Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005
433 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that none of the armed loyalist groups (details supplied) associated with a party (details supplied) has ever publicly disbanded, disarmed or called a cessation of armed actions against the nationalist people of Northern Ireland. [34113/04]
View answerMy understanding is that the specific organisations mentioned by the Deputy disbanded some time ago. The Deputy will be aware that the Good Friday Agreement is completely unambiguous as a statement of principles regarding paramilitarism. These principles apply to all the political parties in Northern Ireland. In particular, they include an affirmation of a total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences on political issues, and opposition to any use of force or threat of force for any political purpose, whether in regard to the Good Friday Agreement or any other political matter.
During the course of the different sessions of negotiation leading to the Good Friday Agreement, all the political parties in Northern Ireland, including the DUP, formally accepted the Mitchell principles, which include inter alia a commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations and a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods of resolving all political differences.
