I thank the House for affording me the opportunity to make this statement. I also wish to express my thanks to all those who made it possible — The Tánaiste, who has been working with tenacity and effectiveness on the twin track initiative which commenced last November, the members of the Cabinet sub-committee on Northern Ireland, the Minister for Social Welfare, the Minister for Justice, the Attorney General and all our officials. Today's agreement would not have been possible without the agreement of 28 November which commenced the twin track initiative, established a firm aim of launching all-party talks and gave us the immensely valuable and cogently written Mitchell report.
The agreement reached in London today between Prime Minister Major and myself provides an historic opening for peace and reconciliation. It provides, for the first time, a fixed date for all-party negotiations where all the parties in Northern Ireland, Nationalist and republican, Unionist and loyalist, get around the table with the two Governments and negotiate a way out of the difficulties that have divided us and brought us into conflict for generations.
There is, therefore, now no vestige of argument for the continuation of IRA violence, just as there has never been any moral or political justification for it. I call on the IRA to accept the will of the people of both of these islands, as so clearly expressed in recent days, to end the bombings and the shootings once and for all.
Today's agreement gives everyone a chance to resolve their political differences by political means. We have an opportunity, in the intensive period of consultations which the Tánaiste will be starting on Monday, to receive an input from all Northern Ireland political parties as to how they think an elective process should work; how negotiations should be conducted; whether there is advantage in a referendum to win popular endorsement for what we are doing, and so on.
I call on the Unionist parties to respond generously to this process. For our part we offer them generosity, in a way in which it has perhaps never been previously offered. There can be no agreement without them. Any agreement to come into effect must be approved in referendum by a majority in Northern Ireland. The majority community in Northern Ireland has the least to fear, and potentially the most to gain, from all-party negotiations. The Unionist community should not allow any artifical obstacle or sophisticated argument to stand in the way of its full hearted involvement in determining its own future.
This Government's primary objective since taking office has been to achieve a comprehensive political agreement which would allow the peoples of these islands to live and work together in peace and harmony. We have been working intensively, in close co-operation with the British Government, to this end. We have worked, willingly and with due acknowledgement, on the achievements of our predecessors in Government.
In the period up to 9 February, when the IRA revoked its cessation of violence, a great deal of progress had been made. The two Governments had for the first time ever provided, in the Joint Framework Document, an outline of what a comprehensive political agreement might involve, in order to give impetus, focus and direction to all-party negotiations. We had also come a long way to making these negotiations a reality.
Last November, the two Governments agreed a joint firm aim of launching all-party negotiations by the end of this month. We also put in place a process — the twin track process — to achieve this end. It involved the beginning of intensive preparatory talks between the two Governments and the political parties to prepare the ground for negotiations. It also involved, in parallel, the setting up of an international body, chaired by Senator George Mitchell, to provide an independent assessment of the decommissioning issue. That body completed its work last month within the time frame allotted and its report, containing a number of principles and recommendations, dealt in a very balanced way with the complexities surrounding the decommissioning issue.
Very considerable progress was also made in the discussions in the political track, involving an unprecedented degree of contact between the two Governments, separately and together, and the political parties in Northern Ireland. With a view to concluding the preparations for negotiations, the Irish Government has on 7 February made a proposal for proximity talks, which we were pursuing with the British Government with, we believed, a real prospect of success. In short, it seemed at that time as if all-party negotiations were within a hand's grasp.
The IRA's resumption of violence on 9 February, with all its terrible consequences in terms of loss of life and grevious injury and suffering, some permanent, was a major blow to our hopes for real progress towards a political settlement. However, the two Governments continued to work towards our shared objective of all-party negotiations. We recognised that we had a duty to act in the interests of all those — the vast majority of the peoples of these islands — who put their trust and confidence in us and who look to us for political leadership. The place of political progress can never be dictated by those who, against all morality and logic, seek to set the political agenda by violence.
The priority of the Government in the past two weeks has been the restoration of the IRA ceasefire and the establishment of a specific date for all-party negotiations on a settlement. We have regarded the latter objective as desirable and necessary in its own right, and also as helpful to the reinstatement of peace.
The joint communiqué which Prime Minister Major and I agreed in Downing Street today represents a further milestone in this ongoing work and provides, as I have already said, an historic opening for the peace and reconciliation we all seek.
First, it reaffirms the commitment of the two Governments to work for a lasting peace and comprehensive settlement based on the principles set out in the Downing Street Declaration and the Joint Framework Document. Second, it underlines the fundamental priority we attach to securing the earliest possible inclusive negotiations to address all the relevant relationships and issues in an interlocking three-stranded process. Third, it confirms that such negotiations should include all relevant parties which establish a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods and have shown that they abide by the democratic process. There are no other qualifications for participation. Fourth, it confirms that an elective process would have to be broadly acceptable and lead immediately and without further pre-conditions to the convening of all-party negotiations with a comprehensive agenda.
The communiqué agreed between the British Prime Minister and myself is designed to move the entire peace process forward decisively. It creates a priceless opportunity to recapture the peace and anchor it politically.
For Sinn Féin and the IRA, this is a moment in time which may not be available to them again soon — if ever. All that has to happen, for Sinn Féin to become a full participant in the negotiations, is a restoration of the IRA ceasefire of August 1994. I know that every Member of this House will join in the demand that the IRA should make Sinn Féin's political participation possible and that they should make that decision now.
I say to them openly and frankly: "Do not close this space for hope. Build on the opportunity inherent in it. Take the next vital step in building a lasting peaceful settlement by restoring the ceasefire of August 1994. That will then enable the two Governments to resume full ministerial dialogue with Sinn Féin and make possible that party's full engagement in the process of negotiations."
In paragraph 6 of the communiqué, the Irish and British Governments have committed themselves irrevocably to the commencement of all-party negotiations on 10 June. It is made equally clear in paragraph 12 that, even in the absence of the cessation of violence, both Governments will continue to work in partnership with those parties exclusively committed to peaceful methods to secure a comprehensive negotiated settlement and start negotiations with them on 10 June.
The intensive consultations and elective process, now provided for, will be undertaken in the period between now and 10 June. Inclusive negotiations will then be convened to address comprehensively the agreed agenda in an interlocking three-stranded process.
During the ten day period beginning on Monday next, the two Governments will conduct intensive multilateral consultations with the relevant Northern Ireland parties. The purpose of these consultations will be first, to reach widespread agreement on proposals for a broadly acceptable elective process leading directly and without preconditions to the commencement of all-party negotiations on 10 June. While this is a matter primarily for the parties in Northern Ireland to determine by agreement with the British Government, the Irish Government would support a proposal of that kind which, to our satisfaction, met the three tests set out in the Mitchell report.
The test of broad acceptability requires political acceptance. The test of an appropriate mandate demands that it offers a direct and speedy route, without preconditions, to all-party negotiations. The test of being within the three stranded structure requires that the integrity of the three core relationships as set out in both the Joint Declaration and Joint Framework Document must be respected. In this morning's communiqué, full and appropriate account has been taken of these three conditions in paragraph 7 where it is stated that:
The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach agreed that an elective process would have to be broadly acceptable and lead immediately and without further preconditions to the convening of all-party negotiations with a comprehensive agenda.
The second purpose of the intensive consultations with the parties which will commence on Monday next is to reach widespread agreement on the basis, participation, structure, format and agenda of substantive all-party negotiations. On the basis for negotiations, it is made clear in paragraph 4 that neither violence nor the threat of violence would be allowed to influence the course of negotiations or preparations for them. Furthermore, in paragraph 6, the Prime Minister and I reaffirmed our commitment to work for a lasting peace and comprehensive settlement on the basis of the fundamental principles shared by our two Governments and set out in the Downing Street Declaration and Joint Framework Document.
Regarding participation in all-party negotiations, both Governments are agreed in paragraph 5 that Sinn Féin participation is dependent only on a restoration of the IRA ceasefire. I regard it as being in all our interests that parties close to the loyalist paramilitaries, which have shown such discipline and courage in recent weeks, should be able to join with us in these negotiations.
On the question of how talks will be structured, much work remains to be done. While the practical considerations of this remain to be agreed, there is much to build upon. The lessons of the 1991-92 talks and the issues identified in the Joint Framework Document offer signposts for the way forward. The structure for negotiations must be within the three-stranded framework where all the key relationships are accorded equal integrity.
The format for negotiations is a matter on which each party will, undoubtedly, have its own view. The overriding objective should be viability in order that the prospects for reaching a comprehensive agreement would be maximised within the shortest period possible.
On the question of the agenda for all-party negotiations, the British Prime Minister and I agree that it should be comprehensive. In that regard, the issues identified in the Joint Framework Document will be able to provide the necessary focus and direction for deliberations in this area, without being exclusive.
The third purpose of the intensive multilateral consultations with the Northern Ireland parties relates to the question of the holding of parallel referendums, in Northern Ireland and this jurisdiction. The objective of such referendums would be "to mandate support for a process to create lasting stability, based on the repudiation of violence for any political purpose". Mr. John Hume first proposed this as a means of solidly underpinning the search for, and outcome of, political negotiations by purely peaceful and democratic means. The idea has much to commend it because the people of Ireland, North and South, would, in effect, be asked to say that the invocation of violence can have no place in the resolution of differences on this island. These can only be resolved by peaceful and democratic methods, where violence or its threat will have no part.
The British Prime Minister and I are confident that the consultations on all these matters, which will begin on Monday next, will offer a fair and acceptable basis for the launch of all-party negotiations which will go ahead on 10 June. The Governments will review the outcome in just over a fortnight's time and decisions will then be made to guarantee that the all-party negotiations will begin on time.
It is clear that the timespan just outlined for the intensive consultations with the Northern Ireland parties is very short. A determined and committed effort is required of everyone involved to ensure the maximum progress is achieved.
There has been an emphasis in comment in Westminster and elsewhere on the problem of decommissioning. I understand this, but let us not forget that addressing the decommissioning of arms is one of the best means of building confidence and trust. We are putting in place a process in which decommissioning will become possible, as it is already desirable in every other sense. It is through the confidence and trust that can only be built by political dialogue that we will make decommissioning practically achievable. That is a challenge for everybody. An important part of making that challenge a credible one is the clear recognition in the communiqué that confidence building also requires that the parties have reassurance that a meaningful and inclusive process of negotiations is genuinely being offered to address the legitimate concerns of their traditions and the need for new political arrangements with which all can identify.
That important point should be reflected upon in Northern Ireland and the neighbouring jurisdiction. These two processes complement one another: a process of meaningful negotiation complements and reinforces a process of taking arms out of politics just as a process of taking arms out of politics complements and reinforces a process of meaningful negotiation. That is the complementarity established so clearly in paragraph 12 of the communiqué agreed today.
It is important that people debating this issue should recognise that what we need to achieve is a positive complementarity between these two factors, where the process of decommissioning reinforces the process of negotiation in a serious way and where the process of serious negotiation also helps in dealing with the decommissioning problem.
It is the intention of the British Prime Minister and myself that all our contacts and meetings will act as further steps on the road to the commencement of all-party talks on 10 June. This morning's communiqué represents an historic opening. Never before have we had the possibility of sitting down together to discuss all the issues that divide us. No one participant will determine the agenda, the format or the conditions for participation. In the end, the peace that belongs to all the people of Ireland must be underpinned by political agreement. After many twists and turns, we have created a hill on the road to agreement. The journey down the rest of the road starts now.
In today's communiqué the two Governments have created a political means and a firm guarantee whereby the overwhelming wish of the Irish people, expressed in the cry for peace last Sunday in towns, villages and cities of this land, North and South, can be given practical political expression. The role of political life is to provide a channel and a means whereby people's aspirations can be given reality. This communiqué gives reality to the heartfelt aspirations and demands of the Irish people, North and South, Unionist and Nationalist, for peace and reconciliation.
I express my thanks to all involved on behalf of the Government in this exercise. I also express my thanks and appreciation to the British Government, and to the British Prime Minister, John Major, for the courage and decisiveness that he has shown in dealing with this matter.