I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, to the House and invite him to speak.
Northern Ireland: Statements.
I am glad to have this opportunity to make a statement to the Seanad on the developments in the Northern Ireland peace process since the conclusion of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. It is just over two months since the Taoiseach addressed the Seanad on the Agreement, an occasion on which many Senators spoke in positive and helpful terms of the Agreement and the prospects which it had introduced for a new beginning in relations throughout these islands. I should like to take this opportunity to thank Senators for their warm remarks during that debate.
We are now started on the process of implementing the Agreement and it is opportune to have a further discussion on these matters before the summer break. We have successfully passed the first two great milestones on the road leading from the Agreement towards a peaceful and stable future. These were the referenda on 25 May and the first elections to the new Northern Ireland Assembly last Thursday. Both were truly historic occasions. On the morrow of the Agreement they appeared to many as very difficult hurdles to be surmounted and indeed were seen by opponents of the Agreement as opportunities to destroy the balanced compromise from whose creation they had absented themselves. In the event, both the referenda and the Assembly elections have delivered a firm rejection of the politics of intransigence.
The referenda on 25 May were exciting occasions for all of us who believe in democratic constitutional politics as the only way to resolve our differences. As a key element in the construction of the new negotiating process, both the Irish and British Governments had long made clear that the outcome of the talks would be put to the people for their approval. I am convinced that this open and democratic approach helped the parties to the negotiations to take the risks and make the compromises necessary by neutralising any charge that they were making deals behind the backs of their electors.
The referendum campaign was long and vigorous. Every household in Ireland received a copy of the Agreement and, judging by phone calls and correspondence to my Department, people read it carefully and made up their minds on what it meant and how they reacted to it. Their verdict was an overwhelming "yes" for the British-Irish Agreement and the new future it made possible. In this jurisdiction 94 per cent voted yes. In Northern Ireland, although almost all sections of the community were asked to make significant compromises and to move away from their old certainties, 71 per cent of a very high turnout voted "yes". It was widely reported that many people who had neglected to vote for years had come out to vote for their future and support the Agreement.
The size of the majority in the South was gratifying. It put beyond doubt the overwhelming approval of the people for the approach of successive Irish Governments and its outcome in the Agreement. An equally important factor for me and for all who regard themselves as Irish Nationalists was that the two referendums on 25 May provided the first opportunity since 1918 for all people on this island to vote together on their political future. Across the island, some 85 per cent of people approved the Agreement. As I and others made clear at the time, it is no longer possible, if it ever was, for those who continue to regard violence as a means to enforce their political will on others of a different belief to claim to be acting on behalf of Ireland or the Irish people. On the contrary, anyone who resorts to violence is acting against the clearly expressed will of the Irish people.
After the referendum, the Northern parties moved directly into the campaign for the first Assembly elections, on which the dust is only now beginning to settle. This exhausting pace, for both politicians and voters, was dictated by the Agreement and by the concern of all parties to maintain the momentum built up in the talks and not to leave the field free over the summer for those who prefer to fan the flames of sectarian confrontation. It was unfortunate, but perhaps related to some degree to election fatigue and competing attractions, that some of those new voters who came out in May to endorse the clear principle of the Agreement did not feel similarly motivated in June. Nonetheless, the electorate delivered a solid vote in favour of the British-Irish Agreement. Despite the lower turnout, roughly three quarters of the electorate voted for parties favouring the Agreement, a higher percentage than the "yes" vote in the referendum. As David Trimble said, we would have all preferred a more decisive vote in favour of the pro-Agreement Unionist parties in the election. There is no doubt that the electoral mathematics have delivered a tighter situation on the Unionist side of the new Assembly than we might have hoped for.
However, it is important to keep a proper perspective on the results, as Mr. Trimble has done. Despite serious concerns among their supporters about some elements of the Agreement and concerted attacks from other Unionist parties, the UUP vote held up extremely well. In such divisive circumstances, the Ulster Unionist Party leadership of Mr. David Trimble, Mr. John Taylor, Mr. Ken Maginnis and their colleagues have done a remarkable job in bringing the great bulk of their supporters with them. If we had been able to foresee a year ago such a degree of support for an inclusive multi-party settlement in a community which has traditionally been extremely wary of compromise and change, we would have been very satisfied. It also emphasises the courage shown by the UUP leadership in endorsing the Agreement in April and sticking with it since then. It might have been easier in the short term to side with those who loudly denounced any compromise, but that would have been to ignore the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.
On the Nationalist side, both the SDLP and Sinn Féin are to be congratulated on their electoral performances and on the way in which they brought their supporters along with them. For John Hume and Séamus Mallon, the increase in the party's vote, its number of seats in the Assembly and its achievement for the first time ever of winning the highest vote in a Northern Ireland election are a well deserved tribute and reward for their unflinching espousal for over 30 years of dialogue and compromise as the only way to bring together the two great traditions in Ireland.
For Sinn Féin, the cohesion of the party's vote is a testament to the party leadership's remarkable success in explaining to its supporters the changed political landscape in which they are now operating. Sinn Féin and its electorate have had to travel a substantial distance to reach the ground where we now stand. The acceptance by the great majority of the republican movement of democratic politics as the only way to pursue their political objectives has represented a quantum shift in Irish politics and was a critical factor in creating the opportunity for a lasting peace which we have today. It is clear, judging by the 2 per cent increase in Sinn Féin's vote, that those republican groups attempting to continue or initiate campaigns of violence have virtually no public support. Their sterile and hopeless political stance is shown by their appalling efforts at both the referendum and the election to use the very occasion on which the people expressed their political verdict to try to increase division and conflict.
I am delighted to see that two of the smaller parties who played a highly active and very positive role in the multi-party negotiations have made the breakthrough to be represented in the Assembly. The plain speaking and openness to new ideas of David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson and their colleagues in the PUP points towards a fresh, non-sectarian approach on behalf of working-class unionism. I am also glad that the dynamism and moderation which the fresh perspective of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition brought to the negotiations will also be brought to bear on the work of the Assembly. Both parties have actively championed the Agreement which they helped produce and I am sure both will make a valuable and positive contribution to the new Assembly.
I am disappointed that the Ulster Democratic Party and Labour, two parties which made an active contribution to the talks, will not be represented in the Assembly. Like others who took part in the talks, I have great respect for the commitment of Gary McMichael and his UDP colleagues to democratic politics which they demonstrated repeatedly during the talks. I am sorry David Adams did not succeed in winning a seat in the Assembly. He made a huge and important contribution to the peace process and I look forward to the continuation of that in other ways. His support is important. It is unfortunate that they will not have the opportunity to express their viewpoint in the Assembly, but I hope they will continue the work of bringing about the new society towards which they have worked for so long. My door will always be open to them.
I acknowledge the contribution of John Alderdice to the making of the British-Irish Agreement and to the many years of preparations which led to it. While Lord Alderdice may have decided that the moment was right to step down as leader of the Alliance Party, I am sure he will continue to make an important contribution to the political life of Northern Ireland for many years to come.
With the outcome of the referendums and the election, ownership of the Agreement now clearly belongs to the people who have endorsed it in such overwhelming numbers and no longer just to those who negotiated it. It has become the framework within which all of us must operate if we believe in democracy and accept the verdict of the ballot box. I believe many people who were unable to support the Agreement in the referendum because of sincerely held concerns about elements of it, or because they were not convinced it could work, will now accept it and will work for its success. It was especially revealing that even those parties implacably opposed to the Agreement felt it necessary to tell their voters in the election that they would try to promote their views within the Assembly rather than wrecking it as they had previously said. That is a major advance.
As time moves on and the Agreement is implemented, I am convinced many of those who have felt unable to support it thus far will realise that the Agreement threatens no one. Senators need no reminder of its provisions which were extensively discussed in the House and I stress that, under the British-Irish Agreement, the future of Northern Ireland will be given back to the people who live there and that the Irish and British Governments and the many Governments abroad who wish us well in this enterprise will recognise the verdict of the people in this regard.
This has been an exhausting political season, running directly from the protracted negotiations into the referendum and then into the Assembly elections. It is not over yet. As many Senators pointed out in the debate in April, the British-Irish Agreement does not represent the end of the process but the starting point from which we must work. In the spirit of the times, we are beginning the second half and everything is still to play for. With the election of the members of the Assembly, we can now begin the work of making a reality of the architecture and relationships carefully designed in the Agreement. Some areas of it were elaborated in detail while others were sketched out or signposted, but all will require effort, willingness and active engagement on the part of all participants to make the whole package work.
The British-Irish Agreement was negotiated as a carefully balanced package and it must be implemented as such. Just as in the negotiations, each participant must live up in good faith to the commitments it made in respect of the elements it was unhappy with if it expects others to similarly accept the elements which are most dear to it.
The next step comes upon us immediately with the first meeting of the Northern Ireland Assembly tomorrow. Following the election results, we can expect difficult issues and hard talking to arise there, perhaps right from the start, but we should not be discouraged by this. As I said in my statement welcoming the conclusion of the election:
Democracy is by nature a competitive process. The gift of the new Assembly and its institutions is that it removes that competition from the streets and harnesses its energy within the agreed terms of democracy and its standards of fairness and equality.
We should also remember as the parties take their seats tomorrow that this is the first ever occasion on which all shades of political opinion in Northern Ireland will sit down together and try to work out their future in political debate. Much of the responsibility for implementing the Agreement passes, as it should, to the politicians elected by the people of Northern Ireland to the Assembly. The first task will be the election of a Presiding Officer and then of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. After that many tasks fall to be decided by the parties in the Assembly. The centralised organs of Government under which Northern Ireland has been administered during direct rule must be recast to provide for devolved Government under the democratic control of the Assembly and up to ten Ministers in the new shadow Executive. The Assembly must flesh out the provisions of the Agreement relating to itself and agree standing orders and working methods. The North/South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council must be established and, by 31 October, as laid down in the Agreement, the shadow Executive and the Irish Government must have negotiated and agreed the initial list of North/South implementing bodies which are to be set up.
This is a substantial body of work by any standards and we all want to see it move ahead as quickly as possible. We recognise, of course, that very few in the new Assembly will have any experience at governmental level and that the procedures and safeguards to ensure that neither community can dominate the other may cause occasional delays. However, every effort must be made to ensure that there is no slippage in the timescale set out in the Agreement.
Following 31 October the two Governments will move as quickly as possible to enact any necessary legislation for the establishment of the Ministerial Council and the implementing bodies. This will involve substantial work by, in this jurisdiction, the Government and the Oireachtas and we have tentatively targeted January or February 1999 to complete this task. Once all this architecture is in place the British-Irish Agreement will come into force, which itself will trigger the amendment of Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution which were approved by the people in the referendum in April. At that stage, which I hope will be February 1999, the British-Irish Agreement will be fully operational.
That is the rough timetable, as accurately as I can give it for Senators at this time, for the institutional elements of the Agreement. There are, of course, other important elements to the overall package which must be progressed in parallel to these. These include the new Policing Commission whose task, as set out in the Agreement, is to bring forward proposals "to ensure . that Northern Ireland has a police service that can enjoy widespread support from . the community as a whole." I would like to pay a very warm tribute to one of our distinguished and most thoughtful and gifted colleagues, Senator Maurice Hayes, who has been appointed a member of the Commission. Other elements of the package are the provisions for the reform of the criminal justice system, enhanced protection of human rights, release of prisoners, support for victims, de-escalation of security measures and decommissioning of weapons. These are all essential elements for the creation and support of a normal and peaceful society in Northern Ireland within which the political structures can begin to work to break down the barriers between the two communities which 30 years of violence have so greatly heightened.
Although much of this programme falls to be enacted within Northern Ireland, Senators will appreciate that in areas such as the implementing bodies and the new Human Rights Commission a great deal of work arises for the Government and the Oireachtas. The Government is also jointly concerned with the British Government to oversee and support the overall implementation of the Agreement.
This work will involve the skills of many different Departments and the Government has set up an interdepartmental steering group chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs to co-ordinate this effort. The steering group brings together the Departments of Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the office of the Attorney General and other Departments as necessary, to examine and plan for the programme of action falling to be carried out in this jurisdiction to implement the British-Irish Agreement.
As Members know, the Government has decided, with the general support of all parties, to signal its strong commitment to the complete implementation of the Agreement by introducing legislation to cover the scheme of accelerated releases, even though this might perhaps have been done using existing powers.
As a result of the election campaign we are all aware that there are still people who do not wish the Agreement to succeed. Many obstacles will be placed in our path as we try to ensure that it does succeed. The first challenge we face may be the resolution of the question of the Drumcree parade which the Parades Commission yesterday ruled could go ahead but could not use the Garvaghy Road. In recent years, this issue has repeatedly led to serious disruption and increased polarisation between the communities. It is my fervent hope that in the atmosphere of partnership and reconciliation in which the British-Irish Agreement was negotiated and approved by the people, this will not recur. Again, I urge all concerned, be they residents or marchers, to act with restraint and goodwill in the interests of stability and harmony.
Finally, I am conscious that in the past political initiatives in Northern Ireland have failed because they were not implemented and followed through with the same vigour, determination and imagination as were shown in their devising. We are determined that this will not happen on this occasion and that the once in a generation chance represented by the British-Irish Agreement will not be allowed slip. Success will depend on maintaining the factors which led to the Agreement — the unity and common purpose of the two Governments in promoting compromise and agreement, the support of the international community and above all the will of the parties themselves to secure a peaceful future for all in Northern Ireland. After 30 years of conflict, peace must not be taken for granted. The Irish Government will continue to do everything in its power to make this a just, productive and permanent peace.
The Minister is always welcome to the House and I welcome him this evening. He is, perhaps a very lucky politician. In the later part of his career he has been given a historic opportunity to be closely involved in events which will change and are changing the political landscape of this country. The Minister has shown himself equal to this challenge and has played an important, constructive and worthy part in the events which we are in part celebrating and in part seeking to progress further in the direction which all of us desire.
The Minister has given us an interesting and detailed outline of the timetable of events and the scale of the challenges we now face. In one sense he has shown how far we have come from the euphoria after the British-Irish Agreement followed by the extraordinary endorsement of the Agreement, to the detailed discussion of where to go next. The momentum is being kept up and events are happening more or less according to plan. All of us would like to think that in two years from now, when we are having a debate on Northern Ireland, we will be discussing boring things like roads, schools and hospitals and that the process of political normality will have gone that major step further so that constitutional and institutional items are not the only ones on the agenda.
I join the Minister in praising those he singled out for praise. I particularly praise the courage of David Trimble, John Taylor and my old friend, Ken Maginnis in facing down the naked hostility of people who are best suited to destroy and pull down. They have faced up to that and signed onto the Agreement. They made hard decisions and are showing themselves to be people of their word with the courage to stand by their word.
Likewise, there is no need to add to our words of praise for John Hume and Séamus Mallon, the architects of the Agreement. They have been pointing out for decades many of the elements which are now part of the Agreement. The Minister and I are long-term friends of the SDLP; we travelled to the North to help that party when few others did so. On many occasions the obituaries of the SDLP were written. We were told that party did not have a proper organisation or coherent structure and that it would die away. It is comforting to see the strong electoral performance of the SDLP, to see its new candidates coming forward and to know that there is an organisation in place which will sustain the party in its role as the leading Nationalist party in Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin also deserves to be complimented. That party has shown a capacity to operate electoral politics extremely successfully. It was possibly the best organised party in the election. I hope it will adapt equally well to parliamentary politics. There is a difference between electoral and parliamentary politics but I hope that Sinn Féin, having seen how well it can do within the political and electoral process, will adapt equally well to parliamentary politics.
Many others were mentioned by the Minister. All Members salute the courage and sanity of Lord Alderdice and his party over many years and the efforts of David Ervine and of the Women's Coalition. All played a part in bringing us to where we are today.
However, many hard decisions have still to be taken and many hurdles must be overcome. Nobody, even in the euphoria following Good Friday and after the referendum, expected that things would be easy. Everybody is aware of the capacity of Mr. Paisley and Mr. McCartney to be negative and destructive, to say no in an infinite variety of ways and to pull things down. Even at an early stage some people suspected that Mr. Donaldson might have his own agenda.
Everybody knew the parades would be a problem; they are still a problem which must be overcome. Sadly, many people in Northern Ireland are inventive and skilled at reinventing and recycling grievances. We heard many of their voices in recent days seeking to be negative and to avoid yielding an inch to the other, despite the different circumstances which now obtain. There are people in Northern Ireland who do not want a settlement and who prefer to nurse and live on their grievances.
This and much more was known when the Agreement was signed. However, it is also known that the structure around which the Agreement operates and through which it will be implemented is extremely sound, sounder than anything that existed in the past. Lessons have been learnt from the mistakes of Sunningdale, particularly by the British Government. This Agreement has been endorsed and there is no viable alternative. Virtually all groups in Northern Ireland now accept the political way forward.
Northern Ireland is at the stage where this country was in 1927 when the Fianna Fáil Party entered the Dáil, bringing Civil War differences into the realm of parliamentary politics and ensuring that future differences would be worked out the parliamentary way through the apparatus, principles and conventions of politics. Northern Ireland is now at that stage. For the first time all shades of political opinion are sitting in the same parliament and are willing to work that parliament. The two Governments are also committed to that process.
The elections showed that the majority of people in Northern Ireland want to make the Agreement work. Some people do not, but the important factor is the fact that the majority do. It is not a small majority but a large one. We are not in the business of preaching to the people of Northern Ireland but there is a clear message from this process. Those who believe in the Agreement and who are committed to making it work, especially in the early difficult stages, must work together. What unites them, their belief in the Agreement as the only way forward, is far more profound than the differences between them. The differences on aspects of policy, matters about which the parties in these Houses disagree, can come later. What is important is that all who believe in the Agreement do everything they can to help it put down deep roots. That means, above all, that they must be prepared to compromise, as they have been in the past few months. Things can only work if there is broad agreement at this stage.
Northern Ireland is an odd political entity. When we see the huge worldwide media attention which the North receives, it is easy to think of it in terms of a major global trouble spot. However, it is only a small landmass. The problems of its people are no different from those of people in the Republic. They are the ordinary, everyday problems of politics. The people who represent the political parties in the Assembly comprise a cross section of ordinary people. They include teachers, doctors, farmers, barristers, one or two accountants, the unemployed, academics and people who were part of the terrorist process up to five or ten years ago. With the exception of the latter, the members of the Assembly are broadly representative of the people of Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland should never forget it is a heavily subsidised part of the world which has absorbed the energies of two sovereign Governments over a period of 30 years. The problem it must resolve is the problem of living and working together. It should not be beyond its representatives. However, the key point is that it will only be successful this time if the centre holds together. That centre comprises the Unionist Party, the SDLP and those who believe that the Assembly is the way forward. If the centre holds, as I believe it will, the Agreement will work.
The people of Ireland both North and South have, through the democratic process, resoundingly expressed their wish for peace. Last Friday saw the reinforcement of this wish. It was a day when the people of Northern Ireland went to the polling booths and ignored the retrospective dogma of those who have long deprived the people of the treasure of hope.
Such dogma is the dated language of the expiring, not the aspiring. Northern Ireland has long been a political backwater for the politicians who ventured there and hence for its people. This Government and its leader, the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, will be recorded in history as the surgeon who used the scalpel to heal and left no scar. His predecesssor, Deputy Albert Reynolds, was the physician who accurately diagnosed the disease. Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, David Ervine and others proved to be good patients, but the champion of the patients must be David Trimble. If ever a man in his political life has taken a risk and yet remained true to his beliefs, it is he. This has shown his outstanding courage. He has taken a step forward, unlike those before him who have chosen intransigence and retrenchment rather than advance and persistence with their emotional rhetoric rather than speaking with the voice of harmony. I hope it will earn David Trimble the prize of being the first Minister for Northern Ireland in the new Assembly.
Let us not lose sight of reality, this is a long mile ahead and it will, I am sure, be a vicissitudinous journey with its own new perils. These perils will take many forms. We have splinter groups who are attempting to keep the gun in Irish politics. There are those who will use the ballot box and the gun and there are those who will endeavour to hijack and desecrate the democratic process. But the people have spoken and they have spoken with a loud and clear voice. They defiantly say "We do not want your violence, we do not want your intransigence, we want peace, we want harmony, we want to work with our fellow citizens where we all can aspire to our own political goal and achieve the same by persuasion rather than coercion."
In the very near future the acid test will be in the laboratory when the Orangemen will wish to march and exercise their democratic right to walk the highways of Northern Ireland. I appeal to those who oppose these marches, albeit the contentious marches have been few in number, to say now is the time for conciliation and to hold out the hand of friendship. The Parades Commission has spoken and I have no doubt the law will be enforced, but I fear passions will be enflamed. Surely a gesture can be made at this very critical time. This is a very sensitive issue and the past two years at Drumcree have left very deep wounds on many people on both sides of the community. The Protestant community in Northern Ireland see the right to march as their traditional right, a right born of their heritage. People must understand the tenderness of the nerve when they perceive themselves to be deprived of their traditional means to express their heritage. On the other hand we have the Nationalist community who feel they are being caged in their houses for the purpose of allowing the Orangemen to march and taunt and to flaunt triumphalism. At the same time they feel the might of Great Britain is thrown against them.
These two points of view gives rise to an explosive situation which has come to be known as the "Portadown powder keg". The voice of reason must prevail and Northern Ireland is on course for disaster over these marching weeks if these issues are not addressed. Compromise is the order of the day and should not be viewed as defeat. Compromise is not a policy of the weak but of those who hold strength. I plead with all concerned to have dialogue to generate understanding. Both traditions have righteousness on their side but it is a matter of understanding each others reasons for conviction.
The picture is not all doom and gloom. What have we achieved against all the predictions? We have achieved a unique accord signed by two sovereign Governments, by all the political parties save two, by those representing both traditions and those who have been actively involved and victims of the troubled years of Northern Ireland. We now have a man who has been a voice of reason for many years in Northern Ireland, John Alderdice, Lord Alderdice, who has recently been appointed to chair this new Assembly. This is a man of high calibre, high integrity and deep understanding of all shades of opinion, an articulate man whom I respect greatly. I wish him every success with this historic and herculean task.
Hear, hear.
I would like to dwell for a moment on the opportunities that are becoming available to Northern Ireland as a result of the British-Irish Agreement. The image of a terrorist state is beginning to alleviate itself. The reality is that there is a well educated and motivated loyal workforce waiting for employment and that is now becoming believable. The fear of the executive of being branded a lunatic if he recommended investment in Ulster to his board is now abating. The opportunities to build substantial internationally accepted companies will be lost for a long time, if not forever, as will the foregoing opportunities, if we get violence and counter violence in the coming months. The likelihood of political pressure being put on David Trimble by others who wish to torpedo the political progress and the democratic Assembly is great. I say to you all, hold out the hand of friendship and speak the voice of reason.
I now revert to the opportunities that are available in the current political climate. I say to those who are synthesising this Assembly: seek and insist on fiscal autonomy. Scotland has partly achieved this and Northern Ireland needs it as an incentive to attract real industry and investment. Focus on these issues and many of our political difficulties will resolve themselves. The time is right now for real cross-Border co-operation. Let us hope that these proposed new institutions, or cross-Border bodies as they are called, will become a reality and that they will induce real co-operation and utilise the many strengths that exist both North and South.
I have spoken many times in this House regarding the necessity for co-operation between the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland and the veterinary school at UCD. To date my suggestions have fallen on deaf ears in the North. I can only believe that this silence was for political reasons. What I proposed was that the Department of Agriculture or some other Northern Ireland body would make a financial contribution towards the development and maintenance of the veterinary school at UCD. In return, some places would be guaranteed for veterinary students from the North. There is no veterinary school in the North and any student wishing to study for this profession either has to go to England or come south. I receive many letters and other forms of representation complaining about the lack of spaces for students. Education is one area that transcends political divisions. I urge the UK Government and the Department of Agriculture in the North to again examine this proposal closely. I would also ask the Northern Irish public representatives to make representation in this regard, and if a cross-Border body is organised then this topic should be at the top of its agenda.
Whether it is accepted or not, ‘eurocreep' is a reality. Europeanisation is a reality. It will change our circumstances and hence our attitudes. The youth of the North have clearly expressed their wish to become part of an international society and shed the burden that bore down their forebears. It is heartening to receive the message from these young people, particularly through the democratic process afforded to them. For the first time in their life they can experience real politics and have been given an opportunity to express their wishes. Those who would wish to be intransigent or dogmatic in respect of the ancient regime should take note that things will change, people want change and society wants change. Northern Ireland, indeed Ireland as a whole, is an integral part of Europe. Our youth are forward thinking, they will no longer tolerate those who wish to destroy and stunt equality in their future, a right to which they are so wholly entitled.
We owe this to the youth of the future. We also owe much to the many people who gave their time and effort to solving the problems in this country. I will not name all those concerned and I plead forgiveness if I do not mention some people who feel they have made an enormous contribution. The Members of this venerable House of all shades of politics have over the years contributed greatly to pouring oil on troubled waters by their silence on occasions, their understanding and their temperate speeches.
As the Front Bench spokesman on Northern Ireland, they have made my position easy by their consideration. I ask them to continue to understand, as they have done in the past, that there are four societies in Northern Ireland, the Nationalist, the Unionist, those on both sides who want to heal the rift and those who wish to stir up trouble and create anarchy. I ask Members to help and understand those who are trying so hard at this time in their political lives and who are living on a knife edge.
There is also the very emotive issue of prisoners and the families who lost loved ones and those who were the victims of the troubles. There is also the issue of the decommissioning of firearms. This is a red herring. As John Hume has said on many occasions, what is the point of decommissioning if one can recommission a few weeks later? What is really needed is the will to go forward, to succeed and understand and the strength to forgive. The people of Ireland have given much in their long history. I ask them one more time to give and together we will win for all.
I wish to share my time with Senator Ross.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I join my colleagues in paying tribute to the various people who have been involved in the successful outcome to date, particularly the Minister and his staff. However, one person requires to be mentioned and that is Dr. Mo Mowlam. We have been extraordinarily lucky in having a Northern Secretary of her calibre. She behaved with extraordinary integrity, decency and balance when the British gutter press attacked her on a personal basis. Apparently, it did not realise she was undergoing severe medical treatment. She is a remarkable woman.
I am interested by the paeans of praise that have been cast in the direction of Mr. David Trimble and Mr. Gary McMichael. This indicates that there has been a historic shift. I cannot imagine this type of attitude being displayed five years ago. As long as it brings in people and helps to take the gun out of Irish politics, I welcome it. However, I remember their backgrounds. I recall Mr. David Trimble's extraordinary intransigence. He is no saint and we are not doing him any good by pretending otherwise. The Rev. Ian Paisley quoted Mr. Gerry Adams saying "well done, David", so sometimes our support can be counterproductive. Even in the euphoria of the post-Agreement situation, it is important that we are balanced and remember and instruct ourselves on the past.
The result of the referendum and the Assembly elections were historic. Although one would have preferred a much stronger vote for the more flexible and pragmatic form of unionism, at least the two results were enormously satisfactory. They end the absolute intransigence of mainstream unionism and they are historic for that reason alone. They also finally put paid to any pretensions on the part of people such as the Thirty-two Counties Solidarity Committee, Ruairi Ó Brádaigh and Kevin Boland. They have no legitimacy now. They can forget about the 1919 Dáil election because the people of Ireland, North and South, have spoken unequivocally.
It was a democratic result. I heard Bernadette Sands-McKevitt and others saying it was not democratic and one must go back to nonsensical apostolic dissent from 1919. This is plain nonsense. The people of Ireland are those who are alive now and living and experiencing these conditions. It does not matter a damn what people 70 years ago may or may not have thought about a spurious interpretation of their wishes post facto. The people of Ireland have spoken and their voice must be listened to by anybody who regards himself or herself as a democrat.
I wish to pay tribute to the RUC. If we are paying tribute to politicians, including some who have dubious ancestry in terms of violence, I wish to say that I have the greatest respect for the majority of RUC people. They got it in the neck from both sides and on most occasions they behaved decently. There were some regrettable incidents and I placed on record my dissociation from those events. However, the RUC did its best in very difficult times and had among its members some honourable people.
When accusations of sectarianism are levelled at it, we should remember that the IRA specifically targeted Catholic people who joined and then hypocritically complained that there were not enough Catholics in the RUC. The same type of accusations of prejudice have been made in the South by the same sources against our police force whom they are happy to shoot in the back. Despite the fact that there are problems with some aspects of the RUC, having been a target for paramilitaries on both sides, it is time to salute the honourable record of many people in the RUC.
I hope there will be a proper resolution of the business in Drumcree. I stated previously that the British Army should have gone in, but I favour flexibility on both sides. I understand the march is without bands and goes from a church. It is silly and regrettable and people in the South do not understand the devotion to such events. However, perhaps a little imagination should be shown. Nevertheless, Orange Order services should not be held in churches of the Church of Ireland of which I am a practising member because the order is based on a particularly nasty and unchristian form of sectarianism. Until that type of sectarianism is rooted out and we refuse to give it any legitimacy, we will not have the type of peace we all desire.
I join in the tributes to those who have been involved in the long and tortuous search for peace. It has not been fully achieved yet but those who have taken us so far down this road should be recognised. I wish to add a number of names to those already mentioned. Deputy Albert Reynolds is ignored to an extent now that he is out of office. Whether we approved at the time, he was the architect of the process and I am the first to admit that I thought some of the things he did were mistaken. However, it was done with the best of faith and whatever has been achieved is greatly to his credit. His part will be recognised in the years to come.
I also recognise the role played by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is from a Nationalist background but he has the authority to hold out the hand of friendship to those who come from a different background. He did this from a position of strength and with a liberal outlook which was vital in the circumstances in which he found himself in recent times, particularly in his dealings with moderate Unionist opinion. I salute his work.
The role of the Fianna Fáil Party should also be recognised. This does not come easily to me but I am aware of the difficulties members of the party had with some of the measures taken recently, particularly on Articles 2 and 3, extradition and other elements of the Agreement which run counter to the tradition of Fianna Fáil. We have managed in this part of the country to cross the narrow party political barriers which often divide us, but which are so insignificant compared with this issue that they do not really matter.
Deputy John Bruton deserves great recognition for what he did when in office. I particularly appreciate his courage last night in saying in barely coded language that he thought a gesture was necessary and should be taken to help the Unionist position.
We are facing this weekend not just the first test, but the possibility of the end of this initiative unless it is faced properly. It is a time when those of the Nationalist viewpoint might recognise the extraordinary but immediate political difficulties faced by the Leader of the Unionist Party and might make a gesture which would help him carry moderate opinion with him in the weeks to come. I hope the Government will take that measure on board. We will never know what is happening behind the scenes — I do not want to know what is happening — but I hope a sympathy for, and recognition of, the difficulties in which the Unionist leader finds himself will be acted upon. Some support should be given to him which would recognise that courage and prevent the process from collapsing.
It is important that the crises which are coming in three particular areas should be recognised. Decommissioning is a crisis for some members of the community and we should not be content to let it meander on in the two years allowed for it until we face that crisis down the road. There must be a move on decommissioning.
Those who still engage in terrorist activities should be taken out and dealt with severely, including the possibility of interning them. There is no place in this post Agreement atmosphere for terrorists to take up arms on any side against either this State or the state in Northern Ireland.
The cross-Border bodies will obviously be a crux. We will have to recognise the difficulties faced by the Unionist community when they are voted on and established. We must hold out a great deal of sympathy and understanding in that regard.
The jury is still out on Sinn Féin. We must ask it to make a full and final declaration that the terrorist war is over. The suspicion which lurks in the minds of many on the other side that it is holding its guns for only one purpose must be allayed. The Irish Government and those of us who exert any influence down here should use our influence to help that process.
I join in the remarks made about the Minister for Foreign Affairs who is my constituency colleague. He has always had a great deal of respect. Senator Manning described this as the later part of his career. I do not know exactly what he meant by that — perhaps he was giving us a clue about what is going to happen after the next election. The last time the House debated Northern Ireland the Minister's ears should have been burning because of the well deserved praise heaped on him.
All of us who rejoiced in the framing of the British-Irish Agreement last April were in no doubt about the difficult path which lay ahead. Quite a number of us said in the debate we had at that time that it was just a beginning, and it has proved to be a very good beginning. We were buoyed up by the overwhelming endorsement of the Agreement in the North and South referenda in May, although I was disappointed the turnout on this side of the Border was not a little higher. The Northern referendum was a resounding success.
We then looked forward to the elections of the Assembly and hoped that significant elements of the Agreement would become a reality and bring normal democratic politics to Northern Ireland for the first time in its history. Seven or eight years ago I spoke to politicians in Northern Ireland who maintained that politicians only had an effect on the politics of sweeping the street and burying the dead, with rather too much of the latter unfortunately.
We can be satisfied in the wake of the elections, whatever our misgivings, that over 70 per cent of the Assembly's membership will be drawn from pro Agreement parties. Those who have loudly declared their anti Agreement stance should be mindful that many of their supporters expressed the view in opinion polls conducted on the day of the election that they would like to see the Assembly working. That sends a very strong signal to those people who are so vociferous in their anti Agreement stance.
As a democrat, I accept that some of those elected to the Assembly have reservations about the Agreement. However, I urge them to work constructively in the pursuit of their concerns and not to seek to wreck the huge potential which exists for a lasting peace and an all embracing political settlement. The worst thing that could possibly happen is if people set out to wreck the Assembly.
I congratulate all those elected to the Assembly and wish them well for the future. The Minister and others rightly praised political leaders in Northern Ireland. The increase in support for the SDLP was particularly gratifying. Many of us are aware that many misgivings were expressed in the months before the election about the future of the SDLP. I heard remarks made that the SDLP was aging and running out of steam, that its position would be overtaken by Sinn Féin, that it would have no new blood and so on. It was gratifying in that regard to see it do so well and to see the leadership shown by people such as John Hume, Seamus Mallon and others rewarded in such a concrete way.
The result for Sinn Féin was very good. I believe it is now solidly within the democratic process, which further marginalises those on the republican side who would embrace violence.
It is tremendous that the Women's Coalition, which was a breath of fresh air, did better than people expected and gained two seats in the Assembly. On the other hand, I regret that Lord Alderdice sees himself as something of a failure — which is extraordinary for such a gifted person — solely because the Alliance Party did not obtain the number of seats it targeted. I expect he will continue to play a vital part in political life in Northern Ireland because he has given so much over the past 11 years as leader of his party. He is temporarily ensconced as the Speaker of the Assembly, which may become a more permanent position. I wish him well.
There is no doubting the difficulties faced by Mr. David Trimble, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, due to the makeup of the Unionist component of the Assembly. I pay tribute to his courage in the face of growing internal dissent on the Agreement. We should not lose sight of the fact that going into the referendum on the Agreement and the Assembly elections, a majority of his parliamentary party were implacably opposed to his position. Those involved in politics will know how difficult that situation is. Clearly there are people within his party who would delight in his failure, and some would no doubt like to see him go the way of the late Brian Faulkner. I am not the only one who believes that this evolving process needs David Trimble. So also do those like minded Unionists, who do not see the Agreement as a threat to their cherished position in the union but as a new political order which seeks to deal with the three key sets of relationships, giving each equal legitimacy and standing.
What wonderful alternative is put forward by those who seek to wreck the Agreement? That question was also asked of those who said "No" at the talks, but there was no response. When the Assembly meets for the first time tomorrow I hope the emphasis is on the positive and that gameplaying will not be a feature as it was in the talks about talks.
The future of Northern Ireland must be based on accommodation and compromise. The engine for this new non-sectarian politics will be the Assembly, and everyone has a duty to do their damndest to make it work and to make the institutions that flow from it work, including the substantial cross-Border element. It was valuable that the Minister sketched out a timetable in saying that the Agreement would be fully implemented by next year.
Events in Portadown next weekend threaten to undermine much of what has been achieved in the last few months. The Parades Commission has made its decision, taking into account a range of issues central to the maintenance of public order. It is clear that the Orange Order is determined to march down the Garvaghy Road and feels the Parades Commission is not empowered to dictate where it can or cannot march. I hope common sense prevails and that an accommodation will be found which ensures that there is no violence or sectarian unrest arising out of Drumcree. Dialogue over the next few days could bring us back from the brink of violent confrontation. This is another time for courageous leadership from every quarter, and events on the streets cannot be allowed to undermine all that has been achieved in the last few months. This year Drumcree does not take place against a background of political stalemate, as before, but against a panorama of unparalleled opportunity. Never before have we had such high hopes of lasting peace. Never before has so much energy been expended on a positive political agenda which offers the people of Northern Ireland the chance to lead normal lives in a normal society.
I will confine myself to the education proposals in Strand Two of the talks process, which I am looking forward to. They are imaginative and leave room for development. I am a member of an organisation, the INTO, which represents people on both sides of the Border and which has been teaching people in all parts of the island since 1868. Our organisation has more than a little interest in the outcome of Strand Two, particularly the provision regarding Gaeilge, and the commitment for the first time in Northern Ireland to give political support to education through the medium of Irish. Those of us who have supported teachers in Northern Ireland who have been trying to develop culture through and of the Irish language welcome this. We aspire to a State education system where a child from Gaeltacht Tír Chonaill could move to Northern Ireland and continue his or her education through Irish. We also believe that those children from a Protestant Unionist tradition should have the choice not to be educated through Irish if they do not wish it.
The difficulty arises in that all discussion on education on this island take place on the basis of there being two systems. Even though there is a commitment from the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation to aim for a harmonised education system, the different bodies with vested interests in the area continue to talk in terms of two systems. We must aspire to a curriculum that encompasses the sash and the shamrock; there must be a place for both. We must be strong enough to design and agree a curriculum that shows and explains the cultural heritage of all groups on the island. We must recognise that cultural difference and ethnicity can enrich and improve society.
One of the few areas specifically mentioned in Strand Two is teacher qualification. If we are to make progress in the education sector, we must have a system where pupils, parents and teachers can move freely between both parts of the island and where their rights are maintained and protected. That means we must consider how teachers are qualified and trained; we must consider what qualifications we require to make teachers equally acceptable on both sides of the Border. As things stand, that does not exist and there are four different methods of primary teacher training. Teachers are trained in colleges of education in the South and in the North, but those in the North are trained in the Catholic college or the State Protestant college. The latter would not accept that description, even though that is what it amounts to. A graduate from Stranmillis College would probably not be acceptable to most Catholic schools in the North because he or she would not have a qualification for teaching religion. Similarly, any Northern graduate, either from Stranmillis or St. Mary's, would not be recognised in the South because they would not have the qualification in Gaeilge.
An extraordinary situation was brought to my attention this week involving a young graduate from St. Mary's. She has taken Gaeilge all through school and at third level and is a fluent speaker. She sat the scrúdú cáilíochta in the South and felt she would have no difficulty taking an examination in a language she loved and spoke easily. She failed the written examination and is not recognised as a teacher here. That kind of nonsense is going on all the time and recognition should be opened up.
There is full recognition in the North for teachers trained in the South; the reciprocal agreement is not there. I look forward to dealing with this under Strand Two. We must be open. Every child should be entitled to learn Irish in a local school and to be educated through Irish. That must be protected for children whether they are in Coleraine, Cork, Derry or Dingle. It must be available to all.
The challenge is not to allow people be partitionist in their view and to focus all discussion into a harmonised system. The question of whether something will work in Belfast and Dublin should be to the fore in all issues. If something does not work in Derry and Cork then it is not the way to proceed. There will be huge resistance to this from the Churches, the Departments of Education, vested interests and those who are frightened of change and who must be reassured.
One way of moving forward is by examining the issue of education for mutual understanding which is currently being successfully run in a small number of schools in Northern Ireland. There are two things wrong with it: it is restricted to Northern Ireland and was put together without any consultation whatever with teachers. It is only used in approximately one fifth of schools in Northern Ireland and does not have the support and reinforcement which should exist. People and schools cannot afford to take chances with it. It is very easy to get the local Protestant and Catholic schools together for a game of soccer. However, anyone trying to get them together for a game of Gaelic football or cricket would have their work cut out in terms of explaining it to parents.
We should also examine third level education and the issue of recognition of qualifications for entry to colleges of education. We should insist that, for example, those from Newry and Dundalk should only have to fill one application form for third level colleges North and South. Designing a form which differentiates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK under UCAS and which includes colleges in the South should not be beyond the wit of humans.
The idea of a teaching council is currently being discussed in the Department of Education and Science and the Minister has agreed to bring forward legislation introducing such a council. The same process is currently taking place in the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. As things stand it is likely we will end up with two separate teaching councils which will determine teaching qualifications within two years. Will both Governments agree to a teaching council, if necessary for each jurisdiction, but with the same criteria and approach and with an overarching body to ensure standardisation?
If I had sufficient time I would deal with education for disadvantaged people, an issue which could draw both sides of the island together, a process which could begin by extending education and mutual understanding both North and South.
I am delighted to take part in this historic debate at such an historic time. Nobody would have believed me if I said a year ago there would be peace in Northern Ireland and elections to an Assembly. We have come a long way and I am delighted that those of violence have put aside their guns and that we have peace and reconciliation. I look forward to prosperity for everybody on the island.
I visited the North on numerous occasions and holidayed there. It is a very attractive place which, in terms of tourism and development, has fallen behind the rest of the island. I am sure that if the people there visited my part of the country and other tourist areas such as Galway, they would see how hotels, bed and breakfasts and accommodation in general has developed. The troubles held back development in Northern Ireland and I am sure the people there can look forward to much prosperity in future. I wish them well.
I compliment those who played a strong role in forging the Agreement and who were determined that violence would be put aside. I also compliment the people of violence who laid down their arms in order to give peace a chance. It is high time that they tried the alternative.
I emigrated to the US when I was 16 years old and worked with people of all races, including Chinese. I never saw a black person before going there — I had read about them and seen them on boxes, etc. I worked with all creeds; religion never seemed to bother me. Like everybody else I did my business and everybody got on with life. People were worried about paying their mortgages and all the other things necessary to keep house and home going. When I returned to Ireland things seemed different with religion playing a big part, something which astonished me. I found this even harder to believe on reading history and examining the issue in more detail.
Much credit must go to people such as John Hume who marched in Northern Ireland for civil rights and one man one vote. Everything has moved at an enormous pace over the years. Such people stood up for their beliefs and must be commended for doing so. They were not people of violence but were looking for democratic rights. Because they were of a different religious persuasion others thought they should not have the right to vote, speak, go to church, work or do anything. The people who thought this were absolutely wrong. All people are entitled to the right to life, to own a home and property and to live a normal life.
I am glad at what is now happening and commend everybody, including David Trimble, John Hume and also Gerry Adams for the manner in which he moved his organisation forward in an effort to bring peace. Charlie Haughey, Deputy Reynolds, the Taoiseach, Deputy Ahern, who brought the process to this stage, Tony Blair, who played a very active part in the process, and Bill Clinton must all be complimented. It was amazing how Bill Clinton, who plays a central role in world politics, got involved in the problems of a small country with a small population which is difficult to find on a map, and that the story was carried on CNN and Sky News. The peace process was put on the same par as the Middle East process. Much effort was expended in an effort to bring peace and those concerned must be complimented. The Irish people have shown the world that peace can be achieved.
I look forward to the work of the new Assembly and wish it well and hope it is successful. I hope those involved see that the democratic process is the way forward. There are still a few people on the wings trying to promote violence and upset the process. I compliment the people of Tarbert, 99.5 per cent of whom voted yes for peace, the highest yes vote in the country, and the people of the island who voted for peace. If people want peace they are entitled to it and will have to get it. Those who want to give peace a chance must be commended, congratulated and supported.
More than likely David Trimble will be First Minister in the new Assembly. I wish him luck. He and the other leaders are people of courage and steel. Those still trying to break the process and who advocated a no vote should examine their consciences to see where they are going.
We are now in the marching season which will be a difficult time for people in the North of Ireland. I call on all sides in the North of Ireland to be reasonable and practical. If people believe they have historic rights and if agreement is reached, they should be allowed to march. Nationalists should stand back and enjoy the music. If the Nationalists wish to march, Unionists and others should allow them to do so if they believe they have historic rights. I would love to see 4,000 or 5,000 people come here to march. Bed and breakfast accommodation would be needed and we could generate some business. Perhaps these people are marching in the wrong part of our country. It is a long time since we had good marching bands. There is great musical talent in the country; there are thousands of excellent musicians and if they worked more on their music, sold it abroad and tried to attract people to this island, it would be better than creating violence.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this subject. I congratulate the people involved in this Agreement; they are people of steel and with nerve. They made commitments and were determined to achieve peace. Much credit should be given to the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and the President of the United States for their efforts in the final hours. I wish the people of Northern Ireland well and I hope they will see the light. We all want to live in peace and harmony on this island making it economically strong and vibrant.
May I share my time with Senator Henry?
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I am glad we are discussing Northern Ireland again as our last consideration of this issue took place a number of months ago. It is important we keep it on the agenda because of the quickly changing and developing situation. This is a week in which there is reason to be satisfied that an important part of the process, the elections to the Assembly, has taken place. It is also a week in which to be worried given the difficulties which will be faced in Drumcree.
The parties in Northern Ireland were anxious to hold the elections before the marching season got into full swing. Thankfully, they have taken place in a relatively peaceful atmosphere and I — and I am sure every Member of the House — deplore the efforts made to derail the process and impact on the elections with the bombing in Newtownhamilton last week. Following its first meeting tomorrow, it is a pity the Assembly will not have a number of weeks to do its business, settle down and make arrangements before facing the crisis of Drumcree.
Nevertheless, I am happy those who played such a vital role in the political process in Northern Ireland leading up to the Agreement took part in the elections and now have a platform on which to stand as the professional political representatives of their people. They now have an opportunity to engage in what one might call normal political activity and get down to the job of representing their people and their interests, which many are anxious to do. I hope they will have the opportunity to do the job we do in this House and which is also done in the other House.
If the people of Northern Ireland are to improve their country, they need a say in how it is run. The system which developed under direct rule was one of Ministers flying in on a Monday and out on a Friday. It was a quasi-colonial system in which the local people had no say or input and had to bear no responsibility. As a politician, I welcome those people into professional politics. Over the years many people did trojan work at great personal cost. No more than the right of people here to get paid for engaging in political activity, it is proper that they should be rewarded for what will be a difficult job.
I share the Minister's satisfaction that the PUP and the Women's Coalition have gained entry to the Assembly in addition to the larger parties which were always going to be represented. I share his concern and regret that the UDP and the Labour Party did not gain entry because both parties, like the Women's Coalition and the PUP, played a constructive role in the negotiations. It is ironic that a combination of systems between constituency representatives and a list which might have allowed them to be represented and which was sought by groups like the Women's Coalition, was strenuously opposed by the Alliance Party which, unfortunately, did not emerge with the type of representation it hoped. It is ironic it opposed the introduction of an element of the list system which might have helped Gary McMichael, Malachy Cullen and others to take their place in the Assembly. For them there will be another day as those of us who have been disappointed at elections know.
I would like to look briefly at the process between the referenda and the Assembly election last week. An effort was made through violence to derail the process. I condemn the activities of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons in recent weeks. In the past we have had reason to deplore the attitude of the Conservative Party to Irish affairs and we saw the difficulties John Major had dealing with his backbenchers. In Opposition, it deliberately set out not only to break the bipartisan approach with the Labour Party, but to foster division in Unionism and to undermine the leadership position of the Ulster Unionist Party, particularly that of David Trimble, Ken Maginnis and John Taylor. It can take no credit for the developments in recent weeks and, indeed, all it can be credited with is helping to foster and increase factionalism within unionism.
As in the past, we made allowances for Sinn Féin to bring its people with it. We must also make allowances on this occasion for the Unionist leadership to bring its people with it. Regrettably, the use the word "dogs" when referring to one's constituents does not help the process. We must, however, be understanding.
Drumcree is a difficult issue and I hope the mechanisms in place to deal with it will be used and that the rule of law will be respected. Perhaps at a later stage intervention by the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, which helped to bring about a successful conclusion to the British-Irish Agreement, might be needed. If it is necessary this week, it should be forthcoming and it would be welcome.
I thank Senator Gallagher for sharing his time. When speaking in America our President said that those elected to the Assembly had a sacred duty to make it work. These were strong words and I hope those in Northern Ireland who have been elected heard them. Coming from Ulster, she is someone who would understand the situation more easily than many of us.
There will be difficult days while the Assembly settles down. There is a considerable number of things which those outside the Assembly can do to help those within it. For example, Strands Two and Three are in a way already in existence in terms of the interaction between many professional, sporting and cultural bodies on this island and in Great Britain. The more we emphasise and solidify those links, the better.
When Senator O'Toole spoke about education I could not help thinking that the same applies to health. I bored the House on many occasions on the efforts I believe we should make promoting all-Ireland health initiatives. An institute of public health on the island has been set up and the director who has just been appointed is a woman from Northern Ireland. It is astonishing to read on the Internet about the amount of interaction between the Northern Ireland health service and the health service in Republic. By promoting this type of activity, we will be able to show people in the Assembly who may be a little anxious about cross-Border institutions that interaction in many areas have been in existence for years and have caused no trouble.
The College of Physicians is 300 years old and acts on an all-Ireland basis. The College of Surgeons is not much younger, nor is the Royal Irish Academy, of which some Senators are members. There are also cultural and sporting bodies.
The Minister is aware that the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body is looking carefully at the Nordic Council to see if it can be guided by it on the proposed Council of the Isles. At the outset I was sceptical but when I saw how clever those involved in the Nordic Council are at promoting their own region and when one considers that the Amsterdam Treaty will make regional co-operation within the EU less difficult, I was impressed by the idea. We can look at this concept to allay fears and in a way which does not impinge on the Assembly.
Those outside who could promote the work of the Assembly include prisoners and those released who have been involved in paramilitary activities. I was cheered by the report that the graves of the disappeared were perhaps at last to be discovered. While news on this appears to have faded, those with any knowledge of the graves could be asked to provide information. It would mean an enormous amount to those who do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones.
While some paramilitaries have apologised to those they have harmed, there is an opportunity for those others who have not done so and who are awaiting release from prison to consider apologising. Many family members in Northern Ireland, Great Britain and other parts of the world feel an apology is owed to them. It is the one thing that may make a difference. Even though they are not in the Assembly, such actions would support and assist those trying to make it work.
The problem with discussing Northern Ireland is where to begin. Does one begin with the Act of Union, 1800, the 1921 Treaty or with Bloody Sunday in 1972? In the referendum on the Agreement 94 per cent of voters in the Republic of Ireland voted for peace. Living only a mile from the County Fermanagh border I appreciate the importance of peace, not only politically but, more importantly, socially and economically. Some 71 per cent of voters in the North also voted for peace. However, it would be unfair to say that the 29 per cent who voted no were against peace. Perhaps some do want the war to continue, but most voted from a fear of change in a society which at present resembles shifting sand. The results of the elections to the Assembly will not instil confidence in them. We should have sympathy for them because times are changing very fast.
It is important to go back in history and see how we have reached where we are today. It is useful to dwell on what I was brought up on, which might now be called folklore. It is also important to understand where both sides of the community are coming from.
My mother and her family are from County Fermanagh. She grew up in a community where Catholics were second class citizens, despite the fact that in her village they made up 95 per cent of the population. Indeed, all large landowners and anybody with wealth were Protestant. As a young person socialising at night with her friends they were invariably stopped and interrogated by the then B-Specials, who were often their next door neighbours and whom they would often meet the next day.
These neighbours were the law and order in Northern Ireland. On numerous occasions my mother's home was raided and ransacked by the security forces simply because they were Nationalists, not republicans. Discrimination occurred as an accident of birth, depending on whether one was born into a Catholic or Protestant family. It instilled in the Nationalist community a dreadful lack of trust in the security forces and a lack of belief in fair play.
Last Friday's elections were the most obvious sign of change. The fact that for the first time the SDLP recorded the highest first preference vote of any of the parties emphasised to the Unionist people that life as they knew it in Northern Ireland is changing. The lack of unity in the Ulster Unionist Party did not help its position Last week Unionist members of one of the councils voted for an SDLP Lord Mayor. As somebody remarked over the weekend, the Nationalist people are up off their knees and they have no intention of going back down on their knees for anybody. This new found bravery among the Nationalist population is causing serious distress to the Unionist population. However, while any change is a cause of worry and stress, the majority of the Nationalist people want equality, nothing more and nothing less.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to all the leaders in Northern Ireland for their resilience in the face of adversity. I have a new found respect for Mr. David Trimble who went out on a limb and has stood alone on a number of occasions. He has already been castigated by members of the media, some whom have said he has engaged in political suicide. Of all the leaders in the North he has the most to lose. I congratulate him on his performance in the election, despite the opposition from those who were previously loyal followers.
When listening at the weekend to members of the UKUP and the DUP I was reminded of a two year old child — people refer to the "terrible twos"— whose response to every question is no. One can be reassured that at least children will grow up, but one would sometimes wonder about the leaders of these two parties. They do not appear to have the political maturity of men with a long number of years in politics to grow up. It is sometimes very hard to change the ways of some people.
However, I believe Mr. David Trimble has the nerve and self confidence to ensure that the Assembly works. I have no doubt that with his determined effort and the efforts of moderate Nationalists, the Assembly can be made to work. It is a very difficult job, especially given the commencement of the marching season, where a compromise must be reached between both sides.
We all understand why Nationalist communities do not want marches to pass through their housing estates or areas. Equally, members of the Unionist community believe they have every right to march to express their heritage, unionism or whatever they wish to call it. Listening to some of the reports over the past couple of days leads one to wonder if some of those involved, especially the Grand Master of the Orange Order and some of the leaders of the residents associations, have been listening to the 71 per cent of voters in the North who have asked for peace. One would sometimes think we had not moved ahead.
In light of the fact that the majority of the people in Northern Ireland, Nationalist and Unionist, voted for peace, there is an onus on those in positions of power to work towards consensus in order that the ugly scenes which prevailed in the past do not continue. It is easy for me to say there should be a compromise, but hatred should remain in the past.
The issue of decommissioning has proved a problematic one. Paramilitary groups could hand over their arms one day and recommence violence the next. Convicted persons who have been elected to the democratic process are urging others to believe in the Assembly and work towards its success. If these people can sit across from each other, realising, albeit belatedly, their past lives of torment and destruction were wrong, I cannot see why others cannot do the same. Dialogue is the only way forward.
In spite of the intention of some Unionists to block the workings of the Assembly, I believe it can and will succeed because of the commitment and determination of people like John Hume and others who have invested their entire political lives in the establishment of peace on this island. They will not allow pessimists and bigots to wreck the Assembly. It would be foolish and naive to believe that the coming months will be plain sailing. Punishment beatings and sectarian murders will doubtless continue; but as the Assembly gets down to its work, sporadic murders and attacks should become less common. Regardless of what paramilitaries believe, life has changed in Northern Ireland. I wish all those involved in the Assembly every success as they embark on their historic journey. They can be assured that, despite the outspoken opposition of some who will continue to dwell in the past, the majority of the people in Northern Ireland are relying on them to ensure their wishes are fulfilled and Northern Ireland moves forward.
I compliment the Minister on his very thoughtful contribution. He and his Department have a huge responsibility in regard to the ongoing timetable of events following on the elections. We all welcome the new beginning in relations offered by the Agreement and I join with other Members in paying tribute to everyone involved. As democrats, we all hail the Agreement. The new aspiration of building a structure of co-dependence which will render conflict impossible is the only sensible way forward. The two traditions must properly respect diversity and display a patriotic respect for one another.
The referendum on the Agreement and last Thursday's elections were truly historic events. Hopefully, the politics of intransigence will now become something of the past. The 94 per cent yes vote in the South and the 71 per cent yes vote in the North were resounding, clear-cut results which expressed the overwhelming desire of people everywhere for peace. Three quarters of the people who voted in the Assembly elections voted for parties who favoured the Agreement, although we might have preferred a more decisive vote in favour of the pro-Agreement Unionist parties. I salute the courage of Messrs Trimble, Taylor, Maginnis and others in the UUP leadership on the stand they have taken and the manner in which they have spoken out and campaigned. I also congratulate David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson on their success. Their non-sectarian approach is very refreshing. John Hume and Séamus Mallon have been giants throughout this process. I welcome the increased vote achieved by constitutional Nationalists and the increased Sinn Féin vote. The acceptance by that party and the overwhelming majority of its supporters of democratic politics is something which must be welcomed. I trust that republicans will now come forward and identify the graves of the victims of past violence and return their bodies to their families.
I believe John Hume deserves the greatest credit and respect for his 30 years of dialogue, his preaching of the politics of peace and compromise and his dogged and determined patience and persistence. He has consistently called for all the Agreement represents, namely, the enhancement and recognition of the traditions of the two communities while threatening neither. He was largely instrumental in persuading the British Government to declare it had no selfish strategic or economic interest in remaining involved in Northern Ireland. It was he who set out to engage Sinn Féin and others with paramilitary links to believe that dialogue and democratic means alone could win peace. It was he who devised and recommended the idea of an all-Ireland referendum to ratify any settlement which would properly give ownership to the people as a whole and recognise and promote the belief that the people are sovereign. The Agreement now truly belongs to the people. It was John Hume who mobilised international, particularly American, opinion behind the ongoing peace process. We must all be very grateful his persistence endured and survived all of the obstacles placed in its path.
I regret that people such as Gary McMichael were unsuccessful in the elections. I pay tribute to John Alderdice and am delighted he will be the interim speaker. He has been a forthright and honest politician in the past and still has much to contribute. It is tremendous that all shades of political opinion will be sitting down together for the first time tomorrow and I wish them well. David Trimble will make a fine First Minister and John Hume a great Deputy First Minister. If they go forward in a spirit of partnership and reconciliation, they can overcome the difficulties posed by issues such as the Drumcree march. I wish the Policing Commission well and am delighted our learned colleague, Senator Hayes, is a member as he is a rock of sense.
We are witnessing a beginning of a breakdown in the blind allegiances of the past. I listened attentively to Senator Leonard's comments about those who, in her view, have acted like spoilt children and have not grown up. Sadly, I think they have grown up but their mind sets are buried in the past. Notwithstanding that, past allegiances are continuously breaking down, and with the Assembly meeting for the first time tomorrow and politicians working together, a good example will be set. The members of the Assembly have a very onerous responsibility and we wish them well.
I join with other Members in acknowledging the highly successful referendum vote of the people of Ireland, North and South, almost two months ago. I also want to acknowledge those who supported the Agreement in the recent elections and stood for election on the peace platform.
I welcome the first meeting of the Assembly and I wish those elected to it well. While the peace process was negotiated by many fine people who have been congratulated here by everyone, the situation has since moved on. The Agreement belongs to the people because they voted for it, they supported candidates who stood on the peace platform in the six counties in the election. I hope the euphoria that brought will last. I hope there will be lasting justice and peace for the people who so deserve it.
The chequered history of this country has been outlined on many occasions. Whether we go back to the 1800s or come to 1998, division rests between our people. Did those who voted no reflect nonacceptance of the peace agreement, or did they reflect something else? The Conservative Party were mischievous during the recent election. Its spokesmen did not help those people standing on a pro-Agreement platform.
Perhaps for his own sake we should not congratulate David Trimble to the extent we are. Congratulations from this side of the Border may not help him and we would not wish to damage the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party at this time because he has a difficult task. However, it must be asked if he gave the leadership to his party and supporters that they deserved during the election. I hope his commitment will be as strong in the future as it was two months ago.
Will the RUC implement the decisions of the Parades Commission? I hope it will. It will be tested shortly. Last year the RUC failed during the Drumcree crisis. Will it fail again? These questions must be asked because we are talking about peace with lasting justice.
Senator Leonard gave many examples of the type of second class citizenship to which the Nationalist community were subjected down the years. We should hope the supremacy and privilege to which the Unionist parties clung will disappear.
Senator Haughey made a plea that the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland recognise that the veterinary faculty of UCD needs financial support. Students seeking to study veterinary science in this country can only do so in UCD. Students find they have to go to England to complete their course. Senator Haughey should be lauded for saying that.
While looking at the many who gave leadership — the Taoiseach, Tony Blair, President Clinton and all the political leaders in the North — we must remember the organisations which took the greatest leap for peace and we must encourage them. Sinn Féin and the IRA made a quantum leap to join the democratic process and we must encourage them to stay on that road. I think they will pursue that road. Sinn Féin's tremendous leadership has brought its voters along. Those who did that should be congratulated. We must acknowledge their success. Equally we must congratulate the SDLP for the tremendous support it received.
I wish the people of the six counties the very best. Progress can be made and the acid test will be the cross-Border institutions and their roles. Last week, Minister Walsh brought about a success for farmers North and South for the first time ever. A few months ago he played a vital role in helping to lift the ban on beef from Northern Ireland. Let us recognise we can work together, and the more we work together the more successful we will be.
I wish the new Assembly well. I pay tribute to all those who worked so hard to make a success of the peace process, in particular the priests and ministers who met secretly and did a great deal of work to bring this about. The media revealed a meeting which they organised in County Clare and that was wrong. These issues need to be carefully handled.
This was an abnormal country in the past, the Border was a mini Berlin Wall. You could not cross it before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. Otherwise you had to pay a hefty sum of money to get permission to cross. Terence O'Neill and Seán Lemass righted that great wrong and I pay tribute to them. They did Trojan work and as a result of their efforts you could drive from Dingle to Derry at any time.
That was a step forward, but a section of people in Northern Ireland were not happy with that and Terence O'Neill was ousted. Brian Faulkner followed him as leader and he was ousted because he tried to bring a semblance of normality to Northern Ireland. For that reason I appeal to the people of the Garvaghy Road to be generous and helpful to David Trimble. He has a tough job with his people. If he is ousted we are back to square one. They should bear that in mind. To David Trimble I use the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy — never fear to negotiate, never negotiate through fear. Sending an open letter to the people of the Garvaghy Road was a step forward, but David Trimble should talk to them. If they talk they will break those who say no, they will have peace and this march will pass off peacefully.
I pay tribute to the Catholic and Church of Ireland Archbishops of Armagh who have asked people to come together and not to disrupt the peace process. No one wants another 30 years of violence. We should not forget those who started this process. Charles Haughey, some of his ambassadors and the clergymen I mentioned did much work behind the scenes to try to get the process going. However, the greatest credit must go to John Hume, Gerry Adams and Albert Reynolds. They took tough decisions which many criticised. They were also criticised when their photograph was taken outside Government Buildings; however, they were proved right in the end.
The Rev. Ian Paisley amazes me by saying no to so many things. He says no to Tony Blair and the British Government. No one said no to or insulted the Queen more than he. He says no to Southern Ireland but he was the first Unionist to set up a church in County Monaghan in a blaze of publicity . He later followed this with another church in County Donegal. He comes here to preach the gospel and I appeal to him to remember the adage "Love thy neighbour as thyself". I am sure he reads the gospel more than I, but this is a very important phrase. I appeal to him to think of it. He should stop saying no, be friendly with his neighbours and try to make the Assembly work.
I hope this process is a success. I have seen a lot of turmoil about which I have spoken before. Unionists should realise that they have a great future in a peaceful Ireland. The farmers of Northern Ireland are grateful to the Minister for Agriculture and Food who negotiated a great deal for agriculture North and South last week. We do not hear many politicians paying tribute to him but the farmers in Northern Ireland know that they would be better dealing with an Irish Minister than with the Agriculture Secretary in London; they are getting a very bad deal and their cattle trade is in crisis.
Unionists need have no fear. Albert Reynolds often said that no one should fear peace but everyone should fear war. I appeal to Unionists and Nationalists to sit down and negotiate in the five days before the Garvaghy Road march. They should not let it be a day of turmoil or a day of success for the troublemakers. They should make it a day of success for peace by sitting down and talking.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
When is it proposed to sit again.
Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.