UK sets March 7 for Northern Ireland election

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) New elections for a Northern Ireland assembly in which feuding politicians at opposite ends of the province's sectarian divide will share power have been set for March 7, the British government said.

A transitional, power-sharing executive in the province is set to meet from November. 24 and the two biggest parties will need to indicate then who would be the first and deputy-first ministers if self-rule resumes next year.

Britain put pressure on the rival parties to take the process forward when the assembly meets, or risk derailing the gradual move towards devolution of powers from London.

''November. 24, Friday week, has to be successful,'' said Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.

''It opens the door to a transitional assembly, beyond that to an election and beyond that to devolved government in Northern Ireland.

If November. 24 is not successful then that door closes,'' he told the BBC yesterday.

The assembly was set up under the 1998 U.S.-brokered Good Friday agreement, which largely ended three decades of violence in which 3,600 people died, but was suspended in October 2002 following a breakdown in trust between rival parties.

DEADLOCKED Britain said in a parliamentary bill published on Wednesday that the assembly would be dissolved in January to allow for the ballot and self-rule would be fully restored on March 26.

The bill, to be rushed through in coming days, will put into law plans drawn up by London and Dublin last month.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which wants the province to remain part of the United Kingdom, and Sinn Fein, which wants a united Ireland, have partially backed the deal.

The parties remain deadlocked over the key issues of policing and power-sharing, however.

The stumbling block on policing is that Sinn Fein, whose Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness is likely to become Deputy First Minister following any deal, wants a definite date for devolving police powers from London to Belfast.

But the DUP, whose firebrand leader Ian Paisley would become First Minister, says it wants to see proof of Sinn Fein's commitment to law and order before a date is set.

''The difficulty that has dogged this process is the reticence of Sinn Fein to sign up to support for the police and the rule of law,'' said DUP lawmaker Jeffrey Donaldson.

Sinn Fein, political ally of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), has long viewed Northern Ireland's police force, which it sees as an arm of the British state, with suspicion.

The British bill amends the pledge of office that ministers must take when the assembly starts next year to ensure parties respect power-sharing and fully support the local police force.

Ministers must pledge to uphold the rule of law, including supporting the police and courts system.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he understood Irish republicans concern about the pledge on supporting the police and accused the British government of giving in to the DUP.

''I want to appeal to republicans who are obviously concerned about this issue, to judge all of this in the round,'' he said.

''Clearly any pledge for ministerial position only applies when people are to become ministers and that isn't scheduled until March of next year,'' he said.

Failure to comply with any part of the agreement will mean continued direct rule from London but with a greater input from Dublin -- a prospect pro-British ''unionists'' find unpalatable.

REUTERS PDS PM0429