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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 2

Ceisteanna – Questions (Resumed). Priority Questions. - Northern Ireland Issues.

Gay Mitchell

Question:

57 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in relation to the Good Friday Agreement. [21764/02]

As Deputies will be aware, the Government regrets the suspension of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland on 14 October last and the decision of the IRA to suspend contact with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning on 30 October. I reiterate, however, that the agreement itself has not been suspended. It remains the template for progress and both Governments remain wholeheartedly committed to its full implementation. They also share a determination, as expressed in the joint statement of the Taoiseach and Prime Minister Blair, to protect the many achievements of the Agreement and restore the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.

The restoration of the institutions will only be possible if the required underlying trust and confidence among the parties can be rebuilt. This cannot be achieved by a process of incrementalism. Only irreversible acts of completion, by all sides, have the capacity to deliver the quantum leap that the process now requires. That necessitates a fast-forwarding of progress on the transition from paramilitarism to exclusively democratic means, as well as on the other key areas of confidence, including policing, security normalisation, institutional stability and the rights and equality agendas.

In recent weeks, I have undertaken a round of intensive bilateral meetings with the pro-Agreement parties in Northern Ireland and the British Government. Together with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I participated in the meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference held at Hillsborough on 22 October. In addition, I met the new Secretary of State, Mr Paul Murphy, in Dublin on 6 November.

This afternoon the Secretary of State and I issued invitations to the parties to participate in round-table talks in Belfast on 21 November. These talks will represent an important opportunity for all the parties to constructively and comprehensively address the range of outstanding issues on which progress is required, thereby renewing confidence in the political process.

The aim of all work taken forward in the immediate future will be to consolidate and protect the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement to date and to collectively implement its outstanding aspects. All parties have a role to play in overcoming the current deficit in confidence, restoring the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland and delivering the full promise of the Good Friday Agreement.

Is the Minister aware that special branch numbers in Northern Ireland are down 50% on their pre-Patten size and that support units of the special branch have been merged within the wider police force? Is he aware that last week the policing board and the Chief Constable agreed to implement an independently drawn up radical new policy to end the force within a force? Is he aware that the new Chief Constable, Mr. Hugh Orde, has been responsible for an outside investigation of past security force collusion with loyalists, that the oversight commissioner, American Tom Constantine, has been vigorous in pursuing the full implementation of the Patten recommendations on the special branch? Does he agree that much of this has come about because of the Weston Park negotiations carried out by the SDLP?

Will the Minister join me in expressing concern at the intimidation faced by Nationalists who wish to join the new police force? They have been joining in large numbers and the last recruitment round had 35% Catholic applications. This is significant given the high level of recruitment which at about 500 exceeds the Patten figure of 370. Does the Minister agree that Catholics from Northern Ireland, including those from republican neighbourhoods such as Newry and Derry, wish to join the new police force? Will he join me in supporting the SDLP call on those trying to intimidate Catholics to cease doing so? The best way to ensure that MI5 does not take over the activities of the special branch in Northern Ireland is to ensure that all parties join the police force and work with the SDLP and others to bring about the changes they have been successfully negotiating.

Substantial progress has been made over the past year in bringing about the new beginning to policing promised by the Good Friday Agreement as set out in the Patten report. The new police service of Northern Ireland was established on 4 November 2001 and the first recruits selected on a 50:50 basis took up duty in April. The policing board came into being this time last year. Since then members of the board have worked unstintingly to ensure implementation of the new policing arrangements, crafting practical solutions to policing problems such as the design of the new police flag and emblem, the operation and response to the ombudsman's Omagh report and a new human resource strategy for the PSNI.

In addition the board chose a new Chief Constable, Mr. Hugh Orde, who has made a positive impact since taking up duty in September, particularly in regard to tackling loyalist paramilitary violence. North-South policing co-operation has been enhanced with the signing on 29 April last of an intergovernmental agreement covering all areas of co-operation between the Garda Síoch ána and the PSNI as recommended in the Patten report. It includes reciprocal provisions for lateral entry and secondments with policing powers between the two police services. The necessary legislation to provide for such personnel changes is currently being prepared in each jurisdiction and should be in place early next year.

Last week, as the Deputy said, and I agree, the inspector of constabulary delivered a report to the policing board which reviewed the operation of the special branch and its relationship with other departments in the PSNI. The Chief Constable and the policing board will take his recommendations forward. Progress in this sensitive area will mark another vital step forward towards building a new future for policing in Northern Ireland.

The package of legislative amendments set out in the revised implementation plan of August 2001 is due to be announce in the British Parliament today, with the legislation being introduced in the House of Commons in mid-December. These amendments are designed to bring the Police (Northern Ireland) Act, 2000, into line with the Patten report in certain key areas.

Although much has been achieved on policing the Government realises that the new beginning will not be fully consolidated until such time as young people from Nationalist, republican and loyalist communities join the PSNI and the political representatives of the entire community take their places on the policing board. We are now looking to the forthcoming legislation and the longer-term debate about the devolution of policing and justice powers, also envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement and recommended by Patten, to provide a context in which such developments can and will take place. I agree with the Deputy there is no place for intimidation of those who wish to choose policing as a career.

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