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| Richard Haass visits Northern Ireland ahead of all-party talks | Richard Haass visits Northern Ireland ahead of all-party talks |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Dr Richard Haass, who will chair all-party talks later this year, will arrive in Northern Ireland on Wednesday. | Dr Richard Haass, who will chair all-party talks later this year, will arrive in Northern Ireland on Wednesday. |
| He will meet political leaders ahead of chairing the discussions which will deal with many divisive issues. | He will meet political leaders ahead of chairing the discussions which will deal with many divisive issues. |
| The group will try to bring forward a set of recommendations by the end of this year, on parades, protests, flags, symbols and emblems. | The group will try to bring forward a set of recommendations by the end of this year, on parades, protests, flags, symbols and emblems. |
| Dr Haass is the former US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. | Dr Haass is the former US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. |
| Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he was well qualified to chair the talks. | Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he was well qualified to chair the talks. |
| "We've all met him in the past. I think we have all been impressed by him," he said. | "We've all met him in the past. I think we have all been impressed by him," he said. |
| "He is someone who has an empathy with the situation here, someone who wanted to do this whenever we asked him and one of the first points that he made was that he didn't want a salary, so we're dealing with someone who is very genuine." | "He is someone who has an empathy with the situation here, someone who wanted to do this whenever we asked him and one of the first points that he made was that he didn't want a salary, so we're dealing with someone who is very genuine." |
| First Minister Peter Robinson said Dr Haass was the "first choice" for all the parties to chair the talks. | First Minister Peter Robinson said Dr Haass was the "first choice" for all the parties to chair the talks. |
| The Orange Order's Grand Lodge has said that it will "willingly and actively participate in the Haass initiative". | |
| The order says it will do so with the aim of replacing the Parades Commission with "a better regulatory system". | |
| BBC Northern Ireland political editor Mark Devenport described Dr Haass' visit as a "fact-finding exercise". | |
| "We're expecting Dr Haass probably to have lunch with the first minister and deputy first minister and then to have a meeting with the other parties, certainly party leaders and some of their representatives, later in the course of the afternoon," he said. | "We're expecting Dr Haass probably to have lunch with the first minister and deputy first minister and then to have a meeting with the other parties, certainly party leaders and some of their representatives, later in the course of the afternoon," he said. |
| "The fact that violence is still continuing on the streets shows the kind of scale of the task that faces him." | "The fact that violence is still continuing on the streets shows the kind of scale of the task that faces him." |
| Dr Haass served as US envoy to Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2003. | Dr Haass served as US envoy to Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2003. |