earliest opportunity,” he added.
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