Sinn Fein Arrives at N. Ireland Talks Site
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Irish Republican Army supporters took their place at the site of Northern Ireland peace talks Monday, prompting some Protestant politicians to bolt for the door.
The largest pro-British Protestant party is still talking with the government, however, despite suspicions about the IRA’s new cease-fire.
Locked out of the talks for 13 months, senior figures of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party entered their offices thanks to the open-ended truce the IRA launched Sunday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has indicated that Sinn Fein can join other parties in negotiations starting Sept. 15 on Northern Ireland’s future if the IRA cease-fire holds. For now Sinn Fein can use an office at Stormont, the center of British administration in east Belfast, and start talking informally with anyone who’s willing.
The small Protestant United Kingdom Unionist Party walked out when Sinn Fein came in.
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