ARmy Rumour SErvice

He's coming to Stormont on Monday to discuss the devolved government after the spat between McGuiness & Robinson.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8281282.stm

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed to support the people of Northern Ireland in completing the "last and unfinished stage of the peace process".

During his speech at the Labour Park conference in Brighton, he called for the devolution of policing and justice to be completed soon.

Mr Brown said his predecessor, Tony Blair, had "to his great credit," started the process.

He said he wanted to see the work completed in the next few months.

Earlier, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the bulk of negotiations on devolution of policing and justice were complete and an overall deal on the budget was very close.

'Progress'

Speaking while attending the Labour Party Conference, he said budget talks involving himself, the First Minister and the government were focusing on final figures.

Last week, following talks with the Prime Minster, Mr McGuinness said progress had been "significant".

However, First Minster Peter Robinson signalled a more cautious note.

He pointed out that certain issues were outstanding.

The First and Deputy First Ministers met Gordon Brown in London last Monday to discuss the budget for policing and justice.

Financial deal

Their talks continued on Wednesday in New York where the two ministers attended an economic conference.

At that stage, Mr Robinson made it clear that the DUP would not be concluding the financial deal until the party officers and the party's assembly group had evaluated the package and were satisfied.

He said community confidence remained the crucial test for devolving policing and justice powers.

However, speaking in Brighton today, Mr McGuinness said more discussions would take place in the coming days and the next meeting with Gordon Brown would be "crucial".

"We are very close to agreement and people must remain patient," he said.

First minister Peter Robinson has said he regrets "that the deputy first minister continues to publicly make intemperate personal remarks about me".

He was speaking after Martin McGuinness suggested the first minister might be taking "cold feet" on a deal over devolution of policing and justice.

Martin McGuinness expressed anger at Mr Robinson's failure to meet Gordon Brown this week to discuss the matter.

Mr Robinson cited uncertainty over the future budget for devolving the powers.

He said there was no point in having a meeting while differences between budget estimates of the Treasury and local criminal justice agencies remained.

Mr McGuinness rejected Mr Robinson's argument and said the DUP should explain why they were not prepared to have more meetings this week.

"The people want to see local politicians provide for them through local accountability a first class policing service," he said.

He also said: "I have to record my annoyance at the fact I have not been able to develop a close working relationship with Peter Robinson.

"That is through no deficiency or lack of effort on my part."

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Mr Robinson said: "I am surprised that he believes such attacks are likely to help us resolve the issues that we presently face.

"I am not going to play his game by responding in kind.

He said Mr McGuinness was guilty of a "one-sided nasty attack".

Alliance leader David Ford said the pair needed to maintain a working relationship.

"People don't want more rows at the heart of government. They want to see an Executive that delivers."

Election

Meanwhile, asked earlier if he would stand again for Westminster, Mr Robinson said the DUP were determined to phase out dual mandates.

However, he said his own position would be discussed with party officers.

Mr Robinson said some in his party believed the leader of unionism should be represented both at Stormont and Westminster during the fledgling years of the Assembly.

Also on Wednesday, Nigel Dodds, the DUP deputy leader, said the £8m cost of the latest Assembly expenses reinforced the DUP's argument for reducing the number of MLAs and streamlining the Stormont bureaucracy.

Originally Posted by Bugsy

Originally Posted by British_And_Proud

Seriously, does the twat really have to come over. Hope theres rough sea's and the ferry is cancelled..... wishful thinking

I wonder if the boyos haven't a sniper or two who'd like to get a bit of practice in. Just a thought.

MsG

If it helps, I'll buy the ammo(and the Guiness for the after-Op party!)