Northern Ireland government again faces suspension

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Politicians dismissed the Irish Republican Army's latest words on disarmament Thursday and predicted that Britain would pull the plug within the next day on Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant government.

The IRA, seeking to maintain a government that includes its Sinn Fein party allies, said it would renew talks with disarmament officials if the government kept going. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of the neighboring Republic of Ireland said the IRA position was "not enough."

Progress continued on another peacemaking front, however, as politicians from both sides weighed whether to join a new Catholic-Protestant board that oversees the police, a traditional Protestant preserve. Reforming the Royal Ulster Constabulary into a more Catholic-friendly police force was a major objective of the 1998 peace accord.

On Thursday, the deadline for all sides to nominate members to the board, moderate Catholics were the first to say yes, hard-line Catholics from Sinn Fein the first to say no. The major Protestant parties kept debating whether to support a process that has forced painful changes on police.

The moderate Catholic party, the Social Democratic and Labor Party, confirmed that senior members Alex Attwood, Joe Byrne and Eddie McGrady would serve on the 19-member board. That ended a Catholic boycott on policing structures dating to Northern Ireland's foundation as a Protestant-majority state 80 years ago.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said his party would not take its two seats because the reform plans didn't go far enough. He said Sinn Fein would discourage Catholics from joining the force.