Northern Ireland talks collapse as main unionist parties reject Haass proposals

Source: The Guardian

Talks broke up in the early hours of Tuesday morning after discussions that had reached a climax under the chairmanship of the former US diplomat Dr Richard Haass.
...
Northern Ireland's justice minister accused the two main unionist parties of putting their electoral fortunes above any deal that could have resolved key post-peace process issues like controversial parades and flags.

David Ford claimed the unionists had failed "to face down the extremes over flags – but parties who ducked it clearly rely on those extremes to sustain their vote. It is time that parties stopped hiding behind process and committed to product.”

The Alliance leader and justice minister singled out the unionist parties' failure to support a legally binding code of conduct on loyalist marches as one of the main reasons for failure in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/31/northern-ireland-talks-collapse-as-main-unionist-parties-reject-haass-proposals