Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:10 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting on 23 February 1999 with the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition. [5979/99]
Ceisteanna–Questions. - Northern Ireland Issues.
Last week I met representatives of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition. We discussed the situation on and around Garvaghy Road and in the Portadown area generally, the ongoing intimidation and recurring violence in the town and the concerns of the residents. We also discussed recent mediation initiatives and the prospects for making progress. The representatives made clear to me their willingness to approach any such efforts in a positive and constructive way, and I welcome the efforts being made in this regard.
I took the opportunity at my meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Blair, on Friday last to relay the concerns of the residents, and we both agreed that a resolution of the impasse would significantly reduce tensions in both communities in Northern Ireland generally and assist in creating a more positive atmosphere where other issues could be more readily resolved.
Does the Taoiseach agree that the Good Friday Agreement asserts the right of people in the six counties to live "free from sectarian harassment" and that the continuing siege of the Garvaghy Road by the Orange Order, with more than 100 illegal parades since last July, and the numerous physical attacks deny this right to that beleaguered community? Will the Taoiseach take this opportunity to call on David Trimble to urge the Orange Order, of which he is a member, to call off the siege now and to meet the representatives of the Garvaghy Road community whose Member of Parliament he is?
As I have done many times, I again call on people to do all they can to resolve the issues of the Garvaghy Road. As the Deputy said, there has been an enormous number of marches which have created many difficulties very weekend since the first weekend in last July. There have been attacks on members of the RUC and on residents of Garvaghy Road. It has created problems for the business people of Portadown and, more than anything else, has created great difficulties for the residents of the Garvaghy Road and the surrounding area in terms of their mobility and ability to go about their everyday life. Unfortunately, there are elements within the Orange Order and outside of it who have continued to create difficulties and it has not been possible to resolve these. Mr. Trimble seems to be relatively powerless to control these people and does not seem to be able to influence them any more than he has to desist from these activities. As the Deputy is aware, some of those politically close to Mr. Trimble were themselves attacked in this area in recent weeks. For my part, I will continue to ask those involved and who have some influence to do all they can to resolve this difficulty in the Garvaghy Road.
In welcoming the Taoiseach's response I must again ask, because it is extremely important, if he recognises that there are those on the Unionist side and among British securocrats whose motivation in making decommissioning an obstacle is the destruction of the consensus for the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement so carefully built up across the republican community. Does the Taoiseach recognise the real dangers of allowing such elements to rewrite the Agreement now as we face into the final week before the 10 March deadline?
As I continually emphasise and say in reply to Deputy Ó Caoláin, all parts of the Good Friday Agreement must be implemented, regardless of who tries to push one section more than another. Decommissioning is not the only part people have a tendency to emphasise, although that section must be implemented. This means that all parties to the Agreement have to accept their responsibilities. Prime Minister Blair and I have emphasised this point at several meetings with the parties in recent days and we will do so again in the next week or so. Attention should be focused on the progress made on the implementation and North-South bodies. In recent days Seamus Mallon said that absolutist policies should not be adopted, that a way should be found around the impasse. Nobody should knock us off course. Attention should be focused on what was agreed which has been explained one hundred times over.
Will the Taoiseach describe the inhibitions on the mobility of the residents of Garvaghy Road as a result of the siege? Are they able to get to work? Are there proposals for a compromise on the substantive issue of the route to be taken by marches?
There have been many incidents, too numerous to mention, which have caused great difficulty for the residents of Garvaghy Road. The residents coalition issued a long detailed document to me last week. Other parties in the House have also received a copy. I have discussed the matter with Prime Minister Blair and, informally, with the Chief Constable of the RUC, Ronnie Flanagan. An RUC man lost his life in the troubles in the area. The RUC is doing all it can, but the lives of residents have been disrupted in taking children to school, in going shopping and going out at night. There have been nightly disturbances. This instils fear.
On the second matter, while there have been proximity talks and attempts have been made by intermediaries, there is no common ground. Each time an effort is made the first item on the agenda is the completion of the 1998 parade. This creates a difficulty. One should concentrate on the position in 1999. I have emphasised this point to Prime Minister Blair and political leaders. I have not met the Orange Order, although others have. Progress will not be made as long as the completion of the 1998 parade is the first item on the agenda.
Does the Taoiseach agree this is the most difficult issue facing the North at community level? Having regard to that, on a parallel basis, is he prepared to push the establishment of the civic forum to allow for community conflict of this order to be resolved more speedily?
Does he see a greater role for Government leaders, or a lesser role for them and a greater role for community leaders? President Clinton has indicated greater involvement in the Northern conflict, the Good Friday Agreement and its implementation. How would he see the next steps in terms of the involvement of Governments?
If we could deal with the issues creating the impasse, perhaps we could get a spirit of compromise on both sides. It is not any one group's fault. We must achieve an understanding on those issues and that is what we are trying to do. To get the big issue dealt with, we must work through the International Commission on Decommissioning chaired by General John de Chastelain. Numerous sincere efforts are being made to find a resolution. At least I can report to the House that people are trying. If we could find a way around that issue, we could try and tie in some of the other issues. The one raised by Deputy Ó Caoláin, the Garvaghy Road problem, could be tied to these issues and we could get a sense of moving forward from there.
The civic forum.
Some work has been done on the civic forum but it cannot come before what would be linked to the institutions in the British-Irish Agreement, the North-South bodies and the ministerial council. That would not be acceptable to the sides, although there are positive moves being made.
There is an enormous amount of work being done on all levels, but until we deal with the fundamental tasks we will not get to those.