I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first occasion on which he has addressed us as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is aware that I have a high regard for his ability and integrity and I wish him well in what is probably the most daunting task he has yet faced as a Minister. He knows that he will have the full support of all parties in this House in seeking not just to resolve this seemingly intractable problem but also pushing the process forward. I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming Ambassador Sullivan, a person in whom this country has a good friend who carries great influence.
Last week I attended a meeting, present at which were a number of the most senior people from the spheres of politics, the media, the Civil Service etc. who have dealt with the Northern Ireland problem during the past 30 years. I have never before experienced such gloom, even in the worst days of those long years when one atrocity followed another. It suddenly seemed that this problem would baffle the best minds. In spite of the Minister's upbeat presentation – he is right to be upbeat at this stage – this problem does not seem to allow for an immediate solution. However, as he stated, it is the job of Governments to solve problems. Politics is the art of the possible and every effort must be made to ensure that we move beyond this impasse.
The gloom and grimness I experienced among the professionals to whom I referred is not matched by the situation which obtains on the ground. In my opinion there is an air of optimism in Northern Ireland which has not been present in the past. There is a belief among people in the South that the problem will be resolved. That is partly because we have become used to expecting success in dealing with Northern Ireland. In spite of various difficulties, we have been on something of a rollercoaster in recent years. First we had the ceasefires, then the Good Friday Agreement and finally the establishment of the institutions. As the Minister correctly stated, we need only consider all that has been achieved in recent years, and contrast it with what any of us would have regarded as being impossible ten years ago, to realise the extent of what has come to pass and the determination of people not to let matters slide at this stage. It is in the underpinning of this process by the support of people on both sides of the Border that the enduring possibility of its survival lies.
The Minister is right when talking about the Good Friday Agreement to say the essentials are in place and, in many cases, strong foundations have been laid for the institutions which arise out of the Agreement. We have all noted the progress and sense of excitement about the potential which has surrounded the putting in place of the Good Friday Agreement. The Minister and this House are right to applaud it and to give credit where it is due to all those involved who have made this possible.
Sidney Webb went to the Soviet Union in the 1920s and said, "I have seen the future and it works". He was not a very good prophet in that case. However, we have seen the future in Northern Ireland and that it can work. There is a new future, beginning and life for the people in that part of the country and the country as a whole.
The Minister is also right to praise the parties in the process in Northern Ireland. He put the SDLP top of his list and I would put them top of mine, as would most of us. The SDLP has constantly run the danger of being marginalised as the conflict becomes one, at least in the media, between Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party. However, all of us who know anything about the politics of the past 30 years know that without the SDLP constitutional democratic Nationalist politics would not have survived. We all know that during the most difficult days it was the SDLP which went about the dreary daily work of trying to ensure that some sort of decency remained in politics and that those who were not addicted to or would not kow-tow to violence would have their say. We have now seen the full flowering of Seamus Mallon and others who, when given their chance, have shown what they are capable of. That is one of the reasons this must work.
We have seen the friendship that has been established between leading Unionists and politicians from all parties in these Houses. We have seen the enthusiasm which people like Sir Reg Empey bring to their work and the possibilities they see for their people. There has been an extraordinary breaking down of barriers and prejudices over the past while.
The Minister is also right to include in his praise the other parties, such as Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin has come a very long road and has more ghosts to bury and more history and baggage to carry than perhaps any other party. It has made a great deal of progress. Its two Ministers in the Executive showed an appetite and a capacity for the dullness of routine politics that is normal to us. They showed a capacity and a willingness to take decisions and to get on with the business.
There have been some disquieting occurrences over the past couple of weeks, the first of which is the ease with which people got into the blame game. I was shocked that certain politicians here and the media, especially, rushed to judgment on Peter Mandelson and to blame him for the collapse of the process to date. Unless we accept totally, as the Minister does, that this is a joint venture between the British and Irish Governments, that they are as committed as we are and that their faith is as good as ours, we will go nowhere. It is disappointing to see people revert to the easy Brit bashing and Unionist bashing which was such a common feature of our politics some time ago, without seeing that the British and the Unionists have as much of a vested interest in making these institutions work as has any party in this House.
Peter Mandelson had to make a judgment call. It was a difficult decision because he was damned if he did and damned if he did not. He made that decision. It may have been right or wrong. Possibly, from where he stood he had very little choice. However, let us accept it was made in the best of faith and in the hope of getting the best possible outcome, rather than reverting to this attempt to blame people and impute bad motives, which so many of our trendiest and most fashionable journalists did with such great speed.
The Minister was not specific about what might happen on the decommissioning issue. I do not think any Member would expect him to be. I was struck by the potential he sees in the statement made by the IRA at the very last moment. He sees more in it than I do, but then he is working with top officials behind the scenes and I am sure there has been a teasing out of what was meant in that statement. I hope the Minister's confidence is justified.
There is a danger in being over optimistic and in seeing the IRA as a body that does not have another agenda. The IRA is traditionally, historically, psychologically and emotionally anti-democratic and sees itself as having rights above those of normal democracy, the rule of law and the rest of us. It has a total inability to understand that politics is about accepting the rules, advocating one's point of view, trying to persuade people and accepting the decisions of the people. We are foolish if we ignore or fail to take fully into account that deep, dark part of the IRA culture.
I do not know what can be done. Sinn Féin constantly says not to ask it this or that question but to ask the IRA. I wish we could ask the IRA. I wish we knew who these anonymous, unelected people are. I wish we could ask them about their claim to hold a veto over the right of the rest of the island to get on with democratic politics.
Gerry Adams may well reach a stage where a split is not something which must be avoided at all costs. The leaders of Fianna Fáil in the 1920s had to decide which route to go – to stay united and go into a cul-de-sac with obscure theological republicans, perhaps too close to people ambivalent to violence, or to follow the path that Éamon de Valera and Seán Lemass had the guts to take and to break with the past, found a new political party, go into parliamentary politics, make a great success of it and become the dominant party in the State. Sinn Féin might never have that possibility but it might find itself faced with having to decide between being a fully democratic party or carrying on the baggage of the past with an unseen veto in the background.
These are the hard facts which may well have to be faced. However, for the moment, all I want to say is that I wish the Minister well. He has the full backing of all parties in this House. The Minister is a plain speaker, a clear thinker and a determined person. He will need those qualities over the coming weeks. Perhaps the best we could wish him at this stage is a period of silence all round, so that he and his colleagues can get on with the work of trying to persuade and tease out matters free from publicity. I hope the next time the Minister comes to this House, where he is always welcome, he will have more specific good news for us.