Northern Ireland: Statements.

The Taoiseach:

I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the House on recent developments in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement derives its strength and authority from the sovereign will of the people expressed in the referenda in 1998. The effort to secure full implementation of all aspects of the Agreement has been further strengthened by the consistent support of this House. It is, therefore, appropriate that we have this occasion to reflect on the current situation and to mark our continuing commitment to the Agreement and the efforts that we are seeking to make to ensure that it is protected.

The Government has been a committed and honourable partner and has approached all aspects of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in a fair and even-handed manner. This has been, and will remain, the basis on which we approach our task, a task which still, despite all the improvements and positive changes, demands our consistent and undivided attention.

Over the past number of weeks, the two Governments have been engaged in extensive contacts with one another and the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties in Northern Ireland. In more recent days, I have had a series of meetings with the First Minister and the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, David Trimble; the leader of the SDLP and Deputy First Minister, Mark Durkan; Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams; and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. I have also had contact with the leader of the Alliance Party, David Forde. Regrettably, despite this intensive activity, it has not proved possible to resolve the current impasse. As a result, the British Government decided that devolved government in Northern Ireland should cease from midnight last night. It is a setback, yes, but a defeat, no.

Yesterday the Irish and British Governments issued a joint statement following the announcement on suspension. Our joint statement is a clear demonstration of our common commitment to the Agreement and our intention to proceed with its full implementation. The two Governments, as they have been at other vital stages in the process, are united in their determination and clear in their assessment of what needs to be done to address the current situation. As we said in our joint statement, we are saddened by the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive but we believe that devolved government cannot be made to work effectively in circumstances where there has been a breakdown of trust between the parties. It is, nonetheless, our sincere wish to have devolved government restored as soon as possible, and in a way that will last without further disruption, once trust between the parties has been restored.

The challenge in the period ahead is to restore that trust. It may not be easily achieved but I firmly believe that it can be done. The period ahead must be used to the best possible effect. I hope it will be a period of calm and clear thinking. There is a great deal at stake.

There are many who have tried to make the devolved government in Northern Ireland work. There have also been outstanding contributions by Ministers in the Executive on all sides to try and make a difference and to apply themselves to good and fair government for all the people of Northern Ireland. It would be wrong at this moment of difficulty not to acknowledge this. Northern Ireland is blessed with many talented politicians who, working together, have shown that they can serve the interests of both communities. It is our collective task to create the circumstances in which they will be again able to come together in an inclusive partnership Government.

It is very important that we do not allow a setback to become a terminal crisis. It will only become such a crisis if we let it become one and, despite the difficulties and differences, I do not believe that any of the parties want this to happen. Why would they? There has already been too much invested in making Northern Ireland a new and different place from the past and people can see that this is a better Northern Ireland – a Northern Ireland at peace, albeit imperfect, and a place of opportunity.

While the devolved institutions may now be suspended, the Good Friday Agreement is not. This is the vital distinction. The two Governments are determined to implement all aspects of the Agreement that are within their powers to implement. We do not want a vacuum to develop. Both Governments will be active, in consultation with the parties, in encouraging the conditions in which devolved government can be restored in advance of the scheduled elections.

However, for this to happen, it will require more than just the dedicated efforts of the two Governments. All political parties who subscribe to the principles and purpose of the Agreement must also play their part. Nobody bears sole responsibility for what has happened and no one party on its own can reopen the door to the restoration of devolved government. We will need to work together to overcome this latest challenge but, just as we have managed to overcome other serious difficulties in the past, I believe that we can do so again.

We have made it very clear that we did not support the exclusion of Sinn Féin from the Northern Ireland Executive. I have listened with great care to the strong views of the Ulster Unionist Party on this issue. I understand their concerns but I do not believe that exclusion would have been the correct response, or a response consistent with the central purpose of the peace process.

Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998, we have had many historic, ground breaking events. Northern Ireland remains a society in transition from conflict to peace but the changes brought about by the Good Friday Agreement have been transforming Northern Ireland for the better. The principles are agreed. Partnership, equality and mutual respect will continue to be the basis for governance in Northern Ireland.

Profound progress has been made that has helped to consolidate peace. There is no going back to the bad days. A new landscape is being etched with the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and this is being done in ways which are entirely positive for all the people of Northern Ireland.

In many ways, the current difficulties have been in the making for some time. It is sadly ironic that one of the most fertile periods in the process of implementing the Agreement has also been accompanied by a gradual erosion of confidence in the capacity of the Agreement to achieve the transitions that the people of Northern Ireland require. Deputies will recall that, following the discussions at Weston Park, the two Governments published a comprehensive package of proposals on 1 August 2001, designed to address the key outstanding areas of the Agreement – policing, arms decommissioning, the normalisation of security arrangements and the stability of the political institutions.

Over the past 12 months, substantial progress has been made in all of these areas. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has come into being, drawing recruits on a 50:50 basis from both communities. A policing board, representative of both communities in Northern Ireland, has been established to oversee the PSNI and has demonstrated great courage and cohesion in addressing a number of difficult and sensitive issues. A new chief constable has been appointed and has made a positive start. North-South policing co-operation is being pro-actively advanced.

We have had two acts of arms decommissioning by the IRA which were verified by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, the latter of which involved a substantial and varied quantity of arms being put permanently beyond use. Unfortunately, the IRA's initiative in this area was not matched by corresponding moves on the loyalist side. In addition, the significance of this move by the republican movement was not sufficiently acknowledged by some elements of unionism. At the same time, there were significant announcements about normalisation of security arrangements in Northern Ireland.

Furthermore, following very effective interventions by the First and Deputy First Ministers, the British Government announced in May that a number of military facilities in Northern Ireland were being transferred to the ownership of the Northern Ireland Executive for economic and community use. Swords were indeed becoming ploughshares.

However, while progress on demilitarisation has been made, I believe there is scope for doing a good deal more. For many Nationalists, there is still a far too intrusive security presence with little evidence of visible reductions despite the Agreement and the enormous improvement in the security situation throughout Northern Ireland. This is an issue which must be progressed more rapidly and more actively and we will be pressing this point in our engagement with the British Government through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

Over the past year, the institutions of the Agreement have, despite some difficulties, been operating in an effective and inclusive way. Not only were the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive delivering progressive and accountable government for the people of Northern Ireland, but the North-South Ministerial Council, NSMC, and the British-Irish Council, BIC, were undertaking programmes of work which brought practical benefit to the people of this island and of these islands. Last Wednesday's meeting of the NSMC was the 65th meeting of the council bringing together Ministers from both parts of the island, representative of both traditions, for the benefit of all our citizens.

Unfortunately, the positive impact of all of this progress was, at the same time, being undermined by many security-related confidence sapping reports and allegations. These were compounded by a summer of turmoil at the community interfaces in north and east Belfast in which paramilitaries, on both sides, were deemed to be involved.

The glass in Northern Ireland is more often regarded as half empty rather than half full. These developments were allowed to overshadow the substantial progress that had been made and this was compounded by the negative voices of those whose escalating demands for reassurance on the bona fides of Sinn Féin was, for some at least, a code for their outright opposition to inclusive government.

In addition, some of those who set the most exacting standards for the republican movement seemed less concerned about the systematic and ongoing violence of loyalist paramilitaries, despite the fact that, as certified by the PSNI, the majority of the serious violence, including murder, was coming from that quarter.

The outcome of the Ulster Unionist Council on 21 September represented the emergence of a policy which was deeply disappointing to many Nationalists. Regrettably, that policy was not just directed at achieving the required transition from paramilitarism to exclusively democratic means. It also was targeted at other core elements of the Agreement, such as policing, which created a perception that leading elements within unionism were now seeking to turn back the clock on the agenda for change represented by the Agreement. The resolution also clearly signalled that failure to achieve a major advance on the transition from paramilitarism to exclusively democratic means would result in the withdrawal of the UUP from the Executive in January.

The fall-out from the arrests and the related search of the Sinn Féin offices in Stormont on 4 October accelerated a political crisis which was already evolving and would, in any event, have come to a head in January. It also raised very serious issues of trust and confidence. For many Unionists who supported the Agreement and wanted this accommodation to work, recent events were the final straw.

I am very conscious that, arising out of these events, four individuals have now been charged and face prosecution. I do not wish to say anything on the detail of those charges which in any way compromises that judicial process. However, the arrests have undeniably given rise to a widespread perception that a number of people closely associated with Sinn Féin were involved in activities which were inconsistent with a commitment to exclusively democratic methods.

It also needs to be acknowledged that the precise timing of these arrests and their high-profile manner, particularly the search of the Sinn Féin offices in Stormont, have led to some suspicions that their purpose was essentially political, namely to place Sinn Féin in the dock at a time when, as a result of the UUC meeting of 21 September, Unionists were under some critical scrutiny. While I do not necessarily share this view, its wide currency among Nationalists indicates a deficit of confidence in that community as well.

As always in Northern Ireland, both sides need to be reassured. There has been a good deal of critical comment on the unnecessarily high profile manner in which the PSNI carried out the search of the Sinn Féin offices at Stormont. I welcome the Chief Constable's apology on the manner of this search. This reflected a new and refreshing willingness to acknowledge when mistakes were made and to learn from them.

Before I met the British Prime Minister last Wednesday night, I said that the Northern institutions could not work if the required underlying trust between the parties was absent. While I greatly regret that the British Government has felt it necessary to suspend the Assembly and Executive, it is difficult to escape the reality that the basis of trust and confidence for their continued operation, for the moment at least, has been undermined.

How do we now rebuild trust and confidence among the parties in Northern Ireland? Two things need to happen. We need to ensure that the transition from paramilitarism to exclusively democratic means is clearly advanced towards a definitive and unambiguous end-point and that this transition is apparent to all. Transition also involves clear obligations for loyalism. Second, we need to clearly demonstrate that the Agreement remains the template, that the two Governments intend to deliver fully on its provisions and that we are not for turning on our commitment to its fundamental values and principles.

I have always been willing to acknowledge the major contribution which the Sinn Féin leadership has made to the peace process and I do so again here this evening. Its key role in persuading the IRA to call a ceasefire, agree to independent arms inspections and undertake two acts of decommissioning has been essential to creating the conditions for a political process and for sustaining it. This summer's IRA apology was also an important and welcome development. Moreover, Sinn Féin has undertaken a number of initiatives which have been designed to build greater confidence, including Alex Maskey's commendable outreach to unionism as Mayor of Belfast.

Unfortunately, the confidence building potential of these actions has, to a great extent, been dissipated by a number of confidence eroding events, including the most recent arrests. There is no escaping the reality that these have caused damage and affected confidence. Eight years after the first IRA ceasefire, and four and a half years after the Agreement, people in Northern Ireland have a legitimate expectation that the transition to exclusively democratic methods should be much more advanced than it is today.

In the context of prisoners being released, welcome progress on the normalisation of security arrangements, substantial changes in policing and the operation of inclusive government in Northern Ireland, there is a diminishing tolerance for the vestiges of paramilitarism, especially when it involves the kind of murderous attacks we have seen over the past year from the UDA and LVF and the kind of recent barbarous punishment attacks in Derry and South Armagh.

From the outset, we all recognised that the required transition would take time, could only be progressed in the context of the full implementation of the Agreement and would be retarded, rather than advanced, by the politics of ultimatum. Time and space have been accorded to the republican movement to take the required steps.

The steps taken to date have been very helpful. However, there is a desperate need for further progress, not because the British Government or the Unionists demand it but because the people of Ireland are entitled to it. It is simply the right thing to do.

I welcome the statement from Gerry Adams this morning that the issue of armed groups needs to be dealt with and that this includes the IRA. Like him, I recognise that the process cannot be confined to a single issue but there can be no doubt that this is key if the deficit of confidence that currently exists within the Unionist community is to be overcome.

In terms of its own principles and analysis, the republican movement must recognise that embracing the democratic path was the correct course and that its continued integration into the democratic fabric represents the best way of fulfilling its political objectives and effectively representing its community.

The loyalist community has suffered greatly over the years. Its communities are in urgent need of economic and social regeneration, as well as reassurance about the political path ahead. A number of its political leaders, particularly within the PUP, have made important contributions to the peace process and have shown great political courage and leadership.

The Government wants to have a relationship of mutual respect and partnership with loyalism. However, those godfathers of violence within loyalism, who seem only to be motivated by sectarian hatred and their self enrichment, merely impoverish their own community, as well as inflicting suffering on the Nationalist community. We fully support the determination of the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, to apply the full rigour of the law to those who pursue such a vicious and murderous agenda.

We need to rebuild confidence in the process. We need also to recognise that confidence is a two-way street. If we are asking the republican movement to abandon finally any residual attachment to a dual strategy, we must equally challenge Unionists to fully and unequivocally embrace the Good Friday Agreement.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Blair and I in our statement yesterday reiterated that it is essential that each community has confidence in the commitment of the representatives of the other to the full operation and implementation of the Agreement. The Agreement represents a profound charter for change involving the entrenchment of equality at the heart of all aspects of life in Northern Ireland. There is no cherry-picking of the Agreement, there is no "Agreement-lite" that might be more palatable for those Unionists who are averse to its inclusive elements.

I am convinced that the vast majority of Unionists support an inclusive Northern Ireland based on full equality for all. Their challenge now is to make that commitment more manifest, particularly to the minority within their own ranks who harbour the illusion that it is possible to turn back the clock to some form of Unionist supremacy. That will simply not happen.

In the temporary absence of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, it will fall to the two Governments, as guardians of the Agreement, to take the initiative in managing the period ahead. The Prime Minister, Mr. Blair and I agreed the broad outline of that strategy when we met in Downing Street last week and it is reflected in our joint statement yesterday. A core element of the success in the peace process over recent years has been the partnership between both Governments. The strength and vitality of that partnership will be particularly important over the next few months.

The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, under strand three of the Agreement, is the main mechanism for bilateral co-operation between both Governments and has a special focus on non-devolved matters in Northern Ireland. The conference will have an important role to play in managing the period ahead and ensuring that the gains of the Agreement are fully protected and defended, particularly in vital areas such as policing and North-South co-operation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs will address this issue in greater detail in his statement. I expect that he will meet the Northern Ireland Secretary of State in the context of the BIIGC next week.

I will make one matter clear regarding the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. It is an institution established by the Agreement and operates within its terms. It is not a threat to anyone. It does not represent joint authority nor is such a scenario the desired outcome of the Irish Government. We want to see devolved government operate on an inclusive basis in Northern Ireland; we want partnership government between the Unionist and Nationalist traditions; we want to have a mutually beneficial partnership with Unionists through the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council. From the experience of recent years, we know these partnerships have worked, have an even greater potential in the future and that the people of Northern Ireland want them to endure.

In the period between now and the scheduled Assembly elections in May, we will work with renewed determination to try and rebuild the basis of trust and confidence between the parties; to restore the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland as soon as possible and, in the meantime, in close partnership with the British Government, to protect and develop fully the principles and achievements of the Agreement.

The statement by President Bush yesterday underlines his continuing interest and support for our determination to achieve full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The US has been a consistent and committed supporter of the peace process and its continuing willingness to assist in our efforts is something that is greatly appreciated.

Between its negotiation and its implementation, my five years as Taoiseach have revolved around the Good Friday Agreement. With each passing day, I am more and more convinced of its authority and validity. There is simply no alternative to the Agreement, not just because it was solemnly endorsed by the people and is now reflected in the constitutional fabric of both Ireland and the United Kingdom, but also because it is simply inconceivable that any dilution of its core principles would attract the support of both communities in Northern Ireland.

The genuine sense of loss that has accompanied suspension is testament to the yearning for self-government that unites all strands of political opinion in Northern Ireland. Let us now build on that; re-establish the trust and confidence between the parties that is required; show, through the solidarity of the two Governments, that partnership politics works and that the wreckers will be confounded.

Despite yesterday's setback, I am convinced that with the continuing support of all parties in this House, which I appreciate, we can and will realise the full promise of the Agreement.

Mr. Kenny:

The suspension of the Northern institutions announced by the Secretary of State yesterday morning is as regrettable as it was unavoidable. The trust between the two communities, already an ephemeral, fragile thing, was broken beyond immediate repair by the persistent, insistent suggestion of collusion, continuing paramilitarism and, more recently, possible espionage. Beatings in Derry, escalating street violence, ongoing events in Colombia and, just this weekend, arrests in Bray, brought a still-new scenario to a familiar and sad end.

People on both sides of this conflict who have suffered and hoped for so much might well be wondering if anyone, anywhere had the wit to write down the truth of what they had before they forget it, if not for their own sakes, then for the sake of their children. One wonders how those who gave it their all feel today. There is the woman who spoke on an RTE news programme on Saturday and said that she wanted the process to work for her 13 year old grandson. She looked straight to camera and said that it was what she is praying for. It is vital that this suspension does not become a political apocalypse, but that it is contained and managed as a mere interruption to the workings of the Agreement which has proved itself – if not by the day then by times – to be eminently workable. For the sake of the 3,680 people who lost their lives in the Troubles, it can be no other way.

Just as there is no plan B with the Treaty of Nice, neither does the Good Friday Agreement come with a second option. It is, as the Taoiseach has said, the only show in town and those who have made it their political life's work to discredit and destroy it have failed at every step to produce anything like a credible alternative, possibly because in their hearts they know that life in Northern Ireland cannot remain unaltered beyond that fateful Good Friday. Fine Gael is, of course, committed to the Agreement as the only viable basis for a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland. It is clear that everyone with a stake in the process, and those who support it, must hold their nerve at this critical time. We must not and cannot give up what has been achieved. The full implementation of the Agreement remains the absolute priority. It is only by complete implementation that its full potential can be realised and such implementation means addressing the entire range of decommissioning, policing, demilitarisation and human rights issues.

Just a few weeks ago in the company of the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the SDLP conference in Belfast, I welcomed comments from two traditionally polar players in Northern Ireland. On one side, the new Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, said encouraging things about creating the kind of police force in which all the communities, especially those whose relationship with the police had been complex and traditionally mistrustful, could have complete faith. On the other side, Gerry Adams said equally encouraging things about the future of policing and the still-controversial policing board. As I welcomed those comments, in another hall not too far along the waterfront the Agreement was being unravelled. Even a day is a long time in politics when it comes to Northern Ireland which is why it is vital that we move immediately to prevent a continuing vacuum into which the hopes, dreams, aspirations and even lives of those on both sides of the conflict might be sucked.

To prevent such a vacuum, it is a political imperative that both Governments work together through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference to progress strand three of the Good Friday Agreement. In this time of political uncertainty, the Assembly elections acquire a new criticality and there is absolutely no justification for postponing them beyond the planned date in May. Moreover, the Governments should move immediately to convene meetings with each of the pro-Agreement parties. These meetings should address only the free implementation of the Agreement and no changes to what has been agreed should ever be considered. Such meetings would elicit right away the criteria considered by each side to be vital to restoring the trust and confidence so necessary for the restoration of the institutions. They found that trust before on a very long road and on a very cold Good Friday. It can and must be restored for all the communities involved.

The time for dark and dirty secrets on both sides of this conflict is over. If there is to be trust, there must be real movement on all the fractious issues, among them decommissioning, collusion and policing, rather than stalling and posturing, and that movement must take place now. I suggest to the Taoiseach that consideration be given to reconvening the Forum on Peace and Reconciliation, which was never formally disbanded, to provide a structure within which parties committed to the process can propose solutions to the current impasse. It is clear that we need to rid ourselves of the inertia which caused this most recent suspension. In recent months, the mood has been changing significantly and the euphoria of the 84% all-island acceptance of the Agreement has been replaced by uncertainty. The security force presence, at its highest level since the ceasefires were declared, is a pressing case for all paramilitary organisations to turn their backs on all forms of violence and disorder. There is an onus on the republican movement to take appropriate action to demonstrate its commitment to exclusively peaceful means of achieving its objectives.

I recently met the leadership of Sinn Féin and believe that its leaders are committed to the working of the Agreement and to an eventual peaceful process for Northern Ireland and all our people. Given how much the republican movement has gained from this process, it beggars belief that it needs to hold on to such large quantities of semtex explosive, which is not and has never been a defensive weapon. Is it now part of that cause to regard it as some kind of republican family heirloom? The glamorous whiff of cordite, or semtex, proved something of a political aphrodisiac in certain quarters in America until 11 September when terrorism came to be seen for what it was, as terror and only that from whichever quarter it comes. Whatever its sentiments, the republican movement needs to give it up and time is one thing that current circumstances do not provide for in abundance.

For those elements of the republican movement now so unfamiliar with semtex explosive that they find it difficult to locate, I tell them I heard a man speak in Glencree, County Wicklow, recently who knows how to do so. Colin Parry says it has an unforgettable smell which pervaded the cubicle where his son, Tim, was brought fresh from the IRA bombing in Warrington. He has no need of heirlooms. Sinn Féin must now deliver on its oft-stated objective of seeing the IRA disbanded. I am not in a position to set deadlines or timescales, but if we accept the validity of the argument and the suggestions and commitment of the leadership of Sinn Féin to the peace process and the full working through of the Good Friday Agreement, then that must be contained within it.

At this critical time, I appeal to moderate Unionists to stick with the process and reiterate their commitment to the Agreement and the principle of power sharing. Great credit is due to all those who worked out the Agreement. It brought a new political reality to Northern Ireland and a new political vocabulary to Northern Ireland watchers everywhere. Suddenly, after that bitter cold Good Friday, Sir Reg Empey was talking about trade and tourism, Bairbre de Bruin was balancing her hospital budgets and Martin McGuinness was assessing the validity of school curricula. Suddenly there were possibilities. Once bitter enemies now sat together at the Cabinet table of the Assembly. Only Ian Paisley said, "No". While the others have been institutionally silenced, he is the one who is still talking and still saying, "No".

Sinn Féin has shown commendable commitment to fully implementing the Agreement, as has David Trimble. The Unionists stayed in the Assembly after Castlereagh and Colombia. Instead of saying, "No", we say, "Never". No person or party should be allowed to throw away the great achievements of the Good Friday Agreement. The success in reducing the number of contentious flashpoints as a result of the establishment of the Parades Commission is a case in point. The number has been reduced from 300 to 11 or 12. That could only have happened by direct negotiation, dialogue, discussion and compromise. The parties can progress their objectives by working within the structures established by the Agreement in a way which would be impossible without it.

If we are to have continued success, more work must be done to accommodate the discrepancy of histories that has become the history of Northern Ireland. I am not being simplistic. I recognise the enormity of the suffering on all sides of the conflict. However, the poor on both sides are the forgotten people of the Troubles. Regardless of religion, the poor suffered most and will suffer again if the Agreement is not worked. They are the easy targets. I recall Gary McMichael saying how proud he was to represent some of those banished to the fringes of society by lack of opportunity, education, jobs and hope. Gerry Adams and Mark Durkan would say the same. The violence we see these days invariably involves young men from the working class neighbourhoods of Short Strand, Tigers Bay, Twinbrook and Glencairn. The women also turned out when Holy Cross became a critical issue. These people stand to lose everything because they have had nothing. Having shown them how the world could be and those early traces of happiness and opportunity, will we now recommit them to their ghettos from which escape, intact, is virtually impossible?

Can we now have generosity, not gesture, from Sinn Féin which has gained a lot from the Agreement? Can Unionists demonstrate their capacity to live with power sharing for the future? Can all sides pay attention and dispense with paramilitary activity? Can both Governments and agencies concentrate on working the Agreement through to completion and finality? We cannot afford any difference of opinion between the Government led by the Taoiseach and the British Government on where we stand with the Agreement. If that happened and the institutions were suspended, it would create a vacuum in which those who do not support the Agreement would triumph.

There is no escape from the Agreement as the sole hope for Northern Ireland. There is nothing else. If it is to work now – it must work now –there must be no more deadlines or posturing. The destructive blame game which has characterised the life of the Agreement must become the end game. The ultimate objective must include the devolvement of justice and policing issues to the institutions. That would mark a political coming of age in Northern Ireland. That crucial development could only take place in the proven absence of paramilitarism. Both can yet be achieved, but only within the parameters of the Agreement. Today the institutions stand suspended over an abyss. The life of the citizens of Northern Ireland is uncertain. They know the net will only hold for so long.

I wish the Taoiseach well in his deliberations on this matter and hope he arrives at a position with the British Prime Minister whereby the pro-Agreement parties are called together at an early date. I hope a genuine attempt is made to rebuild the confidence and trust necessary to restore the institutions. I hope the parties involved, including Sinn Féin, will demonstrate that they are fully and absolutely committed to working through the Agreement to its finality to secure a peaceful life for everyone. I hope unionism shows trust and confidence in its own belief that it can live with power sharing for the future. The bar has been raised as a consequence of what has happened. A single small gesture will not be sufficient to restore the institutions.

I wish the Government well. It will have our full support. The parties involved in this process must bring influence to bear on paramilitarism in all its forms in order to restore confidence and trust and enable the institutions, for which many have worked long and hard, to be set up again. People can see the benefits of the Assembly and the decisions taken by Ministers of the parties in the Assembly. That is what we want. It may be worthwhile reconsidering recommendations from the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. My party will support all efforts which will allow the institutions to operate again. We look forward to devolved government for the people of Northern Ireland which is supported by both Governments.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin:

I wish to share my time with Deputies Sargent, Joe Higgins and Finian McGrath.

The suspension of the Good Friday Agreement institutions by the British Government represents a temporary success for the anti-Agreement Unionists. Their strategy to block political change can only be short-term. They know this process will have to be revived and the Good Friday Agreement fully implemented. The current crisis does not date from the raid on Sinn Féin's offices in Stormont, but from the Ulster Unionist Council meeting of 21 September when the anti-Agreement forces in that party finally succeeded in having their programme adopted. That programme seeks the rolling back of changes which have taken place, the exclusion of Sinn Féin and the renegotiation of the Agreement.

We in Sinn Féin, let Deputy Kenny note, are totally committed to ensuring the full implementation of the Agreement which was supported in referenda by the overwhelming majority of the Irish people. It must not be forgotten that the people of the Twenty-six Counties made very significant changes to the Constitution on the basis that the Agreement provided for an inclusive Executive, an all-Ireland ministerial council and all-Ireland implementation bodies. There is an obligation on the Government, therefore, to help ensure that these institutions are re-established at the earliest opportunity.

Sinn Féin is fully aware of its obligations under the Agreement which we have fulfilled throughout this process. All parties and both Governments must work to achieve complete demilitarisation and the ending of all armed groups. Both Governments, in particular, must ensure that a political vacuum is not created – I am sure the Taoiseach is noting these points. Last night's suspension of the institutions will do nothing to advance the Good Friday Agreement. On the contrary, it will serve to exacerbate an already difficult situation by providing anti-Agreement Unionists and members of the British establishment, including a large section of the security apparatus, with the impetus to attempt to row back even further on the Agreement. This must not and cannot be allowed to happen.

This is the people's Agreement. It is massively endorsed throughout the island. It is a contract achieved on our part and on the part of the Government in good faith. It involved compromise on all sides and had uncomfortable aspects for all parties. This was the nature of the Agreement and the long, drawn-out negotiations which led to it. John Reid, in suspending the institutions for the fourth time, has done the Ulster Unionist Party's dirty work. He has slavishly played out its threat to bring down the Executive if, as it demanded, my party was not excluded. He and his Government have joined David Trimble and the other nay-sayers in the Ulster Unionist Party to undermine an agreement which had already brought us a long way from the bitter conflict which preceded it. An internal Unionist battle for party political advantage is now being waged between the UUP and the DUP, with the Assembly and the Executive being used as the battleground and the destruction of the Good Friday Agreement as the ultimate prize.

Last night's suspension was never about Columbia, Castlereagh or the raid on Sinn Féin's offices in Stormont. It is, however, about bringing an end to changes that were required of unionism in respect of the Agreement. It is the reluctance of Unionists to share power and be part of real change that is driving their agenda to have Sinn Féin ejected from Stormont. For our part, I defy anybody to point to areas where Sinn Féin has not lived up to its responsibilities in relation to the Agreement. We have been one of the driving forces behind it. Our commitment to the peace process and the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement is absolute. It is a pity others have not been so committed.

The British Government must not be allowed to present itself as some sort of impartial arbiter. It, too, has responsibilities in all of this. There are a range of issues involving all aspects of the Agreement which are within its power and that of the Irish Government. The British Secretary of State, John Reid, in particular, has been slow to fulfil his responsibilities in relation to demilitarisation, policing, criminal justice and other matters. We need to know from the two Governments what they intend to do to address these matters. We need to know how they plan to honour the commitments they made yesterday.

We are waiting to play a full and constructive role in re-establishing the institutions and having the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. We need to focus on the benefits which have accrued from it in recent years. We need to be mindful of the fact that the situation in Ireland today is dramatically better than it was ten years ago and that by building on the progress made thus far, we can only improve matters still further. We know it is not yet a perfect peace. There are difficulties now and there will probably be more difficulties ahead. However, the reality is that the Good Friday Agreement offers the best and only way forward.

We all need to redouble our efforts to save the Agreement from collapse. We have worked too hard to allow Unionist party political interests and the British security services to destroy it. The Government must play a more robust role in defending the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement and in tandem with it we will not be found wanting in our responsibilities.

Mr. Sargent:

This is a sad day and we regret very much the return of direct rule of Northern Ireland from London and the abandonment of the democratic institutions, including the Assembly. I hope this is a short, interim period of difficulty. There is no doubt the Good Friday Agreement is a very delicate, if democratically endorsed, balancing arrangement which needs a considerable amount of nurturing and careful work by all sides at this point. In some ways, it is like an ugly duckling which we continue to hope will grow and blossom as intended.

However, the danger in the Good Friday Agreement is that unless it is worked at and worked through, we will find ourselves further institutionalising sectarianism. To that extent it is important that both sides continue to be as generous as is humanly possible in the face of the difficult pills each has been asked to swallow. To an extent, each has been asked to turn a blind eye, with Unionists being asked to accept policing changes and demilitarisation, even if it is a long time coming, and republicans being asked to accept decommissioning. A large degree of tolerance and toleration is still required.

It is very regrettable that we are in a position in which allegations and the future outcome of the deliberations of the courts are being prejudged. It is a sad day for democracy when the Judiciary is not given the time to come up with the results of its own work. In the political sphere, we need to get on with rebuilding damaged trust. In the absence of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, which is understandable, it is important that this Parliament tries to fill the vacuum which has been created. As well as talking, there should be more listening to the different views and insights available on both sides of the House. We also require briefings of the Opposition. While I agree with the Taoiseach that such a polarised environment is not the right time for elections, neither is it a time for megaphone diplomacy. I hope he will agree to provide Opposition briefings, as happened when the rainbow coalition was in power, at times when difficulties are being confronted.

Internationally, my party has a very keen interest in finding ways of governing which do not result in the institutionalisation of sectarianism. While I realise politics is about the art of the possible, it is in some ways bizarre and ridiculous that parties in the Assembly, such as the Alliance Party, have to declare themselves to be from one or other side of the political divide. We should consider using more advanced forms of proportional representation, even to elect the Executive or the Assembly. We should examine ways of letting the people have their say, in as much as possible, in devising the structures that will make politics work.

Many have spoken of the danger of a political vacuum. One does not want to overstate that, as such references often have a self-fulfilling prophecy. When there are apparently so many in the wings, dissidents on the loyalist and the republican sides, it is important we maintain a delicate balance between the over-reaction of a large-scale security response and the underestimation of the dangers of a political vacuum. I urge the institutions, in as far as they are still in place, to continue, in so far as possible, at official level in terms of strands two and three to highlight that what we have to date is a level of progress which we will cherish and build on rather than give up or allow to deteriorate.

On a positive note, I ask the Taoiseach to indicate where we are in terms of continuing to build on the structures in place and of minimising the sense of rejection that currently prevails given that direct rule has been re-established in the interim. I wish the Taoiseach and the Government well in working at the coalface with the British Government and the parties in the North to re-establish the institutions that have been stood down. I ask the Taoiseach to consult the Opposition parties so that we can communicate and reflect on where progress can be made without having to issue statements and views through the media which may not be helpful.

Mr. J. Higgins:

I preface my brief remarks by saying that I have major problems with Sinn Féin's policies and strategies, but the armed police raid on the offices of Sinn Féin parliamentarians was a sinister development and an implied threat to democratic rights, and those responsible should be stood down.

The Socialist Party, North and South, is not surprised by the collapse of the political structures in Northern Ireland. Speaking in the Dáil on 21 April 1998 on the first occasion after its signing, I stated that the Good Friday Agreement was fatally flawed as a mechanism for a permanent solution to the problems of sectarian division in Northern Ireland. Far from being an attack on sectarian division, the Good Friday Agreement institutionalised sectarianism in the structures that were put in place. It presumed a permanent division of communities. The Good Friday Agreement tried to straddle the fundamental contradiction where the Ulster Unionist Party regarded it as a copperfastening of Northern Ireland within Britain and Sinn Féin regarded it as a transition to a United Ireland. Both could not be correct. The institutionalised structures encouraged the playing of the sectarian card by the main protagonists on both sides to ringfence their core support.

Meanwhile the Protestant population will never accept a United Ireland on the current basis and the Catholic population will never be reconciled to amalgamate into the British state. The political parties based on sectarian divisions are hopelessly unable to bridge these divisions, as are the British and the Irish Governments. The ripening economic policies pursued by the Executive in Northern Ireland based on privatisation and public private partnerships, the so-called private finance initiative, further undermine confidence in them among working people.

Over the four years an intense process of polarisation of the communities has ensued. Demographic studies, which are set to point to an increase in the Catholic population, will merely add to this sense of insecurity among Protestants. The fear of the Catholic community, subject to attack by Loyalist paramilitaries, is very real, although there are attacks from both sides.

There is an alternative, the outlines of which were seen in the wake of the savage murder of the young postal worker, Danny McColgan, when postal workers united and took strike action against that and when, on 18 January, 100,000 workers united. Protestants and Catholics took to the streets of Northern Ireland in revulsion at that sectarian attack. What took place on 18 January had an effect. For a period the fighting died down, the sectarian attacks and the attacks on public service workers lessened, but instead of developing a campaign in the workplace and into the communities, the trade union leadership let the movement dissipate and within months the bigots were back in operation and the politicians were able to put their sectarian agenda back politically centre stage.

A bold independent policy and strategy to unite the working class is the basis of resolving the problems that confront them. That remains the only way for a fundamental resolution to sectarian division, which is at the core of the problems of Northern Ireland.

Mr. F. McGrath:

I welcome the Taoiseach's statement. Long before I was elected to this House I supported the peace process, the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation and the Good Friday Agreement. I am concerned about the suspension of the Executive. Coming from the Connolly tradition, I am concerned that we will allow a political vacuum to develop. The records were waiting in the wings and, therefore, I am not surprised that this happened. I caution that we are emerging from 30 years of conflict and it will take time to heal. I urge people not to panic in the short-term. If one reflects on other conflicts, whether in the Middle East, Asia or Africa, one will realise the healing process and the process of peace and reconciliation will take time. This is a time for keeping one's cool and for decisive leadership. Sadly, some of the parties in the North, such as the DUP, are not making a positive contribution, although I was heartened to see Gerry Kelly and Gregory Campbell in a discussion programme on television last night. That was a slight move in the right direction.

I must point out inaccuracies in some of the statements made. From my contacts in the North, the majority – 95% – of the violence during the summer came from the loyalist section. From talking to people on the ground, I heard that this loyalist violence was often provocative in terms of trying to draw republicans into conflict.

I feel strongly about racism and sectarianism and put them in the same vein. It is important that we challenge the question of sectarianism, particularly in the Six Counties, in the same way that we are trying to challenge racism in the Twenty-six Counties. It is important to realise that the peace process belongs to us all and not only to Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Féin, the Green Party and the Technical Group. It belongs to the citizens of Ireland.

I will not take moral or ethical lectures from John Reid or Mr. Haass on the question of violence, given their support for potential bombing in Iraq and issues such as that. Their job is to develop the peace process. When talking about a peace process, it is important to talk about making peace with one's enemies. I believe in my heart and from talking to different sides in the conflict that people are genuinely serious about the peace process. I believe strongly that Deputy Ó Caoláin, in making his comments, was speaking for the republican movement.

We all need to take risks on this issue. People who do not do so have no alternative. If we want to fill the vacuum, we need to introduce legislation which would provide for representatives from the North to sit in the Dáil, as a contribution to the development of the peace process. I asked the Taoiseach a question on this matter recently. Disarmament is an issue, as is trust. I agree with the Taoiseach when he said that exclusion does not work. He spoke about the two acts of disarmament. I welcome those. They were positive signals from the republican movement to help develop the peace process.

I make no apology for where I stand. I am a Nationalist and come from the Connolly tradition. I stand 100% behind the Northern minority, a term one does not hear mentioned often in this House.

I disagree with the Taoiseach on a number of issues, particularly in relation to Hugh Orde. Measures must be implemented impartially. In relation to developments during the summer, I thought the statement by the Lord Mayor, Alex Maskey, showed vision and leadership.

Mr. Howlin:

I wish to briefly comment on this process as this is the first time the Technical Group has been involved in a formal debate. The Labour Party strongly supported the vindication of rights of small parties in the House and continues to do so, but it is quite wrong that with 21 Deputies we should lose precedence to four spokespersons from parties smaller than ours, including the representative of a party with one Deputy. We must look again at the Standing Order. If there is to be an alliance of parties with a single spokesperson representing a number of Deputies, then so be it. The notion that the Labour Party should lose precedence to four consecutive speakers is not—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:

The matter is not pertinent at this stage.

Mr. Howlin:

It is an important factor.

Mr. J. Higgins:

The Deputy can highlight all that he likes, but 22 is greater than 21.

Mr. Howlin:

The rehabilitation of Deputy Lowry is very good and honourable. Redemption is very much of the Sinn Féin ethic and something I strongly support. If smaller parties in the House want to and are willing to fight for their position, it is important that all parties have that right.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin:

Why did Labour Party councillors walk out of a meeting of Kerry County Council when a small party addressed it?

Mr. Howlin:

I do not think anybody envied the decision Dr. John Reid had to make this week. Suspension, in so far as it keeps the edifice of the Good Friday Agreement intact, was, by common consent, the least worst option. Despite the rhetoric of those primarily responsible for suspension, the republican movement and Unionists, they know this too. In Northern Ireland the blame game is everything. The republican movement will undoubtedly portray itself as the victim in this process. It is not. If it cared sufficiently for the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, its military wing would have made far more progress in living up to its own obligations under the Agreement than it has. Many in the House are tired with having to harp on about decommissioning for which we have been calling for four years now. We heartily welcome, note and applaud every small step as an important contribution to the process and know that republicans successfully present our continued calls for decommissioning as in some way undermining the important road on which they are travelling.

We know, too, that young voters do not see the IRA the way we do. Many do not recall the gut wrenching horror of the events of Bloody Friday or Enniskillen. They will not even remember Bono singing about it with rage and anger soon after the bombing. We recognise the attraction that a whiff of sulphur brings to politicians in an age where coalition building has become the norm. Even the memory of the Teebane atrocity when the IRA murdered eight Protestant workmen as recently as 1992 has been overshadowed, thankfully, by the peace process. It is a dynamic process that is shared by all of us who aspire to permanent peace on this island.

There are fundamental principles at stake. No political party is entitled to a private army. The IRA turned a civil rights campaign into a sectarian war. It killed, maimed and imprisoned. Now it has largely turned away from that path. By any definition, it has come a long way, but the brutality and thuggishness remain as recent events in Derry testify. The IRA continues to reserve the right to bully and intimidate its own community. Such behaviour and this kind of organisation have no role, function or place in the Ireland all of us are striving to build. The IRA should be stood down now.

I believe the republican movement is committed to democracy, but playing by these new rules has proven to be a difficult learning curve for many. Gerry Adams's past may force him to use double speak, but his contribution to the peace process remains enormous. I do not believe he wants to go back to the days of murder and mayhem. He needs to go forward at a quicker pace. The Good Friday Agreement is not the property of republicans to be implemented at their pace and when it suits them. They regard the Agreement almost as their own to be offered its benefits, yet not be bound by all its obligations. The Agreement belongs to all the people of these islands. That includes decent Unionists who voted for the Agreement to bring about the decommissioning of weapons targeted at their community for far too long. Can republicans be surprised that Unionists are weary when this has not happened in the four years since the Agreement was signed? Republicans cannot be excluded from the peace process either. It has been built on the principle of inclusivity and it has been inclusivity that has sustained the republican ceasefire since 1997. Excluding republicans from government seems to be an end in itself for too many Unionists, sometimes it seems to be all that they desire.

The current crisis in the peace process has two immediate starting points. The first is the recent arrest of republican movement officials for political and military espionage as evidence of increased IRA activity and the organic link between Sinn Féin and the IRA. The second is the decision of a few weeks before of the Ulster Unionist Council to embark on a policy intended to exclude republicans from the Northern Ireland institutions. Republicans have presented themselves as the victims, not the instigators, of their problems. It is an excuse to which they are absolutely addicted. As usual we have been given a lot of denials and no answers.

The strength of anti-Agreement Unionism within the Ulster Unionist Party undoubtedly parallels declining support for the Agreement within the Protestant community. This should be of concern to us all. Growing confidence within the Nationalist community is perceived not as a vindication of the politics of inclusion but by a majority of Unionists as a threat. Unfortunately, since it was voted on over four years ago, there has been no great effort to sustain support for the Agreement within the Unionist community. At each and every stage the wreckers in the DUP and recalcitrants in the UUP have been allowed dictate the agenda. Republican concessions to the growing crisis within Unionism have been small and too late. Not surprisingly, Unionist rejectionists are more interested in what happens in the other community rather than their own. They feel no particular responsibility for the loyalist attacks on Catholic communities that have continued over the summer and make further IRA decommissioning more difficult to achieve. A deliberate attempt has been made to provoke the IRA back into conflict and it is to its credit that it has resisted that provocation, yet Unionist politicians react with horror at the notion that this is something for which they should take responsibility.

As sections of their own community spiral into circles of violence and corruption, the indifference from both the DUP and the UUP has been staggering. Condemnations have been issued, but there have been no substantive efforts to get to grips with the crisis evident within loyalist communities in recent months. At least republicans have attempted to bring their whole community with them. Unionists' "nothing to do with us" attitude is simply not good enough.

The net result has been the collapse in trust between Unionists and republicans and once more the parties – such as the SDLP – and communities that dreamed of and sustained the Good Friday Agreement will pay the price, as will all the people on this island. A functioning Executive has transformed Northern Ireland and its relations with this State. It has been no accident that the island has seen a period of unprecedented prosperity and that Northern Ireland recently received the most substantial tranche of investment in its history. However, this success has not proved sufficient to enable people see the wood for the trees, yet it is also progress that cannot be allowed slip away.

The farmers of Northern Ireland know the importance of having their own Minister for Agriculture to deal with their affairs. Our aim now must be to make this suspension as brief as possible. To achieve this will require substantial movement on all sides. I stated I believe the IRA should be stood down. All parties in the House should approve a motion to this effect and I commit the Labour Party to working with the Government should it wish to table such a motion.

As Deputy Kenny suggested, the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation should be reconvened to restate our collective commitment to pursuing national goals by exclusively peaceful means. Substantial decommissioning should take place with immediate effect. There should be no more drip feeding – we want the real thing and all weapons decommissioned.

It is time for republicans to end their brutal policies of policing, beatings and intimidation. It is also time for them to stop playing politics with policing in Northern Ireland. For their part, Unionists must realise that without republicans there is no peace process. They should stop hankering for the old days and dreaming of a deal with the SLDP that excludes republicans. They must also act on the crisis within loyalism.

Devolution has worked. It has been good for Northern Ireland and all its people. It must be restored as quickly and effectively as possible. We must recognise that this is a problem for Northern Ireland's elected representatives to resolve. Blaming Tony Blair or Bertie Ahern is a cop out. Neither man is responsible for the loss of trust that has us where we are today. Neither man was in Colombia, Castlereagh or engaged in shenanigans in Stormont. Both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach support the restoration and full working of the Good Friday Agreement.

To be successful though we must take brave actions. Extreme republicans and Unionists see the attraction in having a polarised and divisive electorate on the next occasion that Northern Ireland goes to the polls. They believe they will reap the dividend of an embittered electorate. Despite their assumptions, however, it is a strategy fraught with risks. The people of Ireland have rewarded republicans for their peace strategy. it is now up to them to prove once more that they are determined to pursue that strategy to its final destination. In the meantime, it will fall on both Governments to pursue the full implementation of the Agreement.

Policing is an urgent necessity. The ham-fisted intervention at Stormont two weeks ago was clumsy and insensitive. However, the apology offered by the Chief Constable about the manner of the raid is evidence of the PSNI being held to account by those fully engaged in the policing process. Again, the SDLP, the backbone of the Agreement, should take some comfort in this.

One of the most unsavoury aspects of the motion passed at the Ulster Unionist Council was the threat it posed to policing reform. Put simply, the changes agreed with the SDLP at Weston Park should be proceeded with by the British Government and it is the responsibility of the Irish Government to ensure this happens. Most importantly, Sinn Féin cannot have it both ways. An urgent crackdown on loyalist paramilitaries is necessary. This can only be done by the police and should be conducted with the support of the whole political community and that includes Sinn Féin. Progress should continue on the equality agenda. Work on the Bill of Rights should continue and the North-South dimension should be given life by the coherent working together, in a determined fashion, of both Governments.

This, the fourth suspension of the Agreement, is particularly sad. In recent months the Executive has shown drive and flair and achieved much. How this particular period in our history will come to be seen will depend on what happens from now, not what happened previously. All parties must again show their commitment to the only game in town, the Good Friday Agreement, and its full and speedy implementation. They should do so soon. Political vacuums are especially dangerous anywhere, but particularly dangerous in Northern Ireland. While not the sole authors of the difficult situation in which we find ourselves, that onus rests particularly on the republican movement. By any standards, substantive progress on decommissioning and the end of the reality and threat of violence are long overdue.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):

In the absence of the Tánaiste, I speak on behalf of the Progressive Democrats. I echo, not only the words, but also the sentiments expressed by the Taoiseach who again demonstrated a sense of statesmanship and purpose which is badly needed. It would be easy for him to feel major disappointment and natural for him to apportion blame for his disappointment to other Members of the House or individuals outside it. It would also be easy for him to indulge in something that comes naturally to many of us when a political project into which we have invested major capital and patriotism on a practical basis stands suspended, namely, engaging in a process of recrimination, but he has not done so.

I acknowledge that almost all of the contributions to the debate have been sensible and constructive. It is worthwhile recording that the majority of Members have spoken about the Good Friday Agreement as something of lasting value which it is our duty to sustain and reinvigorate.

The Taoiseach has stated on a number of occasions that whereas the Executive and Assembly may stand suspended, the Agreement does not. There are those who believe there is some alternative to the Agreement. I inform them that no such alternative exists or is on offer. Some feel they can, by withholding both their commitment to the democratic process in Northern Ireland and their willingness to stand by the expressed will of the peoples of both parts of this island and of these islands, force a radically different outcome on the Irish people. That is a forlorn hope. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, have indicated, not simply in recent days but over months and years, an absolute commitment to sustain the Good Friday Agreement. The commitment is not undertaken or shaken off in the light of this or that political event; it is an ongoing commitment which will not be deflected by events such as have caused the latest setback in the administration of devolved powers in Northern Ireland by the Executive and the Assembly.

Some in our community believe – it is a tiny minority, but it exists and we must address ourselves to this fact – there is a future in paramilitarism, that the transition from paramilitarism to parliamentarianism envisaged by the Good Friday Agreement is not worth the candle, that there is a higher good to be served by violence and that there is a surer path to fulfilling their aims than the one set out in the Belfast Agreement. They believe that if they can destabilise the consensus which existed in Northern Ireland at the time of the adoption of the Good Friday Agreement, set back the clock and restart the semi-declared sectarian civil war, they will emerge the victors from that process. In doing so they believe they are not merely fulfilling their own political ambitions, but also keeping faith with an historical mandate they seem to find in events of nearly a century ago. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Many speakers mentioned the obligation to avoid the emergence of a vacuum in Northern Ireland which would be exploited by the pedlars of sectarianism and the propagators of violence. Whatever we say in that regard, one thing must be made clear to anybody tempted to view matters through that prism. The two Governments stand by the Agreement, of which they are the joint guarantors. Central to the Agreement is an unambiguous, unreserved and absolute rejection of paramilitarism, violence and the like. The obverse side of that rejection is the endorsement of the principle of consent. I was pleased to hear Deputy Ó Caoláin say his commitment to the Agreement is absolute. If the principle of consent is accepted by the Sinn Féin Party – I take the Deputy at his word – those who reject it and believe in the principles of conquest, sectarianism or sectarian violence are a small minority indeed.

That small minority might feel that in murdering a construction worker on a British Territorial Army base in Derry they are continuing a struggle of worth. There is no point engaging in the comparative or competitive rhetoric of reprehension against such acts, but anybody who thinks it achieved anything for Ireland is sadly mistaken. Anybody considering carrying out more such activities is also sadly mistaken. If they think something more spectacular could achieve something of value for Ireland or for their view of Ireland, they are equally mistaken. They are sadly mistaken, not just because they fly in the face of logic and history or because they are confounding anybody's sense of morality or decency, but also because they underestimate the will of the two Governments, the guarantors of the Agreement, to ensure such tactics will not be rewarded with success.

The Agreement is not suspended. There are huge opportunities to pursue the process of bringing about equality and equal treatment in Northern Ireland. They are not put in abeyance by the mere fact that the required degree of trust no longer exists, for the moment, for the continuance of the Assembly and the Executive. There are huge opportunities to show that ordinary politics works. The Taoiseach has pointed out that the British-Irish Intergovernmental Council is not some trojan horse of joint authority. It is what is provided for in the Belfast Agreement, the default mechanism where devolved powers are no longer being exercised. Through that mechanism the two Governments can demonstrate to everybody on this island, be they on the loyalist or republican extreme or people wavering on the edge of violence or the issue of whether to return to violence, that politics still works, that creating paralysis does not and that not implementing the Agreement is not to be rewarded with political concessions at a later stage.

Those who believe – there are some – this is their opportunity should reflect again. This is an opportunity for everybody to reconsider where they stand. However, those who believe the impasse in Northern Ireland gives them an opportunity to drag that society back to the unfortunate history from which it recently emerged are profoundly mistaken. In the last analysis, the success of the Agreement is going to be copperfastened by the determination of the two Governments to ensure it succeeds. If its enemies, deluded as they are, think that by a reversion to violence they will "get lucky", to use a phrase used on one occasion with cold intent, they will discover that in taking that path they will become very unlucky indeed.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:

There are 32 minutes remaining, as the debate must end at 7 p.m., and five speakers are due to contribute. Each speaker, including the Minister, should not exceed eight minutes.

Mr. G. Mitchell:

We are dealing with two minorities on this island, the Nationalists, a minority in Northern Ireland, and the Unionists, a minority on the island of Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement and the process that emerged from it have set out a concrete way in which the hopes, ambitions and needs of both minorities can be accommodated.

I acknowledge that Sinn Féin has, like other parties, made a contribution to the peace process. However, I must say something in a direct and, I hope, unprovocative way. That party arrogantly refuses to recognise the contributions of others. There have been significant milestones along the way – the Sunningdale Agreement, the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the Framework Agreement – which are all brushed aside. It is most provocative and difficult to accept.

I had the opportunity to study Irish politics at Queen's University, with a leading Sinn Féin strategy adviser, an honourable and decent man to my knowledge. I abhor the sight of what I call "Paisleyism". I am concerned about the activities of loyalist paramilitaries whom I condemn. They appear to be living in a time warp. It is sometimes difficult to conduct civil political exchanges with Sinn Féin. If one tries to be civil with it, one can find it is thrown back in one's face. It seems to mistake courtesy for cowardice. If we are to have real discussion and argument, we must start from a basis of mutual respect. As Deputy Howlin said, the real fall guys in all this are the SDLP, whose members have over a long period rendered a great service to the Nationalist community and the population of this island generally. The SDLP's representatives do not go around like Christ crucified saying, "Look at us, we are suffering and we have lost." They take it in their stride and have never taken a gun to anybody. Perhaps more of us in this House should speak up for the SDLP.

I have some concerns about Sinn Féin which I would like to discuss with it. One of my concerns is the reason, four and a half years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, the IRA is still in existence. I do not understand the reason that is so and would like someone to explain it. What is the extent of the spying in which Sinn Féin, allegedly, has been involved? Has it brought those activities to this House? I wonder about that when I see some of the allegations that have been made. While the jury may still be out on that matter, such thoughts are on my mind and the minds of others in this House, although they may not be expressing them openly.

I do not wish to say anything that would prejudice the trial of those currently detained in Colombia. It is reasonable to wonder, however, whether members of Sinn Féin, their associates and the IRA were up to these activities in various jurisdictions. I have no way of knowing. I accepted in good faith all that was said when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. All my instincts tell me that they mean what they say, and I hope that is so. When one sees them doing things of this kind, however, one has to ask questions.

It is extraordinary that Sinn Féin has taken a particularly strong line on the Nice treaty debate. Does this mean it now actually recognises Bunreacht na hÉireann, since it is seeking to change it? I would like to put these and other questions to Sinn Féin, and I am sure it would like to pose questions also.

Sinn Féin got a good deal from the Good Friday Agreement. Fine Gael is the second largest party on this island, while the Labour Party is in third position. Sinn Féin, however, is permanently in government in Northern Ireland and also represented permanently on the North-South Ministerial Council, in addition to having representation in this House. That indicates the rewards available for putting aside a violent, military past. We need to get things off our chests without having to listen to Mr. Adams portraying himself as a latter-day martyr. The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation should be reconstituted in order that all of us committed to the process begun by the Good Friday Agreement can have our say, as well as listening to one another and exchanging views in an attempt to engender some mutual respect.

I wonder if Jeffrey Donaldson, David Burnside and others realise the sympathy they generate for their opponents, including the paramilitaries, when they engage in such gameplaying? Given the situation in which we now find ourselves, both Governments are determined, quite rightly, to ensure the Good Friday Agreement continues to proceed. We must ask ourselves, however, what sort of Ireland we, as Nationalists, would want and what sort of arrangements would we make if ever the consent of the majority in Northern Ireland was for the unity of this country. That is another issue the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation could consider during what I hope is an interregnum in the North.

Sinn Féin cannot continue to occupy the democratic and paramilitary spheres. I realise the difficulties for the leadership of the republican movement, which I hope is in transition, but 1998 is a long time ago. We are now heading towards 2003 and it is time to retire P. O'Neill and get on with the democratic process. In the meantime I hope both Governments will advance the agenda on policing, decommissioning and demilitarisation as well as a Bill of Rights. Progress can be made in these and other areas towards implementing the Good Friday Agreement. I urge both Governments to press ahead with this agenda.

As Deputy Kenny suggested, both Governments should convene meetings with each of the pro-Agreement parties to address its full implementation. They should indicate that, although the institutions in Northern Ireland have been suspended, the Good Friday Agreement has not been. We will approach this situation constructively and seek solutions to problems. We look forward to the opportunity, which we hope the Government will provide, of an early meeting of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in order that the concerns I and others in this House have can be discussed face to face, in a civil and respectful way.

Cecilia Keaveney:

I am glad that this, the most significant topic concerning our island, has been placed on the Order Paper for discussion. I am disappointed, however, that more time was not allocated for discussing it. As a representative of a Border region, I realise its significance. While it may sound personal and parochial, I recognise the significance of the events of the past week in Northern Ireland. Some may call it Groundhog day syndrome whereby matters seem to be going well, yet an event may arise which causes problems. The Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and others have been trying to stop the inevitable. We have witnessed the intense political activity, but it has proved impossible to overcome the current impasse. The outcome has been disappointing.

It is obvious that there was a common commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and most parties were in favour of its full implementation. Devolved government in the North has now been suspended because of a breakdown of trust among the parties, with which the vast majority of people are unhappy. Devolved government should be restored as soon as possible in such as way that we will not have to discuss the matter further. The politicians of all shades involved in the Northern Executive are capable of making the Agreement work. We must help to restore the confidence and trust that will ensure they return to their ministerial jobs. They are good at this work when they get the chance to do it.

The Taoiseach said a great deal was at stake. We have focused in this debate on the good effects of the Agreement for the Six Counties, but it has also brought benefits for the entire 32 Counties. It is terribly important for all of us.

I was born in Derry in November 1968, a city in which in later years I spent a lot of time with my mother's family. I encountered the permanent helicopter surveillance, the military presence and the Border security, although I did not live there. While I spent seven years at college in Belfast, I did not grow up amid the challenges of life presented in the various communities within the Six Counties. However, I did teach in areas central to tension and strife. I met children who had been caught in the middle and saw the impact they had. As I did not live among them, I cannot reach into the depths of the suspicions of the other side, a predisposition on both sides of the community. At a slight geographical remove, I have seen the scars, whether overt or unrealised, physical, psychological or economic.

I have worked in a political capacity with various cross-Border groups for many years and understand what David Ervine said at a University of Ulster political meeting 15 years ago, long before the peace process had kicked in, that the issues affecting both communities are largely the same – housing, jobs and a secure environment for growth and day-to-day movement. As he said at the time, the problems of the nineteenth hole on the Malone Road did not affect one community or the other, but every other issue did strike a similar chord. This is a cross-party understanding. There are mutual beneficial advances that have happened in the past and can happen in the future.

The suspicions will be difficult to overcome because they are so deeply rooted due to the segregation of communities. When one attends a political conference, one realises the extent of the lack of understanding, the sheer lack of interaction between one community and the other. There is a lack of understanding of the cultures from which people have come. This applies to a large number on both sides.

To plug the Nice treaty, peace and reconciliation fund moneys have had a minor impact. It is an area of great potential. We should not underestimate the value of the European Union in this regard. However, issues such as the ongoing violence, whether overt or otherwise, drive almost impossible wedges into an already delicately balanced situation.

The Good Friday Agreement led to the emergence of local faces who were going to try to solve local problems. A cross-Border group of which I was a member met Alfie Dubs and Malcolm Moss. I could give the House a litany of British Ministers who came and listened to us, patted us on the back and said we all came from different political parties from the Border area and were great to be sitting together. We did not want to be seen as sitting talking together; we were there with an agenda, with common issues which we wanted resolved. We were there as representatives of the north west region who had seen an east-west divide, whether in the Six Counties or the 26 Counties, and were on a common mission to resolve the issues. We were getting platitudes, but, without disrespect to the individuals concerned who were not from the area, they did not understand the area or have the same affinity to it which those in the Executive had.

Tip O'Neill said all politics is local, although it is debatable whether it was he who said it originally. He is a Buncrana man, an area in which there are many sensible people. If we could get politics back to being local, where it should have been, it would be great. Personally, it was great to work with various Ministers.

We must do whatever we can to get back on track. There has been success. In recent weeks a car ferry was inaugurated and 150,000 people came into the region over three months. That was not a lose-lose situation for anybody. Most political parties were engaged in active negotiations and all political parties were represented at the opening a fortnight ago. As everybody in the region sees the value of what has happened, we should leave no stone unturned in returning to the previous position. I hope all involved can get the Executive up and running again with haste.

Mr. Crawford:

I wish to share my time with Deputy Durkan.

While I welcome this opportunity to make a few comments, I am saddened that we must discuss another suspension of the Good Friday Agreement and listen to so many involved, not necessarily in this House, in the blame game. The Good Friday Agreement was a compromise. Like any other agreement, it was not perfect. I had great difficulty accepting the fact that prisoners from both sides of the political and religious divide could be released, even though they had clearly committed murder in cold blood in church buildings and elsewhere. I had hoped arms and bombs would be given up. While the prisoners were released on time, both extreme groups, giving lame excuses for their need for arms, have still not given them up. There is no need for arms if democracy is what we desire.

The Fine Gael Party has been committed to peace and generosity on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland. Former Taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave, Garrett Fitzgerald and John Bruton, led the way towards talks in Northern Ireland. Recently Mr. Gerry Adams questioned the right of Fine Gael to ask hard questions and even my party's commitment to a lasting peace, yet in his next comment mentioned the name of George Mitchell, forgetting the fact that Deputy Bruton, as Taoiseach, was involved in his appointment.

All of the major parties in this House have shown commitment to each other and the people of this island in the hope of achieving a workable agreement on which great progress has been made. I, too, believe there is no going back to the bad old days. Over 3,000 people were murdered in 30 years of conflict while many more thousands suffered from fear, depression and sickness, often leading to early death.

In recent years the Stormont Assembly and Ministers have shown how politics can work. The activities of Minister Bríd Rogers and her Department, working with their counterparts in Dublin, clearly showed during the recent foot and mouth disease crisis the benefits accruing to the island from this type of co-operation. I want to see more progress in the area of animal health. The restoration of the Ulster Canal is another truly cross-Border project, which, if the Agreement was implemented correctly, we could see working.

First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan have shown what can be done in working with all of the parties. However, there are genuine fears. Protests outside churches and schools are not part of democracy. So-called Protestant groups murdering each other do not help either. The Colombia Three, spying in Stormont and vans in Bray containing sledgehammers, balaclavas and Garda uniforms do not create confidence.

I welcome the statement by my constituency colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin, that Sinn Féin is totally committed to the Good Friday Agreement and do not doubt his personal commitment. However, actions speak louder than words. We need to see real commitment on all sides to return to the drawing board. Certainly, my party and I are committed to working with the Government. I congratulate others on their efforts to bring about lasting peace.

Mr. Durkan:

We are all saddened that we have arrived at this junction and express the wish that the peace process and the structures put in place, agreed and supported by the overwhelming majority of the Irish people, can be soon restored. The peace process and the power-sharing Assembly had been based on trust which must remain intact. All of the participating parties in the power-sharing Assembly must have trust in each other. There must also be trust between the respective communities. If trust is removed, there will then be a serious problem.

Those committed to the peace process and the power-sharing Assembly in recent years have held the high moral ground. That is important. There is a danger, however, that some of that moral ground may well be eroded by what has happened in recent weeks, particularly in the past week. I appeal, therefore, to those involved to recognise that, when the process of democracy is taken on board, other processes must be left to one side. There is no sense in attempting to run the two in parallel. Neither is there sense in blaming those who raided someone's offices. The question automatically arises, "For what purpose was the information being collected?" It was not being collected for political purposes. It is damaging to the cause of nationalism and republicanism and power sharing.

I appeal to all who pander to those who go along that route to think seriously about its consequences. We all know what I am talking about and I do not wish to exacerbate the situation. We must all give our full support to the Minister and the Government in the negotiations to ensure the process is brought back on track.

To compare the current situation with that which existed seven, eight or ten years ago when there was widespread killing on a daily and nightly basis is ludicrous. There can be no such comparison. It is quite clear that there has been a huge improvement, but more work is needed. A price will have to be paid if we take our eyes off the ball for an instant or if someone decides to go his or her own route for even a short period of time. We hope the price being paid is only a temporary one.

Mr. Ferris:

I welcome the Taoiseach's acknowledgement of Sinn Féin's positive contribution to the development of the peace process to date. I particularly welcome his recognition that we have undertaken, unilaterally, a number of initiatives aimed at building greater confidence among the Unionist community. I point to Alex Maskey laying a wreath at the cenotaph and acknowledging in a commemorative way the dead of the First World War.

Sinn Féin's efforts to build a relationship with the wider Unionist community have been ongoing for more than a decade. There are those within the Unionist family who do not want to share power with Nationalists. Unfortunately, they have been setting the agenda in recent years and trying to upset any chance of unionism coming to terms with the equality of nationalism within the Assembly and the institutions.

Some of the commentary during this debate has been regrettable. I refer particularly to the contributions of Deputies Howlin, Gay Mitchell and Crawford. The commentary regarding people at present before the courts creating an innuendo of guilt is disgraceful. There was no mention from these Deputies about the proven collusion between the RUC-PSNI and loyalist-Unionist paramilitaries, which is a reflection on the inequality of their contributions. I vividly remember Deputy Ruairí Quinn speaking at the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation when he stated the RUC was a corrupt and irreformable police force. This same force has been drafted into the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as it is now known, without accountability.

It is imperative for all of us to work collectively, as we have done in recent years, to ensure the Good Friday Agreement survives and is implemented in full. Sinn Féin will continue to play a positive and constructive role in bringing about its full implementation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen):

I am disappointed to have to address the House under these circumstances. Yesterday's announcement and the developments which gave rise to it have highlighted the fact that we are, once again, entering a period of difficulties in the ongoing implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. However, these difficulties are not insurmountable and the Agreement has not been suspended. It is still the only agenda, and I have every hope the Northern Ireland institutions will be restored in the near future.

As the Taoiseach and Prime Minister Blair said yesterday, the two Governments believe it will be possible for the institutions to be restored "in a way that will last without further disruption once trust within the parties has been established." The breakdown in trust between those involved will not be a simple issue to resolve. There are many layers of trust which need to be woven together on all sides and at all levels, from community relations at the interfaces to power sharing at the highest level.

As the Taoiseach said, the great political strides of recent times have, sadly, been accompanied by decreasing levels of confidence in the commitment of some to the full operation of the Agreement. For that reason, it is essential that the transition to democracy, currently ongoing, be brought to completion. It is no longer possible for the use, or threat of use, of force or other non-democratic means to have any place in politics on this island. This transition can and should be substantially advanced now.

Suspension is a serious development and not an outcome that any supporter of the Agreement would have wished for. However, in the absence of sufficient trust between the parties let us focus our energies on the extremely challenging business in hand. It is not in anyone's interest to allow a political vacuum to develop. Having brought the process to such an advanced state of progress, we cannot now renege on our responsibilities and let matters descend inexorably into stalemate. I need not remind Deputies of the dangers, as we have seen to our cost during the years, inherent in a political vacuum. Equally, we cannot simply allow the edifice of achievement the Good Friday Agreement embodies to be dismantled slowly, by a thousand cuts and erosions. The basic political fact of life is that the Agreement is the only sustainable basis for an accommodation that is acceptable, fair and honourable to both Unionists and Nationalists.

In the years since the signing of the Agreement in 1998 and its endorsement by the people, North and South, we have begun to see its enormous transforming potential. If anything, we have tended to take that transformation for granted. Since November 2001, when the institutions were restored after the first act of IRA decommissioning, the Executive and the Northern Ireland Ministers have clearly demonstrated the potential of partnership politics based on mutual respect and equality.

The Executive, under the joint leadership of David Trimble and Mark Durkan, has achieved notable success, particularly since the IRA's move on decommissioning in October 2001, in bringing together representatives from both communities to work collectively with common purpose. The real politics which the work of the Executive represents made a substantial impact, with locally accountable Ministers taking decisions on matters such as agriculture, industrial promotion, health and education, which are of genuine importance and significance in the lives of the people of Northern Ireland. The successful operation of the Executive has provided incontrovertible evidence that the values underpinning the Agreement – partnership, mutual respect and equality – can be brought to bear in a meaningful and practical way for the benefit of both Nationalists and Unionists alike.

The Assembly has also been operating very successfully. It has proved itself to be a forum that can withstand robust debate on controversial matters. The seriousness with which parliamentarians from all traditions have taken on their responsibilities is laudable. Their contributions, including in committees scrutinising the work of Ministers and Departments, have been marked by commitment and diligence.

Meetings of Ministers from both parts of the island through the North-South Ministerial Council have become such a regular feature of ministerial calendars, North and South, that there is no adverse comment when they take place. This is because at these meetings Ministers from both parts of the island have been taking decisions that are benefiting all of our people in a practical and meaningful way and, in the process, promoting real partnership.

Similarly, all-island implementation bodies have been established under the Agreement and have now been in successful operation for more than three years. They operate in sectors as diverse as trade and business development and food safety promotion and their practical achievements are many. The all-Ireland tourism organisation, Tourism Ireland Limited, is a model of sensible co-operation in a sector that is economically vital on both sides of the Border. The marketing campaigns of Tourism Ireland Limited are undoubtedly crucial to the well-being of the tourism industry throughout the island.

The Good Friday Agreement is the only basis for progress in Northern Ireland. We remain completely committed to its implementation and will continue to work in every possible way to achieve this objective. The two Governments, therefore, will again need to create confidence in the management of the process on an ongoing basis. Our agenda is clear: we need to re-establish trust on all sides, to safeguard the Agreement's achievements to date and to secure progress on the areas which remain outstanding. The bedrock of the Agreement is provided by the partnership of the two Governments, and this central relationship will continue to provide the underlying stability and support for the redevelopment of trust among the parties.

One of the ways in which the two Governments will continue to co-operate bilaterally is provided for under the Agreement under strand 3 of which the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was created. It allowed for the creation of the conference and its standing secretariat. The conference provides a platform for co-operation between both Governments on all matters of mutual interest. However, it particularly recognises the Irish Government's special interest in Northern Ireland and the extent to which issues of mutual concern arise in that regard. The conference is tasked with meeting on non-devolved Northern Ireland matters, including inter alia the areas of rights, justice and policing. Meetings of the conference are to be co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it is our intention to meet in this format in the very near future.

However, I emphasise that, contrary to some unhelpful speculation, the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference is not, by any means, a method for the creation of joint authority by stealth or a way in which power-sharing might be taken off the agenda in favour of an intergovernmental track. The conference provides a basis for the ongoing co-operation that will facilitate the two Governments in the management of the process until the restoration of the institutions. While co-operating through the conference, our ultimate aim is directed towards the full operation of the institutions, including the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive.

Both Governments are agreed that the North-South implementation bodies established under the Agreement and Tourism Ireland will continue. We will be working closely with the British Government in the period ahead to give practical effect to the need to ensure that these bodies can carry out their important functions. Since their establishment, these North-South organisations have flourished under the direction provided by the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive with more than 700 people now employed throughout Ireland in locations such as Enniskillen. Cork, Scarriff, Newry and Omagh. In a short space of time, they have become a vital part of the economic and social fabric of the island.

In the critical area of policing, I share the Secretary of State's assessment of the Policing Board as one of the key achievements of the Agreement to date. Since its creation, the board has shown that it is capable of dealing with controversial and sensitive issues in a positive and cohesive way. I was therefore glad to hear that its existing members will remain serving on the board during the period of suspension, continuing their admirable work on the new beginning in policing. While much has been achieved on this issue, there is undoubtedly more to be done to bring the sought-after goal of a police service acceptable to all sides of the community to full operational reality.

We regard policing as a core element of the Agreement and will continue to drive forward the agreed agenda for change, including the introduction of the additional legislation by the British Government provided for under the revised implementation plan. The progress achieved on policing through the Agreement should not be materially affected by the suspension and we will continue to work to move the agenda forward in the weeks and months ahead.

In the time since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement we have made great progress on a wide and comprehensive agenda for the benefit of everyone on this island. This does not mean that we should lose sight of the need to move even further down that road towards a full normalisation of society to make a clean break with those elements of the past which have no place in the new democratic dispensation.

The Agreement signalled the route map for a new beginning for a divided society. Yet, in recent times and throughout a tense summer, we have witnessed a persistent roll-call of events we all hoped had been consigned to the past – sectarian murders, vicious sectarian attacks, pipe-bomb attacks, punishment beatings and shootings. There is no place for such activities in a democracy. Continuing and effective policing reform is the best guarantee that the rule of law will prevail and that those responsible are made accountable for their criminal activities. Vulnerable communities are entitled to the protection of effective and consistent policing. Conversely, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which undertakes that difficult task, is entitled to expect the support of all the community whom it wishes to serve.

As we work to bring a speedy end to the period of suspension, we need to make continuing progress on other aspects of the Agreement where full implementation has yet to be achieved. In this category, for example, I cite the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, which has yet to be brought to fruition. In addition, in the area of security normalisation, there may be scope for further progress on the removal of intrusive installations without any negative impact on the capacity of the security forces to counter the operations of those who are determined to undermine the Agreement.

I wish to make clear to the House that the Government will be doing all in its power to secure an early restoration of the devolved institutions. Until the institutions are restarted, we will work in close co-operation with the British Government to re-instil confidence and trust in the process, to continue to operate all parts of the Agreement which can be maintained and to implement those aspects which remain outstanding. There is a legislative commitment to the holding of Assembly elections on 1 May 2003 and I look forward to those taking place. In the final analysis, it is the people of Northern Ireland who must give their verdict on the custodians of devolved government. I sincerely hope it will be possible to see a full restoration of the institutions before this milestone.

Side by side with the institutional developments, we will work to ensure the implementation of other aspects of the Agreement which have been delivering benefits to all the people, benefits in the areas of human rights, equality and reconciliation. These are essential in showing that the path of partnership and mutual respect can bring gains for all in demonstrating beyond doubt that there is more to politics than a zero-sum game.

The two Governments do not underestimate the responsibility or the challenge of working towards rebuilding confidence in each community, which is essential to the full operation and implementation of the Agreement. As guardians of the Agreement, we are willing to assume this responsibility and challenge, working in close co-operation with all the parties. With their continued will and determination, the ongoing welcome and valuable support of this House and the democratic authority that the Agreement itself represents, I am confident that the devolved institutions can be restored and partnership politics again made a reality for the people of Northern Ireland in the challenging period ahead.

If sufficient political will and courage is demonstrated, it remains possible for us to make the necessary quantum leap forward out of the present impasse. To achieve full implementation of the Agreement, everyone and every party in the process needs to embark on a rendezvous with reality.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 15 Oct 2002