AN elected forum to conduct all-party talks will give the people of Northern Ireland a say in the peace process.

The fact that the forum was suggested some time ago by the Ulster Unionists guaranteed it would not meet with approval from the SDLP and Sinn Fein.

But Prime Minister John Major has had little choice but to back an elected forum given the deadlock on talks caused by the IRA's refusal to give up weapons.

The three-man international commission set up to find a compromise formula supported the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons during the peace talks.

Mr Major decided that there was no point in taking up this option because it was totally opposed by the Unionists and would have meant another stalemate. He is backed by Labour who on this issue are putting the peace initiative before party politics, and the Irish Government is expected to add its support.

Allegations by John Hume, the SDLP leader, that Mr Major's was seeking to buy votes from the Unionists to shore up his Commons majority are unwarranted.

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